The birds were flying: the Russians “roasted” two American fifth-generation stealth aircraft. The birds have flown: the Russians “fried” two American fifth-generation stealth aircraft F 35 shot down in Syria
Two of the most modern fifth-generation American aircraft, the F-35 and F-22, were seriously damaged. Apparently, the “invisible” ones were actually “shot down” not even by the latest Russian installation.
There are Russian troops in Syria. Not a secret. And there are Russian military bases. It's no secret either. Including two main ones - the Khmeimim air force and the naval one in the port of Tartus. Absolutely no secret.
But the Americans are hunting for their secrets. Which is also no secret - they fly along the coast of Syria and record information available to their instruments. And in order to get into not just information, but secret information, militants of terrorist organizations controlled by the United States from time to time launch unmanned vehicles with explosives towards the Khmeimim base. To which Russian air defense systems naturally begin to react. And the Americans, accordingly, take data on the modes that are used by Russian radars in the actual defense of an object. This is important, for example, in order to then configure your electronic warfare (EW) systems to suppress such “combat” radiation during future attacks on the target.
In reality, of course, everything is more complicated, but it is enough to understand the general scheme.
Two “invisibles” – alas and ah!
And now, it seems, the Russians have decided to respond a little to these “innocent” attacks of a potential “partner”. Having observed another patrolling near Khmeimim and Tartus by a US Air Force RC-135W electronic reconnaissance aircraft from the Souda Bay airbase on the island of Crete, and then by an anti-submarine patrol P-8A Poseidon, they prepared a response. And after waiting for the two most modern, most invisible and most expensive American fighters to appear in the region - the F-35 and F-22 - they simply burned out (as they say!) their radio-electronic systems. In any case, as the Americans themselves report, the radio-electronic equipment of these aircraft has become completely unusable, having come under external electromagnetic influence.
But - alas and ah! – there is no one to make claims, and it is impossible. These are invisible planes! The Russians with their backward electronics simply didn’t notice them! So, they were playing around with their most powerful electronic warfare system in the world, “Krasukha S-4,” which is located in the defensive perimeter of their base, and accidentally damaged two American prides at once.
Doesn't this happen by chance? No need for dirt! If it weren’t for chance, the Russians would have locked them up at their base. How they once landed the Tomahawk cruise missile and also the ultra-modern, newest “smart” missile AGM-158 JASSM. And then they meanly and viciously studied them in their military research institutes. And they mocked the Americans, reporting that the information obtained from studying American Tomahawk cruise missiles is already being used in the creation of new electronic warfare systems.
“Knowing all these parameters, we will be able to block these cruise missiles even more effectively at all stages of their combat use,” Vladimir Mikheev, an adviser to the first deputy general director of the Radio-Electronic Technologies (KRET) concern, carnivorously announced then.
They say that when this missile is “in hand”, it is possible to determine “what communication channels it has, information transmission and control, navigation and location.” Well, “assess the degree of security of these channels.”
Looks like they've studied it. And they appreciated it. And at the same time they enlightened (not in the sense of general education) the Israeli F-22 and F-35, which were used in raids on Syria. They, of course, are not completely identical to the American ones in terms of frequencies and encryption, but, apparently, this was enough for Russian electronic warfare operators. After all, they have at their disposal, including (or even primarily) according to American military experts, the best electronic warfare systems in the world.
Although no! They just didn't see anyone. The invisible ones were flying!
Again the Jews are to blame
By the way, in a sense, it was the Israelis who spoiled the Americans in this case. Electronic warfare equipment was located in Khmeimim before, but ultra-modern systems were brought and linked into the system there after the incident with the Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft on September 17, 2018. Then it was shot down by a Syrian S-200 air defense system during landing because it provided cover from the missile from Israeli F-16 fighters that were attacking targets in Syria.
