Russia declares electronic war on Israel ranging over Syria, E. Mediterranean

 

Within two weeks, Russia will arm Syria with S-300 air defense systems and start jamming navigation in the E. Mediterranean – two of the three measures announced by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Monday, Sept. 24 “in response to Israel’s role in downing the Russian IL-20” on Sept. 17.

Syria’s air defense electronic capacities will be boosted to level that of Russian forces in the country. But the most significant measure announced by Shoigu was: “Russia will jam satellite navigation, on-board radars and communication systems of combat aircraft, which attack targets in the Syrian territory, in the regions over the waters of the Mediterranean Sea bordering with Syria.”

IDF and Russian army on collision course in Syria

 

The Russian Ministry of Defense leveled several grave charges against Israel on Sunday, Sept. 23 as having caused the loss of the Russian IL-20 plane with 15 servicemen aboard. IDF sources responded that the Russians are hiding their own military lapses with “lies” against Israel over the downing of the Russian plane by Syrian air defenses on Sept. 17.

DEBKAfile: This exchange of insults is not helpful in the light of reports from a Kremlin source that President Vladimir Putin has decided not to let the negative MoD report mar his friendly ties with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and to let its aspersions remain in the “professional” domain. (i.e. versus the IDF and IAF).

Russia to Israel: We will defend you if Iran attacks, but also defend Iran’s presence in Syria

This is a mixed message with the aim of outwardly projecting propaganda in the sense that the Iranian buildup isn’t a threat, when in reality Russia is saying the Persian state has green light to do as it pleases with full protections. They are baiting Israel into attacking, and they just might should the threat level continue to increase in this Middle Eastern game of chicken.

“If Iran attacks Israel, Russia will stand alongside the US to defend Israel,” said Russian ambassador to Israel Alexander Shein at the Munich security conference last week –  in a mixed message from Moscow. This assurance is part of the effort Moscow has been making for some time to allay Israel’s concerns and stop the Netanyahu government from agitating against the peril posed by an Iranian military presence in Syria.  The Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu carried this message when he paid an unprecedented visit to Jerusalem last October.

Israel Strikes Iran’s Syrian Base

Israel reportedly fired its Jericho ballistic missiles for the first time to strike an Iranian military base south of Damascus in Syria.

 

According to Israeli media reports, the Jewish state’s military has conducted a missile strike on an Iranian military base recently completed near Damascus in Syria.

Syria moves all its fighter jets to Russian base

 

Syria has moved all its fighter aircraft to the Russian Hmeimim air base in Latakia three weeks after 59 US Tomahawk cruise missiles knocked out one-fifth of its air force at the Shayrat base, in retaliation for a chemical attack on civilians in Idlib. This was reported Wednesday night, April 19, by the Pentagon. The Russian high command in Syria has its seat at that base.

debkafile’s military sources report that the Syrian air force will operate henceforth under Russian protection and behind the advanced Russian S-300 and S-400 air defense shield without fear of US reprisals.

Israel Threatens to ‘Destroy’ Syrian Air Defense Systems

Avigdor Lieberman. Source: REUTERS

 

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman threatened to destroy Syrian air defense systems after the Syrian military launched ground-to-air missiles against Israeli warplanes illegally carrying out strikes against targets in the country.

“The next time the Syrians use their air defense systems against our planes we will destroy them without the slightest hesitation,” The Time Of Israel quoted Lieberman’s statement on Israeli public radio.

Israel deploys ‘Star Wars’ missile killer system

FILE PHOTO: An “Arrow 3” ballistic missile interceptor is seen during its test launch near Ashdod, Israel December 10, 2015. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

 

The Defence Ministry said the U.S.-funded Arrow 3 system, jointly developed by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries and U.S. firm Boeing Co. , was handed over the Israeli Air Force.

The Arrow 3, together with the Arrow 2, which has been operational since 2000, would “significantly reduce the possibilities of ballistic missiles” hitting Israel, the ministry said in a statement.

