Syria’s Russian-made radars reportedly of little use against alleged Israeli strikes

Russia-made S-300 air defense system battery located just 60 kilometers away from a Hezbollah arms depot in Syria’s Homs destroyed in alleged Israeli airstrike failed to spot the incoming projectiles, Russian Avia.pro agency reports.

The agency adds that, judging by the fact that it took the Syrian military a while to figure out what exactly had happened after the facility went up in flames, radars on the more advanced S-400 batteries were blind to the attack as well.

Friday’s alleged rare daytime attack in Homs followed reports of an Israeli missile strike on targets in Syria’s Quneitra governorate and was eventually denied by Damascus altogether as it said the explosions had not been caused by hostile actions.

Initial reports from Syria’s official SANA agency, however, suggested the area was hit by projectiles, triggering a wave of secondary explosions.

Earlier, Avia.pro reported, citing Syrian military sources speaking to Sina news agency, that S-300 performed poorly in interceptions of alleged Israeli strikes, their radars failing to spot and lock on the incoming cruise missiles.

To down those, it said, the Syrian military was turning to Chinese-made radars, which supposedly worked better against the Israeli projectiles.

S-300 is an air defense complex dating back to the Soviet times; in October 2018, Syria got 24 launchers for free after dowing a Russian recon jet allegedly used by Israeli fighter jets for cover during an airstrike.