In testimony to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,
Yadlin disclosed the first revised Israeli assessment of Syria's growing
military capability, Middle East Newsline reported. The assessment, which came after decades of playing
down Syrian conventional capabilities, determined that the regime of
President Bashar Assad has developed a military based on a powerful missile
and air defense network at
the expense of a fighter-jet fleet.
"Syria is engaged in a very intense campaign to acquire weapons that are
extremely advanced, so advanced that everything that comes from the
production line in Russia ends up in Syria," Yadlin said.
In his Nov. 2 briefing, Yadlin warned that Syria's air defense network
could become as effective as that of Egypt during the 1973 war. The Israel
Air Force lost 102 aircraft during the 19-day war, most of them shot down by
Egyptian surface-to-air missiles supplied by the Soviet Union.
"This could send us back to the situation that was in the 1970s along
the Suez Canal," Yadlin said.
The Israeli intelligence chief said Syria has failed to acquire the
Russian-origin, long-range S-300PMU1 air defense system. But Yadlin said
Damascus has been deploying a network of lighter and mobile air defense
assets from Moscow, which has also modernized existing anti-aircraft
batteries.
"These are fairly inexpensive missiles compared to the S-300, but they
are no less lethal or effective," Yadlin said.
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