Israel expects to retain air dominance with arrival of F-35s

While the F-35 may be able to evade S-300 missile defense systems, it’s said not to be able to evade the S-400. There is also an S-500 in development (See also HERE, HERE and HERE) by Russia.

 

F-35 Lightning II Adir. / Lockheed Martin

 

Israel expects to have total air dominance in the Middle East for the next four decades with the arrival on Dec. 12 of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

“The future is here,” Israeli Air Force (IAF) Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen. Tal Kalman said, adding that “the F-35 will allow the air force to do missions that its current aircraft are unable to do today. In quantity and quality, depth into enemy territory, in threat-filled areas, in the amount of missions, with less manpower.”

Israel Air Force officer: ‘Syria’s the global stage, everybody’s playing there’

This is likely the very first time it’s been reported that Russia is launching ballistic missiles into Syria from its own territory. Using war as a playground for new toys is not new, however.

 

An Israeli F-16I fighter jet during an exercise in the United States in 2009. (Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald/US Department of Defense/Wikimedia)

 

 

Senior official gives military’s view of Syrian civil war, and how Israeli jets navigate the dangerously full skies next door

For years, Israel was without rival in the skies over the Middle East, but with the Russian military placing an advanced anti-aircraft system — the S-400 — in Syria, that dynamic has changed and turned the once open skies into a far more difficult space to navigate, according to a senior Israeli Air Force official.

“We’re living in interesting times,” the officer told reporters Sunday night, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel strikes in Syria after mortar shell hits Golan

Military targets Assad’s artillery in response to impact in Jewish state’s territory, hours after Syrian ceasefire comes into effect

The IDF struck targets in Syria Monday night, targeting two Syrian regime artillery batteries near the border, after a shell fired from the Arab’s nation’s territory exploded in Israel.

Iranian Report: Assad Forces, Hezbollah Coordinating Large-Scale Operation on Israel Border in Golan Heights

The Syrian army and Lebanon-based Iranian proxy terrorist organization Hezbollah are coordinating a large-scale “anti-terrorism” operation in southern Syria, near the border with Israel in the Golan Heights, the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars reported on Monday.

According to the report, the purpose of the operation is to “end militancy” in the area adjacent to the border.

Report: Iran Receives First S-300 Missile Shipment From Russia

Iran has received its first shipment of missiles for the sophisticated S-300 air defense system, the Iranian Tasnim media outlet reported Monday.

Russia is supplying Iran with the advanced S-300 PMU2 system rather than the PMU1 system–information that was previously withheld. Moscow began in April delivering the S-300 missile defense system to Tehran, which displayed part of it in a military parade held to mark National Army Day on April 17.

Assad’s survival, Iran’s ‘radical axis’ called ‘most concrete’ threat to Israel

Israel must seek the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad and take a stand against “the radical axis led by Iran that runs through Assad-controlled Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon,” a former Israeli Air Force general said.

That axis “embraces the strategic goal of putting an end to Israel,” and “is the most concrete threat the State of Israel faces today,” Amos Yadlin wrote for The Institute for National Security Studies.

First ever Israeli-Russian war game is coming

Video available for viewing at the source.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu decided at their June 7 meeting in Moscow to deepen the military ties between the Russian and Israeli armed forces, debkafile reports exclusively from is military and intelligence sources. It was a historic decision that spells the end of the IDF’s unique relationship with the US military.

The head of the IDF’s military intelligence branch, Maj. Gen. Hertzi Halevi, and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen also participated in the meeting.

‘Russian forces fired on Israeli jets at least twice’

Russian forces fired on Israeli Air Force planes at least twice in recent weeks, according to a Friday morning report in the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

The paper said that President Reuven Rivlin brought up the issue with President Vladimir Putin during his visit last month to Moscow, and that Putin said it was the first he’d heard of the incidents, despite coordination between the two militaries.