WarSclerotic

Hamas threatened Israel through western and regional mediators on Sunday because of the delay of the Qatari money transfer, according to Hadashot News.

“If Israel does not transfer the Qatari money, Hamas will escalate the situation on the ground,” a report from Asharq Al-Awsat, an Arabic international newspaper located in London, quoted Hamas as saying. The terrorist organization also demanded that the fishing area be expanded and the blockade on prohibiting goods into Gaza be stopped.

After delaying the third installment of the $15 million, the payment was scheduled to be delivered to Hamas on Sunday or Monday.

Former defense minister and chairman of the Yisrael Beytenu party MK Avigdor Liberman bashed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for leaving to Chad as the Qatari money is scheduled to be transferred to Hamas.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went tonight for an important political visit to Chad. And who comes in his place? The Qatari envoy, who brings in an additional $15 million in cash earmarked for Hamas,” Liberman said. “This is the continuation of the process of surrendering to terrorists and Hamas, and no political visit to Africa can cover that up.

“The government of Israel must stop the transfer of Qatari money, fuel and any additional equipment to Gaza and make sure every concession to Gaza is only in return for the release of our soldiers and citizens who are held by Hamas!”

Iran’s latest model of its domestically built Karrar tank puts it at the level of other world powers, Iranian media said over the last week. In recent years Iran has built up an impressive list of new weapons systems, including ballistic missiles, and sought to improve its navy and air force.

According to Iran’s Tasnim news agency a tank dubbed the Karrar (striker) that was initially announced in 2017 is based on models going back to the 1970s. It was developed from the platform of a Russian T-72.

Iran’s deputy Defense Minister General Qassem Taqizadeh discussed the latest version of the tank alongside a new Soumar cruise missile on January 13. The Karrar was destined to be delivered both to the army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“The tank is at the level of the most. Advanced. Global tanks and can be compared to the Russian T-90 tank, even having superiority over it,” Former Defense Minister Hossean Dehqan was quoted in Shabestan news.

“It is a tank that, if we want to compare, is on the American Abrams scale.” The T-90 has been in service since the 1990s and the Abrams since the 1980s but both have received major upgrades since then.

Dehqan played a central role in developing the latest Karrar line of tanks. According to Press TV they are built in the city of Dorud in Lorestan province. IRGC commander Muhammed Pakpour told Shabestan news that the IRGC is excited about the tank if it ever makes its final debut. It is supposed to have an electro-optical fire control system, and the ability to fire at moving targets at night and in the day, as well as be able to shoot missiles with laser guidance. Like the T-90 its man gun is a 125mm cannon. The tank is supposed to have armor effective against RPG-7s and similar ordinance.

So far Iran hopes to build 800 of the tanks to bolster its armed forces, while at the same time Iran claims that its expanding arsenal of weapons does not make it a threat to its neighbors.

The tank, like Iran’s claims of having build a fighter jet and new ships, may end up being merely a bad copy of a foreign weapon system. Iran has shown in the past that while it has impressive achievements in ballistic missiles and missile technology, that larger weapons platforms built domestically face many hurdles. Iran also has been unable to test these systems against an opponent since it is unwilling to confront the US, it’s main enemy, on the field of battle, and its other enemies consist of terrorist groups such as ISIS.

According to Iran’s Tasnim news agency a tank dubbed the Karrar (striker) that was initially announced in 2017 is based on models going back to the 1970s. It was developed from the platform of a Russian T-72.

Iran’s deputy Defense Minister General Qassem Taqizadeh discussed the latest version of the tank alongside a new Soumar cruise missile on January 13. The Karrar was destined to be delivered both to the army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“The tank is at the level of the most. Advanced. Global tanks and can be compared to the Russian T-90 tank, even having superiority over it,” Former Defense Minister Hossean Dehqan was quoted in Shabestan news.

“It is a tank that, if we want to compare, is on the American Abrams scale.” The T-90 has been in service since the 1990s and the Abrams since the 1980s but both have received major upgrades since then.

Dehqan played a central role in developing the latest Karrar line of tanks. According to Press TV they are built in the city of Dorud in Lorestan province. IRGC commander Muhammed Pakpour told Shabestan news that the IRGC is excited about the tank if it ever makes its final debut. It is supposed to have an electro-optical fire control system, and the ability to fire at moving targets at night and in the day, as well as be able to shoot missiles with laser guidance. Like the T-90 its man gun is a 125mm cannon. The tank is supposed to have armor effective against RPG-7s and similar ordinance.

