Iran to deliver missile system to Syria to boost air defenses
Iranian and Syrian military officials have agreed on the delivery of missile systems to Damascus to boost the West Asian country's air defenses amid increased Israeli air raids.
In a report on Thursday night, IRIB News said Iran and Syria have reached an agreement for the delivery of equipment related to air defenses and electronic warfare.
The exact detail of the agreement has not been revealed. It was clinched during a recent visit of Syria's high-ranking military officials to Iran, including Defense Minister Lieutenant General Ali Mahmoud Abbas.
After years of fighting with terrorism, "Syria needs to reconstruct the network of its air defenses and also required precision bombs for its fighter jets," the report said. "It is very likely that we will witness the supply of Iran's radars and defense missiles, such as the Khordad 15 missile system, to reinforce Syria's air defenses."
Unveiled in June 2019, the homegrown missile system is capable of detecting fighter jets and combat drones from 150 kilometers away and tracking them within a range of 120 kilometers. The system can also detect stealth targets at a distance of 85 kilometers and engage and destroy them within a range of 45 kilometers.
Using Sayyad missiles, the system is capable of simultaneously detecting, intercepting, and shooting down six targets and it can be prepared to engage hostile targets in less than five minutes.
Speaking in a Wednesday meeting with a visiting Syrian delegation led by the country's commander of air defenses, Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani said Tehran uses "all capacities" to establish security in Syria. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has always used all its capacities to fully establish security and foil plots of trans-regional countries and will continue to do so; accordingly, we deem strengthening military and defense cooperation necessary because Iran is Syria's strategic depth and Syria is Iran's strategic depth."
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