Russia deploys missile defense system to Syria

Europe, Middle East, News November 5, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

Russia has deployed missile defense systems to Syria to protect its military forces and equipment stationed in the Arab country, the head of the Russian air force says.

Referring to the potential threats against Russian military forces and equipment in Syria, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev said fighter jets could be hijacked in countries neighboring Syria and used to attack the Russian forces.

“We have taken into account all possible threats. We have sent not only fighters, attack aircraft, bombers, and helicopters, but also missile defense systems because any sort of force majeure situation may occur,” Bondarev said in an interview with Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya.

“For example, the stealing of a warplane in a neighboring country with Syria or having to return fire. We need to be prepared for that,” he said.

Russian medium-range surface-to-air missile defense system

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian air force commander commented on a Russian fighter jet’s violation of Turkey’s airspace in October. He said the Russian warplane had been forced to enter Turkish airspace while performing an evasive maneuver against “some kind of” a missile.

“Our fighter jet was on a combat mission in northern Syria in very dense cloud conditions. When the aircraft was passing along the Turkish border, the onboard equipment set off an alarm indicating the plane was being targeted by some kind of air defense system,” Bondarev told the Russian daily.

“The pilot had to take a split-second decision to perform an anti-missile maneuver. Well, [the plane] went a little bit into Turkish airspace. We acknowledged it frankly,” he added.

Bondarev did not explain to what country the surface-to-air missile locked on the Russian jet belonged.

Russian Commander Bondarev also confirmed he has the technical means to monitor the situation in Syria through real-time satellites from the Russian Air Force headquarters.

Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev (left), Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force. © Vladimir Astapkovich

Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force. © Vladimir Astapkovich / RIA Novosti

Bondarev specifically noted that every airstrike is video-recorded by objective control means, so that accusations becoming increasingly commonplace in western media about Russian jets bombing civilian targets could be refuted easily. The Russian Defense Ministry has released videos of the airstrikes in Syria on a daily basis, something the US Air Force, also operating in Syria, never does.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on October 3 that a Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet had violated Turkish airspace for several seconds because of unfavorable weather conditions.

Turkey said later that a Russian jet had again violated the country’s airspace. Moscow rejected the claim, saying no second airspace violation had occurred.

Russia began its own military campaign against terrorists in Syria on September 30 upon a request from the Damascus government, shortly after the upper house of the Russian parliament gave President Vladimir Putin the mandate to use military force in the Arab country.