It was after this that in an interview with the Army Standard publication, the same Vladimir Mikheev explained culturally: “That there are Russian electronic warfare systems and means in Syria is no secret. For example, these are navigation suppression systems that fight GPS. They are busy fighting drones. In addition, systems for combating various radar reconnaissance and guidance systems for high-precision weapons have been operating there for a long time. These are the Krasukha S-4 stations, which counteract various means of reconnaissance and guidance of high-precision weapons. Now this group will be strengthened. And, as happened before, it will no longer be possible to fly and bomb something with impunity. Very soon our “friends”, the same Israel, will be convinced of this. Especially when their radar systems stop working in certain areas, communication and control systems, navigation, location, and data transmission fail.”
As we see, that “fatherly” warning is embodied in the practice of educational work among violators of Syrian airspace.
By the way, this also applies to Turkey today. Which keeps threatening to bomb someone and shoot down someone in Idlib. But it never gets resolved...
Best in the world
Strictly speaking, very little concrete information is known about Russian electronic warfare systems. Everything is very strictly classified. So whether, for example, the same “Krasukha” could have “burned out” the American aircraft “brains” is clearly difficult to judge. But in any case, one of Russia’s most professional military experts, Viktor Litovkin, believes that yes, she could. Especially against the backdrop of the fact that our electronic warfare systems, in his opinion, “are the best in the world, that’s for sure.”
Specifically, he noted in a conversation with Tsargrad, the power of the Krasukha S-4 is quite enough to disable the electronics on the F-22 and F-35. “Although, of course, everything depends on the distance, but if American aircraft were in the appropriate range of the system, then it could very well crush their electronic filling like seeds,” he said. – Let us remember how our other electronic warfare system, the Khibiny, dealt with the American destroyer Donald Cook in the Black Sea. So the situation with Krasukha in Syria looks absolutely logical and natural.”
True, the expert considers the word “burned out” to be purely figurative. But it is quite possible to cause fatal disruptions in the operation of electronic systems. “Krasukha S-4” can indeed effectively suppress the signal of all current radar stations and jam control channels, as well as cover enemy location systems at a distance of more than 200 kilometers. As a result, the pilot of an aircraft exposed to electronic warfare is forced to work blindly. What is it like in a modern aircraft, literally stuffed with electronic navigation, combat control, and guidance systems?
These words are partially confirmed by the Americans. Reportedly, as a result of the impact on the planes, their pilots actually became disorientated and returned to base with great difficulty. And after a ground study, which revealed serious violations in the operation of some units, the latter will be replaced.
This is another sign that this is not a simple glitch, but some kind of electronic weapon, as the well-known publication The National Interest already writes. “The Russians have invested heavily in powerful spoofing systems that send false pseudo-GPS signals five hundred times stronger than the real thing, misleading navigation systems for miles.”
And this is true: any car driver in Moscow knows how weird the navigator in his car is when you drive near the Kremlin or, say, past the Moscow City complex. And it’s only natural that something similar, but clearly more powerful and advanced, works near important military installations.
“Krasukha” and others
Why are we talking specifically about “Krasukha S-4” today? This is understandable: everyone has read reports that this particular electronic warfare system was once delivered to a Russian base in Syria. But this complex is not alone in operating in Syria.
Firstly, it works in tandem with the Moscow-1 electronic intelligence complex. It collects data on all ground and air sources of enemy electromagnetic radiation within a radius of 400 km. This information is transmitted to “Krasukha”, which then performs the necessary action - suppressing the signal or the very notorious “burning out” of the corresponding target equipment.
But - secondly - after that vile setup on the part of the Israelis, as a result of which 15 high-class Russian specialist officers were killed at once, some more of the latest equipment was brought to Khmeimim. In particular, there were reports of the R-330Zh Zhitel automated jamming station being put on duty. It is designed to suppress satellite and cellular communication stations, as well as satellite navigation systems. And it is precisely these interferences in Syria that the American military has pitifully reported on more than once. Judging by this, “Resident” really stands and works in Khmeimim.
