Israel Switching to Air-Launched Cruise Missiles in Response to Russian Moves Against Its Strikes on Syria

"Israeli sources confirmed that the BUK 2ME was used for the first time against Israeli missiles, raising fears that Israeli pilots could be targeted as well"

“That system, which is operated directly by the Russian military, had not previously been used against Israeli assets”

Defense sources say the Israeli military is planning to change its tactics in Syria to revolve around long-range standoff munitions as opposed to air strikes, following a new Russian policy to use its higher-end air defense systems capable of shooting down Israeli jets over Syrian airspace.

The change follows an announcement late last week by Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit, the head of the Russian military reconciliation center in Syria, who said in a TV interview that the Russian forces assisted the Syrians in intercepting four missiles launched by Israeli F-16s — the first time Russian assistance was given to counter Israeli military operations.

Kulit said a Russian BUK 2ME, known in NATO circles as the SA-17 Grizzly, was used; the system is a medium-range advanced defense missile complex (ADMC) designed and manufactured by Almaz-Antey, primarily for the Russian Army. That system, which is operated directly by the Russian military, had not previously been used against Israeli assets; while the Syrians operate older anti-aircraft weapons, they have not been particularly successful in the past.

Israeli sources confirmed that the BUK 2ME was used for the first time against Israeli missiles, raising fears that Israeli pilots could be targeted as well. As a result, military leadership here is planning to shift operations almost entirely to long-range strike weapons.

Israel’s military does not comment on reports of specific strikes in Syria, but according to foreign media, there have been hundreds of strikes against Iran-linked military targets in Syria over the years. Jerusalem fears Iranian entrenchment on its northern frontier, and it has repeatedly struck Iran-linked facilities and weapons convoys destined for Hezbollah. Israel has used standoff weapons in the past, but the majority of the attacks have been performed by weapon systems flown in close to targets.

Compounding the situation is a change in the relationship between Russia and Israel. For the majority of the conflict in Syria, Israel and Russia have maintained a hotline that allowed the Israeli military to alert Russian forces of incoming strikes, which were aimed at Syrian forces backed by Moscow; generally, sources say, Russia was given two to three minutes of warning before an attack in order to remove their personnel in the area, and in some cases missions were aborted over fears of striking Russian forces.

However, Russian officials are now being quoted in regional media as saying that deconfliction line no longer exists, tying the change directly to the electoral loss of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a good working relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin; Israeli sources here are also saying communications through the line have effectively stopped.

Combined, the lack of the active hotline and the activation of Russian anti-aircraft weaponry is sending a message to Jerusalem that Israeli forces are now officially at risk.

“Russia has decided to end the Israeli freedom of action over Syria.” Dr. Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli senior expert on Middle Eastern issues told Breaking Defense. He added that Moscow want to portray Syria as a functioning country to start pumping funds in the effort to rebuild the ruined country, which is of strategic and economic use for Moscow.

“The Israeli frequent air strikes on targets in Syria do not help to build the desired image,” Kedar noted. “This is a very [big] warning sign to Israel.”

It is expected that Israeli will use Lebanese air space to launch weapons from its air platforms, while also upping the use of ground-based systems launching from the Golan heights.

Israeli has a number of options for long-range strike capabilities. One, which Russian media claims has been used recently, is the Rampage weapon, developed jointly by Israeli Military Industries Systems (IMI) recently acquired by Elbit systems and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The Rampage, at 570 kg and 4.7 meters long, is marketed by the companies as a penetrating system designed for use against infrastructure, such as command and control centers.

Another option for Israeli is the Rafael Spice family of smart bombs, including the 1,000 and 2,000 lbs variants. The SPICE-1000 has a range of 100 kilometers, while the SPICE-2000 has a range of 60 kilometers.

Rafael also recently unveiled a new system, known as the ROCKS, a 1.3 ton weapon armed with a 360 kg warhead. The company has not said exactly how much the weapons range is.

Source: Breaking Defense

27 Comments
  1. Raptar Driver says

    So called Israel has been launching from Lebanese airspace all along.
    What will be different now I would like to see, hopefully the Russians aren’t just jabbering again.

    1. Concerned American says

      Apartheid Israel is nothing without America. Everyone knows it.

      hezbollah alone kicked their butts in 2000 and again in 2006.

      Putin needs to act in a more dramatic way against these Israeli criminals.

    2. yuri says

      rat driver coward farcical nazi amerikan

      1. Raptar Driver says

        Yurin

        1. yuri says

          kysly amerikan fascist

    3. Tom Verso says

      I agree.
      This article contradicts almost everything I’ve read about Israel attacks on Syrian. Namely, that Israel planes do not enter Syrian air space and launch missiles from Lebanon, or Golan air space.

  2. tomgreg says

    If Russia chooses to, they can nullify anything Israel attempts to do. Let’s hope Russia chooses to.

  3. anony says

    what if destructive missles could be remotely turned around and sent back to their initiation site? can some technology do that?

  4. yuri says

    Israel is neither a threat to Russians or Syrians—their periodic missile launches harmlessly kill a few scorpions in the desert. all IDF decisions come from Washington

    1. Raptar Driver says

      Yurin the Zionist Ukrop fudge packer.

