According to Russian media, 22 Israeli missiles were recently intercepted by Syrian air defence forces. The missiles were reportedly launched from Israeli combat aircraft in Lebanese air space on 19 August. The report quotes Admiral Vadim Kulit, Deputy Head of the so called Centre for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties, as the source of information. The Syrian military and facilities remained unharmed, said the Admiral.
The Syrian air defence systems of Russian origin involved include the BUK-M2E of Almaz-Antey and PANTSIR-E of the Shipunov KBP Design Bureau, now part of the High Precision Weapons Holding.
According to SIPRI, 36 units of the PANTSIR 96K6 export version with 700 9M311 missiles were delivered to Syria between 2008 and 2011, followed by 18 units of the 9K317E BUK-M2E in the same year.
Yury Laskin