It was also reported that “Divnomorye” mobile complexes for suppressing the on-board radio-electronic systems of any aircraft were transported to Syria. This system creates something like a dome that covers the defended objects even from long-range radar detection aircraft such as E-3 AWACS and others, as well as satellites.
And since such complexes have been installed, we can legitimately assume that the newest radio suppression system “Pole-21” is working and being tested in combat conditions in Khmeimim. It is designed to protect objects from cruise missiles, guided bombs and drones, suppressing signals for their navigation and targeting from GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and Beidou systems. In other words, from all available ones. And the main thing is that it is so compact that it can easily be “planted” on a cell tower. Look for it there among the equipment!
Finally, there was talk about the transfer of Mi-8 helicopters with Lever-AV active jamming systems to Khmeimim.
So it’s not in vain that the Americans are vibrating about this: in the event of an extreme aggravation of their “love of peace,” they will be instantly and completely deprived of communications, reconnaissance and target designation through space. And the case in Syria is such a light, unobtrusive reminder of the United States of its true place in the current real world of truly modern weapons.
On Monday, October 16, an incident took place between Israel and Syria, which, however, is directly related to Russia. We are talking about an airstrike allegedly carried out by Israeli planes on the positions of the Syrian air defense S-200 battery - in response to the shelling of this complex by Israeli fighters. Both Syrian and Israeli officials have already made the usual statements for such incidents. In both statements one can identify statements that essentially coincide:
On this day at 8:51 (Moscow time), Israeli Air Force planes invaded Syrian airspace, were attacked by Syrian air defense systems (S-200 air defense systems), and then left Syrian airspace.
Further, discrepancies begin between the versions of what happened put forward by official representatives of Israel and Syria. And significant ones at that.
According to a communiqué from the Syrian army command, “one of the aircraft received direct hits, which forced them to leave.” And only after two and a half hours (at 11.38) did Israel respond, attacking the positions of the Syrian army with several missiles launched from the Golan Heights. Some SAR army positions in the suburbs of Damascus (what kind of position and where exactly it is located is not specified) suffered material damage. It is significant, however, that the communiqué makes no mention of an attack on an air defense battery of the Syrian Arab Army and there is absolutely no mention of the S-200 air defense system.
At the same time, the press service of the Israeli army paints a completely different picture of “retribution.” RIA Novosti cites the words of one of its leaders, Jonathan Conkrikus, who claims that the Israeli Air Force retaliated by destroying “key components” of the battery, deployed, according to him, about 50 kilometers east of Damascus and represented by Soviet-made S-200 anti-aircraft missile systems - SA-5 in NATO classification. According to Conkrikus, “this is the same battery that attacked Israeli planes several months ago.” Then, in March, this battery fired a missile at an Israeli plane, which it claimed was destroyed by the Israeli Hetz missile defense system.
The funny thing is that the incident occurred literally a few hours before the visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Israel. As if apologizing, a representative of the Israeli army press service assured that Shoigu would receive “a comprehensive briefing on this topic.” And it's clear why. Indeed, on August 25, 2017, at the International Military-Technical Forum “Army-2017”, during a round table dedicated to discussing the Syrian experience, the Chief of Staff - Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Main Command of the Aerospace Forces (RF Aerospace Forces) Major General Sergei Meshcheryakov said:
“Currently, a unified integrated air defense system has been created in Syria. The information and technical interface of Russian and Syrian air reconnaissance assets has been ensured. All information about the air situation from Syrian radar stations is sent to the control points of the Russian group of forces.”
In this situation, it cannot be ruled out that the combat crew of the S-200 air defense system that attacked the Israeli plane could well have included Russian specialists. Isn’t this the reason for Jonathan Conkrikus’s cautious remark that as a result of an act of Israeli “retribution”, it was not the battery that was destroyed, as many media outlets hastened to report, but only some of its “key components” (which ones, Conkrikus does not specify). And isn’t Conkrikus’s remark that “in the future they may be restored” a confirmation of the truth of the version of the representatives of the SAA command?
