Russia to supply Syria with latest missiles after friendly-fire deaths

RUSSIA will supply its ally Syria with more advanced anti-missile technology and jam radar signals in the eastern Mediterranean following a deadly incident of friendly fire.

Moscow is to send new S-300 surface-to-air missile defence systems to Syria within the next two weeks, said Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister.

The missile system, originally developed by the Soviet military but since modernised, fires missiles from trucks and is designed to shoot down military aircraft and short and medium-range ballistic missiles.

The decision came a week after Israeli F-16 planes struck targets near Moscow’s airbase in Latakia, western Syria, prompting the Syrian government to respond.

Its unsophisticated air defence missiles instead hit a Russian Il-20 surveillance plane, killing all 15 servicemen on board.

Russian officials said Syria’s outdated S-200 systems were not sophisticated enough to identify the Russian plane as an ally. “This forced us to take adequate response measures aimed at improving the security of Russian military personnel,” Mr Shoigu said.

He said the supply of S-300s and socalled “friend or foe” identification technology to Syria will “calm down some hotheads” whose actions “pose a threat to our troops”. The missile defence systems had been on order since 2013, Mr Shoigu revealed, but it had been delayed at the request of the Israelis who feared it would be used against them.

Mr Shoigu also announced Russia would be blocking satellite navigation, airborne radar and communication systems for combat aviation in the Mediterranean, which could prevent Israel from carrying out sorties off the coast of Syria. It could also serve as a deterrent against UK, US, or French strikes – the three countries that have threatened the Syrian regime in the event of another chemical attack.

John Bolton, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, warned Russia that it would be a “major mistake” to provide the Syrian regime with the S-300 system. He said it represented a “significant escalation” in already high tensions in the region.

Mr Bolton also said US troops would remain in Syria as long as Iran keeps forces in the country.

Israel has for more than a year been bombing Iranian and Lebanese Hizbullah bases and munitions factories inside Syria that it sees as a threat to its national security.

Russia agreed to turn a blind eye unless the Syrian regime itself was directly targeted.

An Israel defence forces delegation travelled last week to Moscow in an attempt to ease the tensions caused by the aircraft incident.

Analysts said Moscow’s latest move was as much about reining in Israel as it was about controlling its own partners in Syria.