National Interest calls S-300 a threat to Israel

S-300 missile complex. Photo: AP

According to NI, images taken by Israel's Eros-B satellite show that the S-300 air defense missile system in Syria has recently been put on combat duty. In addition, captions to the photos show that the launchers are in a deployed form, the first time the missile system has been observed since it was delivered to Syria.

The author of this article believes that the reason why the S-300 was not deployed immediately before is because the Syrian army needs to be trained to operate this type of weapon. The author of the article believes that it could also be a strategic caution on Moscow's part, since the transfer of the S-300 complexes to Syria is primarily a measure to resolve the conflict situation in this Middle Eastern country.

According to the article, Russia sought to prevent Israel from carrying out airstrikes on Syria, but was in no hurry to deploy missile systems to avoid escalating tensions. However, these hopes were dashed by Israel's bombing of Syria, which, according to the author, was the "last straw" that forced Russia to deploy the S-300. In addition, another reason for deploying the S-300 could be the ineffectiveness of Syria's air defense system.

According to NI, the S-300 missile batteries will pose a serious threat to Israeli aircraft operating in western Syria, where government forces are concentrated. Therefore, the deployment of the S-300 systems in Syria could increase Russia's pressure on Israel during negotiations to resolve the situation in Syria. This round of negotiations is expected to take place in Moscow at the end of February.