Modern war is by no means a knightly duel. The parties - be it the USA, Israel or Russia - are in no hurry to admit exactly what forces and means were used in a particular military episode. If a US serviceman, for example, dies somewhere in the province of Homs or Deir ez-Zor while fighting in the ranks of the “Islamic State” (IS, banned in the Russian Federation), then it is unlikely that the true circumstances of his death will be reported to his relatives. But sooner or later you have to tell something, and not only to relatives. Especially if we are talking about more than one dead person. And then, after two or three weeks, reports appear in the American media that such and such “Green Berets” or “Navy Seals” died - as a result of an accident - during an exercise taking place on the territory of one of the North American states. ..
How is it from the Strugatskys: “If this vulture appeared here in Solovets, it means that some vulture (not necessarily this one) disappeared in the Caucasus or wherever they are found there... Generalized Lomonosov-Lavoisier law...”
The incident with Israeli fighters and Syrian S-200 air defense systems was actively discussed from noon on October 16 until 20:00 on the same day. And against the backdrop of this discussion, a message appeared on the NEWSru.co.il website at 19:20 under the heading “Media: F35 fighter jet disabled after collision with a bird.” Here is its full text:
“The Kan 11 TV channel reported that one of the new F35 fighter jets failed after a collision with a bird during a training flight. According to the TV channel, the emergency occurred two weeks ago. The pilot managed to land the plane normally. There were no casualties as a result of the incident.
However, as the TV channel reported, the F35 needs repairs, and it is unknown whether it will be able to “return to service”, since the stealth coating that provided the aircraft with “invisibility” was damaged as a result of the collision.
The IDF press service told the channel that there was no threat to the lives of the pilots during the incident. The IDF is currently awaiting the opinion of experts from Lockheed Martin, the aircraft manufacturer, on the nature of the damage and the possibility of repairing it."
On the Global Adventure forum, this message became the subject of heated discussion. The overwhelming majority of its participants were inclined to think that this F-35 was one of those Israeli fighters that violated Syrian airspace on the morning of October 16. It is difficult to get rid of the impression that this is exactly the plane about which the SAA command communique says: “one of the planes received direct hits, which forced them to leave.” This statement, according to forum participants, is also supported by the fact that the publication of the fact The “bird strike” surprisingly coincided with an incident in Syrian airspace. What was the point of hiding this fact if it really took place, if the pilot was not injured, for as much as two weeks?
And how does the Kan 11 TV channel’s statement that “the stealth coating was damaged as a result of the collision” correlate with the data provided by Lockheed Martin in its presentation of the F-35 anti-radar coating? If you believe this presentation, then after a bird collision there should not be a single scratch on the anti-radar coating of the cockpit!
Summing up the discussion, one of the most authoritative forum participants said (vocabulary preserved):
Peaceful Israeli fighter jets peacefully invaded the airspace of a neighboring independent state to peacefully photograph military installations for peaceful reconnaissance purposes, from which they repeatedly peacefully fired at Syria. So?
But there is no precedent visible - they were not so long ago just as peacefully killed by the air defense systems of Syria, or “Syria”, for equally peaceful pranks. This is more like a system - don’t interfere, and you won’t get screwed. Why freak out? In such cases, they look for new ways and means of achieving their goals, rather than losing weight in silence. We could try a new tool for this.
It is curious that this is not the first time the Syrians have dared to take such actions. Not?
Everyone knows how “I swear to my mother” in Israeli, as well as in Tymchukov’s - “Vtrat nemae.”
Now about the Russian Minister of Defense flying to Israel. If I haven’t forgotten anything about the morals of our army, then in Khimki [in Khmeimim] at that time even flies were flying in dress uniform, and only along the permitted corridors, all the horses were drunk and the lads were harnessed. Therefore, there can be no talk of any amateur activity in the form of “daring” Syrians.
