It has been reported that the U.S. has been operating in the skies over Syria unimpeded by Russia’s advanced S-300 anti-aircraft system deployed there.
Debka, an English language Israeli military intelligence website, reported on Thursday that for at least one week, US Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth planes and F/A 18F Super Hornet fighters have been flying night and day over Syria. The planes are stationed in the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and the US Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
It is also believed that some of the U.S. warplanes flying over Syria came off the Deck of the USS Harry Truman which arrived in the Mediterranean ten days ago. Aboard the Truman are nine squadrons of Carrier Air Wing fighter-bombers. Its strike force consists of the USS Normandy guided missile cruiser and four guided missile destroyers.
The U.S. air activity over Syria led to Iran making explicit threats targeting the U.S. fleet and bases in the region.
“US bases in Afghanistan, the UAE and Qatar, and US aircraft carriers in the Gulf are within range of our missiles,” said Brig. Gen. Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ airspace division, last Wednesday. “We can hit them if they (Americans) make a move. Our land-to-sea missiles have a range of 700 km (450 miles) … and the US aircraft carriers are our targets.”
Also sailing the Mediterranean is the Russian Middle East fleet composed of eight vessels.
The S-300 anti-aircraft weapons system deployed by Russia in Syria does not seem to be a deterrence to the U.S. warplanes.
“Russia’s S-300 air defense systems in Syria have no impact on United States’ operations in the country.” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Any additional arms sent into Syria only serves to escalate the situation at this point.”
This report of U.S. flights over Syria corresponds to reports of two minor airstrikes that have taken place since Israel stopped all operations in September after inadvertently shooting down a Russian plane.
