Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — The regime of President Bashar Assad has displayed its new
Russian-origin weapons during a military exercise.

Western diplomats said Assad’s military fired new missiles and other
weapons acquired from Moscow in late 2011 during an exercise that took place
on Dec. 20. They said the new weapons included the P-800 Yakhont cruise
missile, which arrived in November.

“This was a warning to Turkey and NATO to keep out of Syria,” a diplomat said.

This marked the second major military exercise by Syria in less than a month. But the diplomats said the latest exercise was much larger than the first interservice maneuvers.

“The demonstration was aimed at testing the combat capability and readiness of the air force and air defense to confront any possible aggression that might target Syria’s land and air space,” the official Syrian news agency, Sana, said.

Sana said the exercise demonstrated a high level of interoperability in missile and other attacks. Sana, which did not identify the weapons, said the military’s special forces also conducted paratroop operations.

Yakhont has been part of the Bastion coastal defense system supplied by
Moscow. Diplomats said Syria received at least two Bastion systems, or more
than 60 supersonic land-attack missiles.

Syria has also received the Iskander-E long-range surface-to-surface
rocket from Russia. It was not clear whether Syria fired the Iskander during
the latest exercise.

“Marine and coastal missiles participated in the maneuver under
conditions similar to a real battle, hitting the assumed hostile targets
with accuracy that reflected the high level of combat training the marine
personnel had and their efficiency in using modern maritime weapons,” Sana
said.

  Bashar Assad, Bastion coastal defense system, Iskander-E surface-to-surface rocket, P-800 Yakhont cruise missile, Syria fires new Russian missiles in exercise as ‘warning to Turkey and NATO’