Did a couple of peaceful Israeli fighters in Lebanese airspace, which inadvertently entered Syrian space at that time, demonstrate peaceful intentions? It is quite possible to guess the purpose of Shoigu’s visit against the backdrop of the official ones - the war is coming to an end, it’s time to put an end to the antics of some God-banished people.
It appears that Israel's "show of force" to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has turned into a complete failure.
On Monday, October 16, Israeli Air Force fighters destroyed an air defense battery of the Syrian armed forces 50 km from Damascus, declaring that in this way they responded to the shelling of their aircraft carrying out a mission in Lebanon. The incident occurred a few hours before the visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Tel Aviv.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the incident, writing that the planes dropped four bombs on the battery, after which the battery no longer worked. The Syrian military confirmed the Israeli strikes and said they caused “material damage.”
However, it is interesting to note that, according to a statement by the Syrian Ministry of Defense, Israeli warplanes violated Syrian airspace on the border with Lebanon in the Baalbek region. The incident occurred at 8:51 local time. Didn't the Israeli Air Force deliberately provoke a reaction from the Syrian military to justify a strike on a Syrian air defense battery? This wasn't the first time!
And as many Israeli military experts immediately noted, the incident was directly related in time to the visit of the Russian Defense Minister to Tel Aviv, which was “an excellent demonstration of strength for the Russian-Iranian-Syrian alliance.”
However, something clearly went wrong with the demonstration. According to available information, the Syrian Defense Forces used the most modern air defense system at their disposal to attack an Israeli military aircraft - the S-200 missile, developed by the USSR back in 1964. And yet, according to the assurances of the Syrian military, this Soviet relic ended up in the famous and invulnerable Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
Despite the fact that the Syrian Ministry of Defense stated that the Syrian military “hit one of the planes, forcing [Israeli planes] to retreat,” Israel categorically denied this information:
However, it somehow surprisingly coincided that just a few hours after the incident in the skies over Syria, the Israeli media reported that the invisible and invulnerable F-35 fighter of the Israeli Air Force collided with birds during a training flight and became unfit for flight. Times of Israel:
The military says the F-35 collided with two storks during a training flight on Tuesday and now requires immediate repairs.
The birds hit the F-35 shortly before it returned to Nevatim air base in the central Negev desert. However, Israeli military sources refused to show a photo of their F-35 after the “bird strike.”
Additionally, it is unclear whether the F-35 could become operational again “in the next few days,” as the Israeli army statement claims, since its stealth coating is likely to be heavily damaged.
Thus, according to the Israeli version, the combat aircraft was reportedly no longer operational after the bird strike, despite the fact that the F-35 passed all bird strike tests in US testing (). So what hit the F-35?
By the way, the F-35 is the most expensive combat aircraft in the world, the price of which is now about 406.5 million dollars. Israel is actively buying it, but for some reason at a price of $100 million for each plane.
The American online publication American Thinker commented on the results of an Israeli air raid on Iranian bases located in Syria. The conclusions drawn are stunning: thanks to this highly successful attack, Russia will be forced to retreat from Syrian territory. The publication also exposes the inconsistency of the developments of the Russian company Almaz-Antey, which produces worthless anti-aircraft missile systems. Well, not completely useless, of course, but they broke their teeth on the world’s best stealth fighter, the F-35.
Nine American F-35A fighter-bombers, which were recently acquired for the Israeli Air Force, carried out strikes on 50 Iranian bases located in the provinces of Tartus and Hama in western Syria. The bases suffered significant damage. The operation lasted less than 90 minutes.
The most gratifying thing for the “American Thinker” is that this action made it possible to prove to those deceived by Russian propaganda that Russian air defense systems are unable not only to intercept the F-35, but even to detect it. Israeli pilots worked, as they say, in conditions of increased comfort, without fear of any response from air defense forces. At the same time, the main air defense forces were the S-300 air defense systems, for which, according to the Russians, intercepting the F-35 is not difficult. Because the S-300 radar makes the stealth fighter perfectly visible at a great distance.
