Syria reveals its secret weapon for intercepting Israeli smart missiles.
Syrian defense forces have just released a video showing them shooting down two Israeli smart missiles that were attacking southern Damascus.
Information and images of this interception, published by the Syrian state news agency (SANA), indicate that air defense forces in the al Kisweh area, about 12 km southwest of the capital Damascus, shot down an Israeli missile.
Images released show fragments of the missile burning as they fall from above to the ground after a large explosion.
A local source said two members of the same family were killed. Meanwhile, Western human rights monitoring groups also claimed the attack resulted in the deaths of several Iranians.
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| Buk-M2E missiles in Syria. |
The source added that, during the Israeli Air Force attack on southern Damascus, the entire Syrian air defense system deployed in the area performed well.
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.
However, the exact number of missiles used by the Israeli fighter jets is unclear, but only three interceptor missiles from the Buk-M2E system were launched, and the results exceeded expectations, with two missiles successfully intercepted.
Before intercepting this latest attack, Syria's Buk-M2E system had already stunned the Israeli air force by successfully intercepting four out of five missiles, each weighing 1.36 tons, that attacked Damascus International Airport in late 2017.
Citing local sources, RT reported that immediately after the interception, fragments of the intercepted missile were scattered throughout the al Keshwah area near the town of al Zariqiyeh, west of the capital Damascus.
| Video shows Syrian air defenses successfully intercepting Israeli missiles. |
Although Russia did not specify the type of Israeli missile that was shot down, it revealed that the missile weighed approximately 1.36 tons.
Based on this information, it appears highly likely that this is a Popeye missile manufactured by Israel, 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-M2E can easily destroy these difficult-to-intercept targets, because the Buk-M2E 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-M2E 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-M2 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-M2E's success rate in intercepting targets is much higher.
