Here is how it was. On tv channel Fox News "Exclusively" reported: "Russia deploys for the first time, US officials say." Some "US officials" told reporters that Russia was first deploying its "advanced anti-missile systems" in Syria.
These systems in the material are called according to the NATO index SA-23 "Gladiator" (in Russia - C-300BM "Antey-2500").
US officials, who are “not sure of the motives of Moscow,” say that the new weapons system may well “resist any American cruise missiles.”
The SA-23 "Gladiator" has a range of approximately 150 miles. The system arrived last weekend "to the pier" of the Russian naval base in Tartus. Two American officials told journalists about this (names are not named).
This is the first time that Russia has deployed the SA-23 system outside, said “one Western official”, referring to “intelligence” data. Missiles and related components are still not combat ready.
The US intelligence community has been monitoring SA-23 in Russia in recent weeks, according to another unnamed official.
Despite the complete anonymity of the participants in the American "exclusive reporting", information about the C-300 complex was confirmed.
According to Interfax, Russia really sent a C-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Syria. This was informed by the representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Major-General Igor Konashenkov.
“Indeed, the C-300 anti-aircraft missile system was delivered to the Syrian Arab Republic,” the agency quotes him.
According to the general, the complex is designed to ensure the safety of the naval base in Tartus and in the coastal zone of operational missions connecting the Russian Navy from air.
The representative also recalled that C-300 is a defense system: “Let me remind you that C-300 is an exclusively defensive system and does not pose any threat to anyone. It’s not quite clear why the C-300 location in Syria caused such a stir among our Western colleagues. ”
Konashenkov noted that a similar naval system was located in the region - the Fort complex (the Black Sea missile cruiser was equipped with it) fleet "Moscow").
Light panic in the US over C-300, we add, is explicable: the system arrived in the region just at the time when Washington decided to stop cooperating with the Russian Federation on a settlement in Syria. In the US Department of State, Moscow and Damascus were accused of rejecting a diplomatic decision and preferring military decisions. In Russia, they believe that we should strive to normalize the situation in the country. In short, she found a scythe on a stone. The appearance of the C-300 complex off the coast of Syria serves the State Department as "confirming" Russia's military "intentions". The defensive nature of the C-300 is not taken into account there, and anonymous officials are already talking about the possible direction of missiles "against American aircraft", since there is nothing more to shoot down in the air in Syria: IG (forbidden in the Russian Federation) does not have its flying machines, no also rockets. In general, there is a “fat hint” of Americans to the attempt of the Russians to translate the cold war into a hot one. At the very least, this will complicate the political "settlement" in Syria, the State Department believes.
The negotiations on a cease-fire in Syria, the Americans turned. The reason was the role of Russia in the "Aleppo bombings". In response, Putin suspended an agreement to destroy plutonium from 2000, note in the western press. The parties make a move after a move, the tension increases.
However, the State Department is still counting on at least some negotiations with the Russians.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said at a briefing that the US continues to consider options for action to move towards a settlement, albeit in a “multilateral format.” According to Mr. Toner, Washington’s temporary suspension of bilateral cooperation with Russia does not mean giving up multilateral efforts. And now the American departments produce diplomatic, military, intelligence and economic options for likely solutions. The next meeting on Syria will be held in Berlin, but Russian participation in the talks has not yet been reported. Mr. Toner believes that the question of the participation of Moscow should be decided by Germany (as the organizer of the meeting).
As for sending C-300 to Syria, Russian experts have already spoken about this.
Vladimir Evseev, Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries, believes that sending Anthea to Syria is connected with the need to increase protection against possible rocket attacks, because, unlike Pantyr and C-400 air defense systems, the C-300ВМ system is “sharpened” the reflection of warheads that move at speeds up to 5 km per second: “Antey” is capable of striking them at an altitude of up to thirty kilometers.
"It (the system) can effectively withstand not only Tomahawk class subsonic missiles, but also more serious ones, including ballistic missiles, including those that can be launched from submarines," the military expert quotes. Utro.ru.
According to the specialist, with the advent of C-300, Russia will be able to prevent the firing of rockets of the entire range that the United States can use in Syria.
In addition to missiles, "Antey" can hit and airplanes, including modern "invisible".
It can be stated, we add that a certain rapprochement on Syria, achieved quite recently by Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov, has not only faded away, but also turned into its opposite. Tension is growing, the cold war between the United States and the Russian Federation is beginning to look like a prologue to a hot war.
Russia's withdrawal from the arms control agreement, which requires the parties to destroy 34 tons of plutonium, in the United States is considered a dangerous sign of deteriorating relations. In Russia, in turn, they remind that the American coalition recently bombed the Syrian troops. There are suggestions that this was done intentionally by the military. In the US, they pull out their trump card: they say, the Russians, along with Assad, "bombed a humanitarian convoy."
In such a situation, it is difficult to expect any progress in diplomacy. Rather, the opposite: the relationship will deteriorate further. And hardly Hillary Clinton, who is expected to come to power in the United States, will start a new “reset”. However, the “overload” also emerged from the old one.
Observed and commented on Oleg Chuvakin
- especially for topwar.ru
- especially for topwar.ru