So far Iran hopes to build 800 of the tanks to bolster its armed forces, while at the same time Iran claims that its expanding arsenal of weapons does not make it a threat to its neighbors.

The tank, like Iran’s claims of having build a fighter jet and new ships, may end up being merely a bad copy of a foreign weapon system. Iran has shown in the past that while it has impressive achievements in ballistic missiles and missile technology, that larger weapons platforms built domestically face many hurdles. Iran also has been unable to test these systems against an opponent since it is unwilling to confront the US, it’s main enemy, on the field of battle, and its other enemies consist of terrorist groups such as ISIS.

Syrian air defense attempted to intercept an attack near the Damascus International Airport on Sunday. Like previous claims, this one is likely false or only partially accurate. Syrian air defense consists of multiple layers of weapons systems, including the S-300, which Russia supplied in early October.

The following is a list of the different systems Syria has and evidence as to which may have been used recently. Syrian air defense consists of Russian systems of surface-to-air missiles, some of them antiquated.

An anti-aircraft missile system, it is also called the Pantsir S-1 and is used to protect military bases and other targets. It is supposed to be used for low-altitude threats and has a mobile version that can be mounted on a truck.

Designed in Russia, it has been around since the mid-1990s. In 2000, the UAE purchased 50 units of the system and Syria bought $900 million worth of the system in 2007. Deliveries came in 2008, three years before the civil war broke out.

The system can threaten aircraft over the Golan. Iran supported the Syrian purchase. It reportedly downed a Turkish reconnaissance plane in 2012 and has been used to defend Syrian airspace over the years. One of its batteries was destroyed in May 2018 after Iran fired a salvo of rockets at Israel from Syria. It has a range of only 20 km.

S-125

Also called the SA-3, this antiquated system was developed in the 1950s and was supposed to deal with medium-altitude threats as part of a layered system that would include the S-200 and other defenses. It has a range of around 15 km. and is paired with a radar system.

Syrian Defense Ministry representatives attended a training session in Russia to improve their air defense in 2011. At the time, before the Syrian civil war broke out, Syria was alleged to have the S-200, S-125 and Buk. It was also seeking to modernize its air defense with supplies of two S-6 Tunguska air defense missile systems and 18 of the Buk-M2E as well as 36 Pantsir S-1. In this context, the S-125 was one of many systems the Syrians were attempting to use in their inventory. Russia has built other versions of it, but Syria’s air defense has not found the system to be very effective.

Buk missile system

Designed originally in the 1970s, the system is supposed to confront cruise missiles, small slow-moving aircraft, drones and smart bombs. Also called the SA-17 Grizzly, Syria acquired a mobile version of it called the Buk-M2. The mobile missile launcher has four missiles that are connected to a target-acquisition radar and a battle-management station. Hezbollah allegedly sought to acquire this system in 2015. The more advanced version has a range of up to 150 km. At least one of the systems was destroyed in May.

S-200

Also known as the SA-5 Gammon, it is designed to confront high-altitude targets and has a range of 150 km., with more modern variants extending that to 300km. With a 200-kg. warhead, it is bigger than those of the Buk (70 kg.) and the S-125 (60 kg.).

Syria has attempted to use the S-200 to defend itself against airstrikes. In March 2017, an S-200 missile reportedly carrying a 200-kg. warhead was headed for the Jordan Valley when Israel intercepted it with an Arrow missile. In another case, an S-200 followed an Israeli F-16 back from Syria in February, causing the plane to crash.

Syrian air defense is deployed extensively around Damascus, Homs and around the T-4 air base, in strategic locations. One report says that there are two Panstir S-1 systems at T-4, where Iranian forces have allegedly been based.

Tunguska

The Tunguska air defense system consists of a tracked vehicle with machine guns and missiles. Also known as the SA-19 Grison, the Russian made system was designed in the 1970s. It can fire 5,000 rounds a minute and is supposed to be used against helicopters, low-flying aircraft and cruise missiles. It’s not entirely clear how active the system is in Syria, or if the Syrians use it. A 2017 article by Russia’s Sputnik news agency noted that if it had been active, it would have been able to defend against various attacks.

S-300

The system was developed in the late 1970s and has an older and a more modern version. The S-300 PM-2 was first rolled out in the mid-1990s. It has modern radar and a command center, as well as mobile vehicles for the missiles. It has a range of up to 200 km. The S-300 PM-2 is the more advanced system and Russia provided it to Syria in October. The system was reported operational in early November but has not been used by Syrian air defense yet, according to reports.

