Israeli Air Force has hit several targets in Syrian territory in recent weeks.
On Sep. 08, 2019 Israeli F 35I Adirs struck positions at the Iraqi-Syrian border near
al-Qa’im and al-Bukamal.
The same target was hit again on September 17.
The target is alleged to be an Iranian military base.
The interesting point to note is that it seems F 35s are able to strike at will even though
they have to navigate over areas protected by S 300 & S 400.
In this video Defense Updates reports on the inability of Russian S 300 & S 400 air defense
system to detect Israeli F 35I Adirs over Syria.
Let’s get started.
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Reports have emerged that Russian S-300 and S-400 missile systems which are presently
active in Syria failed to detect Israeli warplanes flying over Damascus.
The Israeli news outlet NZIV, citing several military sources, published the flight route
of the Israeli warplanes which carried out the mission.
The link to the report is provided in the ‘Description’ section of this video.
As per the route, Israeli warplanes which are reported to be F 35s by undisclosed sources
not only entered the Syrian airspace but also flew for almost several hundred kilometers
over the area protected by Russian S-400 and Syrian S-300 air defense systems.
The revelations have great implications since Russia had previously warned Israel of its
readiness to respond adequately but it seems that the Russian air defense systems prints
in Syria are ineffective against F 35s.
Russian warplanes also did not attempt to intercept the Israeli F-35s, which may indicate
that Russian air defense systems not only failed to engage the F 35s but they were not
even able to detect them.
Russian has deployed S 300 & S 400 in Syria in its quest to support of Bashar al-Assad
regime and to protect its own assets fielded in the country.
S 300 & S 400 are long-range air defense systems, S 400 being the upgrade of S 300.
The surveillance radar of S 300 tracks objects over a range of 300 km or around 185 miles
S 400 is equipped with radar that a range of 600 km or around 380 miles.
It must be noted that both of these systems have additional target acquisition radars
67N6 Gamma De and 9N6 Protivnik Ge radars in L band, Nebo SVU in the Very High-Frequency
band and Nebo m & Zebu M in multiband to aid the main radar.
S 300 & S 400 deploy multiple missiles to cover their engagement envelop.
Here are the missiles:
1.
Short-range 9M96E (40 km or 25 miles) with an active radar homing head, having the capability
to intercept targets flying at a speed up to Mach 2.6
2.
Medium-range 9M96E2 (120 km or 75 miles ) with an active radar homing head, having the capability
to intercept flying at a speed up to of Mach 3
3.
Long-range 48N6 (250 km or 155 miles ) with an active radar homing head, having the capability
to intercept targets flying at a speed up to of Mach 14
4.
Very-long-range 40N6 (400 km or 250 miles) with an active radar homing head, having the
capability to intercept targets flying at a speed up to Mach 14.
This is available only with S 400.
S 300 & S 400 are designed to take on saturation attacks.
They do it by having immense firepower at their disposal.
Each S 300 & S 400 battery consists of a number of transporter erector launchers (TELs) and
each TEL has 4 launch tubes.
In a standard configuration, a single battery has 4 TELs, but there could be up to 16 TELs
per battery.
So, depending on the number of TELs commanded by the S 300 or S 400, they can simultaneously
launch up to 16* 4 that is 64 missiles.
This means that saturating S 300 & S 400 battery is very difficult.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation single-seat, single-engine,
all-weather multirole fighters.
The Pentagon began the F 35 program in 2001 intending to develop a cost-effective replacement
for U.S military’s F 15 fighters, F 16 and F 18 fighter bombers and reconnaissance aircraft
and A10 close air support warplanes.
Apart from the United States, the primary customer, and financial backer, several other
nations are also part of the program.
Israel is the first country outside the U.S to acquire them.
It has already got deliveries of several F 35s and has plans to acquire around 75 of these.
The acquired jet is named Adir meaning the “Strong One” and will be operated by the
IAF’s Golden Eagle Squadron which is based in the Nevatim Air Base.
F 35 is developed from grounds up to be stealthy.
Its external structure is designed to deflect signals away from the emitting radar which
makes it hard to detect or track.
This is done by having no sharp edges or protruding elements and having a smooth external curvature.
Also, it has a coating of RAM (Radar Absorbing Material) that reduces the number of signals
getting reflected.
F 35 has low Radar Cross Section (RCS) • Against x-band radars, it is stealthy
from front and rear • Against S-band radar, it is stealthy from
the narrow front aspect • Against L-band radar, the limited reduction
is achieved from direct front
Classified techniques have also been used to reduce the heat signature of F 35.
This thermal profile management of the jet makes it difficult for Infrared (IR) homing
missiles to target it.
It is a very Low Observable (LO) platform.
On paper the capabilities of Russia S 300 and S 400 are daunting.
Because of this the systems are acquired or are in the process of being acquired by several
nations in massive deals.
China is equipped with S 300 for more than a decade and is the first country to acquire
the dreaded S 400 system from Russia.
It is received its first S 400 regiment in July last year.
Russian media reported that China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has successfully
tested S 400 Triumf air defense system in December last year.
As per reports, S 400 shot down a “simulated ballistic target” about 250 km (155 miles)
away and traveling at speed of 3 km (1.9 miles) per second or almost Mach 9.
Recently Turkey went ahead with the decision to purchase S 400 even though it put its relationship
with the U.S & NATO in jeopardy The U.S decided not to sell F-35 fighter jets
to Turkey because of the S 400 deal and it could also lead to sanctions.
On 5th Oct 2018, during India-Russia bilateral annual summit held in New Delhi, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi & Russian President Vladimir Putin finalized the deal of S 400.
India will get 5 regiments of S 400 and the contract is worth 5.5 Billion USD.
These purchases indicate that several nations are convinced with the capabilities of S 400.
But F 35's ability to evade the S 300 & S 400 put into question the effectiveness of
the system against genuine 5th generation stealth fighter jets.
Viewers may note the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had earlier said, standing in front
of an F-35I Adir jet during a visit to the Nevatim Air Base,
“Lately, Iran has been threatening Israel with destruction.
It should remember that these planes can reach every place in the Middle East, including
Iran, and of course also Syria.”
The assertion is coming true and seemingly Russian, Syrian as well as Iranian air defenses
can do nothing about it.