      1. yuri says

        homosexual amerikan rat triggered
        “amerikans are the living refutation of the cartesian cogito ergo sum. amerikans are yet they do not think. the amerikan mind puerile and primitive lacks characteristic form and is therefore open to any standardization”. Julius Evola
        childish rat driver diaper stinky—need mommy to change them

  5. Steven Ginn says

    The stinking jew cowards won’t come anywhere that they are likely to get shot down. That’s why they fire over Lewbanese airspace!

  6. Ilya G Poimandres says

    “Command and control centers”.. Gazan schools and hospitals of course!

  7. saoirse52 says

    Basically the Israeli army/airforce (sic) are yellow livered cowards….big when murdering children and women but completely gutless when facing an adversary. Another couple of years will see these parasites leaving Palestine forever.

  8. Jan says

    The Covid operation is best characterised as a franchise, it is offered with many benefits for the budding tyrant who buys into it, including total surveillance & obedience of their own population, in response to an expertly executed global narrative of fear.
    For most western countries the franchise fee is paid to the US directly, whose CIA/NSA direct the COVID operation, by surrendering their peoples privacy, by giving the CIA/NSA a seat at every business & government meeting during the fabricated crisis, by surrendering their retail sectors to Amazon, & by allowing dollar rich US corporations buy up property, strategic industries and small businesses, during the massive fire-sale which is following on from the highly destructive, self inflicted, COVID measures.
    The Russians, the Chinese & the Iranian, as excluded states, get the Covid franchise for FREE. They get all the franchise marketing, branding, pseudo-science based fear mongering, and the tech tyranny template for nothing, without having to pay the crippling franchise fee to the USA and their agencies.
    For Russia & Iran it’s a win win. They even get to create their own fake vaccine, for the fake virus, with the west is unable to challenge its effectiveness, knowing they risk exposing their own fraud if they do.

    1. Maiasta says

      I’d never seen it that way before, but your description of a franchise is excellent. Unlike China and Western Europe, population reduction doesn’t appear to be one of Russia’s priorities (rather, the opposite). But how else to account for Putin going along with this charade? Is it conceivable that he doesn’t know what’s happening?

      1. Jan says

        Covid is a gift to tyrants, and Putin is a tyrant and as I say it is a gift he does not have to pay for, all the hard work has been done for him.

        1. Drapetomaniac says

          Dig a little deeper. It is a manipulation of Ingroup-Outgroup morality to get virtually everyone in the Ingroup and then they can control them, i.e. world government.

          Possible scenarios:

          Earth’s population (Ingroup) versus Space Aliens (Outgroup) attacking Earth. Zero chance.

          Earth’s population (Ingroup) versus Global Warming (Outgroup). Losing traction every day.

          Earth’s population (Ingroup) versus horrific Pandemic (Outgroup). Failing – run by incompetent lying morons.

          Of course their efforts may ruin the world economy entirely which would lead to soup kitchens worldwide run by Earth Government Incorporated. Bingo! We have a winner.

        2. Raptar Driver says

          Every government in this current world is tyrannical.

          1. yuri says

            dimwit amerikan rat stupid
            ‘amerikans do not converse as Tocqueville wrote, amerikans entertain each other. amerikans do not exchange ideas (too stupid); amerikans exchange images. the problem with amerikans is not Orwellian; it is huxlyean—amerikans love their oppression”. Neil Postman
            now rat will bend over for transgender boyfriends

        3. yuri says

          dimwit amerikan–Putin enjoys high approval ratings among Russians

  9. kkk says

    Zionist mafia runs the show. Hot time to drop a few missiles on Tel Aviv to stop aggression

  10. Mark says

    “The Rampage, at 570 kg and 4.7 meters long, is marketed by the companies as a penetrating system designed for use against infrastructure, such as command and control centers.”

    Ummm…how many command and control centers do the Iranians have in Syria? How much Syrian infrastructure is exclusively Iranian? All along the Israelis have used the fig leaf that they are only attacking Iranian/Hezbollah targets inside Syria, and that if any Syrians get hurt, it was an accident and serves them right for hosting Iran. It kind of sort of looks like they are not really all that fussy about what they hit.

    The SA-17 is fairly current but the system and radar are old. Obviously it remains an effective weapon, but use by Israel of more modern work-arounds is likely to result in more modern Russian systems such as the S-400 and perhaps even the 500 being brought into use. Israel is to arrogant and puffed-up by its American backers to understand caution.

  11. Larry says

    SICKENING! BOTH parties are CORRUPT, EPSTEIN GUILTY and serve our 911 MURDERING / Epstein RAPING BLACKMAILING / ISIS TERRORIST / Beruit NUKING / USS LIBERTY MURDERING PARASITE SATANIC SCUMBAG MONSTERS IN TEL AVIV. Get it? https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/clinton-epstein-trump-img.jpg?scale=896&compress=80

  12. Steve Kastl says

    Russia needs to see that Israel wants to rule them like they rule here in the USA. Coddling Israel is like giving in to a spoiled child. It never works when discipline is needed via a spanking.

  13. GMC says

    This is what happens when the UN and their bought off agencies , look the other way when Israel uses a mini nuke on Beruit’s port . Israel can do anything they want in Lebanon, Jordan, Golan Heights – and get away with it. BS

  14. Jerry Hood says

    Raptor Driver = Snake driver, a nosehooked jew,of zionazi stock…

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