Syria's upgraded Buk-M2 intercepts a barrage of Israeli missiles.
After being quietly upgraded by Russia, Syria's Buk-M2 missile system recently achieved a major success by firing a barrage of missiles launched by the Israeli air force near Damascus airport.
Information about the interception, cited by Syria's HAMA news agency from local military sources, indicated a series of bright lights and loud explosions in the air near Damascus International Airport as fighter jets launched missiles attacking the area.
However, it is unclear how many Israeli missiles were intercepted, as well as the extent of the damage on the ground from the attack.
Nevertheless, Israel has remained silent regarding the statement published by the Syrian news agency.
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| Syrian air defenses opened fire. |
Reportedly, the attack on the night of September 15th was the second time this month that the Israeli Air Force carried out nighttime airstrikes against targets in Syrian territory.
Tel Aviv attacked multiple targets around Damascus International Airport, putting Syrian air defenses on high alert.
And the Buk-M2 air defense system played a major role in the airstrike on the night of September 15th, after it was secretly upgraded and transferred to Syria by Russia.
According to Al-Masdar News, as soon as the radar signal warned of an approaching missile, the entire air defense network in the area went on alert and was ready to fire when the target was locked on shortly thereafter.
It is unclear how many missiles the Israeli fighter jets used, but only three interceptor missiles from the Buk-M2 system were launched, and the results exceeded expectations, with two missiles being intercepted.
It is known that, prior to blocking this attack, in late 2017, this same Buk-M2 system stunned the Israeli Air Force by successfully intercepting 4 out of 5 missiles, each weighing 1.36 tons, that attacked Damascus International Airport.
Immediately after the interception, fragments of the intercepted missile were scattered throughout the al Keshwah area near the town of al Zariqiyeh, on the outskirts of Damascus. The intercepted missile was later identified as a Popeye, an Israeli-made missile based on the American AGM-142 Raptor medium-range air-to-ground missile.
According to the Russian manufacturer, it is no coincidence that the Buk-M2 can easily destroy these difficult-to-intercept targets, because the Buk-M2 is designed to intercept most aerodynamic targets, including ballistic missiles.
The missile system has a range of 3-50 km, a target engagement altitude of 10 m to 25 km, and can engage 24 targets simultaneously.
To accomplish this mission, the Buk-M2 system is designed with both a target search radar and a fire control radar equipped with phased array antennas, a microprocessor, and a digital control computer, giving the Buk-M very high combat efficiency.
Specifically, the probability of destroying an F-15 fighter jet is 90-95%, a ground-attack cruise missile is 70-80%, a ballistic missile is 60-70%, and helicopters and UAVs is over 90%. However, in actual combat, the Buk-M2's success rate in intercepting targets is much higher.
