According to a satellite intelligence company, the Russian S-300 air defense system in the town of Masyaf has been taken apart and is no longer in the area.

S-300

Israeli intelligence says that this system was in this area for a long time but is no longer there. Satellite images from ImageSat International [ISI] confirmed the information.

Israeli news sources say that the S-300 was first sent to the Khmeimim Air Base in Russia. It was taken apart and sent to the port of Tartus from there. It is loaded onto a Russian ship, which is expected to arrive at the port of Novorossiysk on Friday, September 2.

Experts from Israel say that Russia is getting the S-300 back to strengthen its air defenses. The same Israeli sources say that the war in Ukraine has damaged its air defenses and shows that they need to be fixed.

The same S-300 defenses intercepted Israeli F-16s.

On May 17, we reported that an Israeli F-16 fighter was the target of a 48N6E3 anti-aircraft missile fired from the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system [NATO name SA-10A Grumble].

S-300

TV correspondent Alon Ben-David reported the news on his Twitter account before it was formally aired on Israeli TV Channel 13.

Channel 13 says that on May 13, a “Russian” S-300 battery fired a missile at an Israeli plane after an Israeli F-16 bombed targets near the city of Masiaf in northwest Syria. 

The Israeli military hasn’t said anything about the F-16 attacks or the anti-aircraft missile fired at the plane, which isn’t a big surprise since they’ve been doing this for a long time.

At the same time, Russia’s Defense Ministry’s Reconciliation Center for Syria said in a press release that an Israeli fighter jet had attacked “a Syrian research center” in the city of Masiaf and the port of Baniyas on May 13 but didn’t say anything about the rocket fire that Channel 13 said had happened.

We don’t know if the S-300 missile was Russian or Syrian, but it doesn’t matter. The Russian military in Syria controls the launch of both Russian and Syrian S-300 missiles, so it doesn’t matter which one it is.

Why did Russia send S-300 to Syria in 2018?

The Russian spy plane that was shot down is the reason why the S-300 is being sent to Syria. Russia says that Israel shot down the plane, but Israel says that Syrian forces did it.

Even though Israel tried to get Russia to stop sending the S-300 to Syria, they disagreed. The Israeli Air Force would find it harder to fight Hezbollah and other threats. But Russia disagreed with Israel’s reasons and gave Syria three free S-300 systems.

Russia has also put S-400 anti-aircraft systems in Syria. Officials from Israel say that Russia hasn’t used the S-400 against Israeli military assets yet.