Syria repels imperialist attack with air defense systems made by USSR over 30 years ago

The Russian Defense Ministry stated that most missiles launched by the Western powers on Syria had been downed by Syria's air defenses while approaching their targets
Soviet officers pose in front of an S-200VE in Syria, 1980s.
SERGEY KACHKO / VETERANSYRIA.ORG
Sunday, 15 April 2018 02:00

The Russian Defense Ministry stated that most missiles launched by the Western powers on Syria had been downed by the country's air defenses while approaching their targets.

According to the ministry, Syria repelled the imperialist attack with air defense systems made in the USSR. Although the Syrian military does have some modern air defenses, the cruise missile attack was repelled mostly by upgrades of 30+ year old equipment, including variants of the Buk self-propelled missile system, the S-125 air defense system, and the S-200, an aging but tried and tested SAM introduced into the Soviet military in the late 1960s.

"Syria's means of air defense: S-125, S-200 air defense systems, [as well as] Buk and Kvadrat units were used in the repelling the missile strike," Russian Defense Ministry said. 

Later in the day, the Russian General Staff issued a statement, saying that a total of 71 cruise missiles out of 103 had been intercepted by Syria, adding that no government military airfrield had been damaged as a result of the attack.

Russia's air defenses haven't been used to repel the missile strike on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, the military said.

"None of the cruise missiles launched by the US and its allies entered the zone of responsibility of the Russian air defenses, covering objects in Tartus [naval facility] and Hmeymim [airbase located in Latakia province]," the Russian Defense Ministry explained.

"Russian air defense systems at the Hmeymim and Tartus bases have timely found and controlled all the missile launches from naval and air vehicles of the US and Britain," the Russian General Staff stated, adding that it hadn't recorded French aviation's participation in the attack.