THE LAYERS of air defense that Syria has should be able to confront some of the threats thrown at the regime. However, many of the systems are antiquated and cannot confront fifth generation airplanes, such as the F-35, nor have they proven to deal effectively with cruise missiles or other ordnance that can be fired from a long range.

The full details of the shadow air war that has gone on over Syria in the last seven years are not fully clear. Israel has said it carried out attacks on 200 targets in the last two years, and in separate statements indicated that it struck another 100 targets in the years before that. But the types of munitions used have not been released, except in rare cases such as the F-16 that was destroyed returning from one mission.

Russia must watch closely as its systems in Syrian hands do not prove to be effective. In one case, an S-200 destroyed a Russian IL-20. The slow moving IL-20 was an easy target at the time, but the S-200 was supposed to be targeting Israeli aircraft and failed in its mission. Russia also has its own more advanced S-400 system, radars and electronic warfare sites in northern Syria’s Latakia, but it has not used them.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia believes that to cover all of Syria, two battalions of S-400s and three to four battalions of S-300s would be necessary. With Syria holding on to its S-300, either concerned about using it or not being fully trained to use it, the regime’s air defense lacks the layered and modern systems that it needs to confront the kind of adversary it has been facing.

The airstrikes on Syria reported Sunday morning came amid rising tensions in the region and followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warning that Iran should leave Syria as “quickly as possible.”

Israeli officials have been more open in the last few weeks about past Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Syria.

On January 13, Netanyahu said Israel was prepared to confront Iran’s activities in Syria, after admitting Israel carried out a January 12 strike on a warehouse. This was a message to Russia, as well as to Iran and Syria, because Russia is the main backer of the Syrian regime and has supplied the S-300 air defense system to Damascus in the wake of a September airstrike in Latakia that resulted in the downing of a Russian Il-20.

Israel has always viewed Iran’s role in Syria and its support for Hezbollah as a threat. However, developments in Syria have brought that into greater clarity in the past year.

Israel has warned repeatedly since 2017 about this presence. In November 2017, for instance, details of an Iranian base south of Damascus near El-Kiswah were leaked to Western media. In the fall of 2018, details about Iranian shipments to Hezbollah and Iran’s use of civilian cargo airliners as cover for weapons transport were also leaked by Western intelligence sources. Bit by bit, a picture of Iran’s activities have been revealed.

At the same time, as details emerged about Iran’s role in Syria and as Israel released official statements urging Iran to reduce its presence, airstrikes against Iranian targets have increased. At first, these airstrikes took place during the fog of war, with no one claiming credit for them. In August 2017, Israel Air Force head Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel revealed that the IDF had struck arms convoys 100 times in Syria during the civil war. Iran was using the chaos of war to transport weapons over the mountains from Damascus to Hezbollah.

In September 2018, Israel said it had carried out 200 attacks on Iranian targets in Syria over a year-and-a-half period. This came after months of tension that included an Iranian drone entering Israeli airspace in February 2018 and the crash of the Israeli F-16 returning from airstrikes in Syria that month.

Full details of the shadow war being fought over Syria were never detailed. Foreign media, including Syrian regime media, reported on strikes here and there. Sometimes the spillover from the strikes was visible. In March 2017, for example, Israel activated its Arrow missile defense system to stop a missile fired from Syria. On December 25, 2018, pictures online showed an air defense missile activated near Hadera.

Speaking with The New York Times, outgoing IDF chief Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said Israel had struck thousands of targets in Syria. He noted that Israel had not taken credit for these strikes at the time, but the numbers appeared far more than the 100 or 200 sites mentioned previously. The overall picture was of increased targeting of Iranian assets in Syria.

This has also impacted Israel-Russia relations, as Moscow has become more critical of Israel’s actions since last fall. Russia has warned against “hot heads” creating provocations in Syria. It also reportedly warned this month about more strikes near Damascus Airport. The warning came amid concerns that airstrikes might endanger civilian aircraft. On January 20, a Mahan Air flight allegedly turned around during daylight airstrikes. Syrian air defense has shown that it can make mistakes during alerts.

Syrian claims of a daytime airstrike during on Sunday show that while Iran wants to continue supplying Syria and Hezbollah, the Syrian regime’s air defenses are alert and now know that airstrikes might come in the daytime as well as at night. This comes as the US has warned Iran about its role in the region. US National Security Adviser John Bolton was in Israel this month, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to the Gulf and Cairo to condemn Iran’s activities.

Israel was reportedly concerned about the US withdrawal from Syria and the implications it might have for Iran’s foothold in Syria or its attempt to carve out a corridor to the sea via Syria and Iraq.