Syrian? But Syria does not have the S-300. In 2010, a contract was signed for the supply of four S-300PMU2 divisions. However, five years later the contract was canceled at the request of Israel.
Russian? Yes, a division of S-300V4 air defense systems was assigned to protect the Russian military base. However, what relation can it have to the protection of Iranian bases? Even if the complex’s radars spotted the F-35s, no one was going to shoot them down. Firstly, there is still an agreement between Moscow and Tel Aviv on mutual non-aggression.
Secondly, Russian air defense systems do not respond even when attacks are carried out on Syrian targets. The S-300, like the S-400, protects only Russian targets in Syria.
Iranian? Yes, indeed, after the embargo was lifted, 4 divisions of S-300PMU2 “Favorite” were delivered to Iran. However, it is difficult to imagine that systems purchased from Russia to protect Tehran and Iranian nuclear facilities, including the Bushehr nuclear power plant, would suddenly be transferred to another country to cover military bases that do not play the most important role in the life of the country. There is more than enough work for them in Iran due to the fact that Israel constantly states that it is ready to destroy Iran's “weapons of mass destruction infrastructure.” And even once, in the last century, he already bombed one object. However, Iran also promises to erase Israel from the map of the Middle East. Therefore, it is strengthening air defense systems on its territory, and not beyond its borders.
So the situation that “American Thinker” modeled in relation to the F-35 is very reminiscent of the old joke about the elusive Joe, whom no one is going to catch.
But the American S-300 stealth system could easily detect it. Moreover, they could have been shot down, and with a high degree of probability. As, for example, this happened at the end of the last century in Yugoslavia, when the “invisible” F-117 was shot down with the help of the S-125 Pechora air defense system, which the USSR began exporting in the 60s.
The Serbs then acted extremely competently. The radar did not light up too much; it was turned on briefly at the moment of the most decisive actions. Also, such a property of “invisibility” as the dependence of the effective scattering area (ESR) on the angle from which the aircraft is observed was fully used. It is only in frontal projection, when planes go head-on, that the minimum EPR value occurs. If the detection radar illuminates the “belly” of the aircraft or the side projections, then invisibility rapidly decreases.
The Serbs were then able to detect an American fighter at a distance of 50 km and shoot it down when it approached 10 km. The pilot was unable to perform the anti-missile maneuver due to the low performance of the aircraft. Actually, maneuverability is also a weak point of the F-35. Interestingly, the F-117 and F-35 were developed by the same company - Lockheed Martin.
It is much more difficult to deceive the S-300 radars. Because due to the rapid increase in computer speed, it has become possible to qualitatively improve the processing of radar signals reflected from targets. Previously, air defense missile systems operated in the centimeter radio wave range, which made it possible to obtain information about the target sufficient to track it and point anti-aircraft missiles at it.
In the meter range, the stealth of an aircraft built using stealth technology becomes illusory. That is, the aircraft is perfectly detectable at a great distance, just like, for example, the F-4 Phantom. However, the low resolution provided by the reflected meter radar signal does not allow one to accurately determine the azimuth, elevation and distance to the target. Based on the information received, attacking the target is problematic.
At the moment, new mathematical methods of signal processing, which were previously unavailable, make it possible to use scanning in the meter range to obtain sufficient resolution for target designation. True, to achieve the best performance, the radar frequency constantly switches between the meter, decimeter and centimeter ranges. This is exactly how three target designation radars (standard, all-altitude and low-altitude) and the S-300MP2 Favorit air defense detection radar are designed.
The sad situation for stealth aircraft of the F-35 type is further aggravated by the fact that in the Favorit system, as in a number of previous modifications of the S-300, there is the possibility, and it is used, of creating a network of radars that are capable of “observing” stealth aircraft from different angles. And thanks to this, little remains of the stealth stealth. Actually, the network can be built not only from locators included in regimental air defense systems, but from radars of other types that are serviced by radio engineering troops.
The frequency characteristics of such systems and complexes are classified all over the world. And the characteristics regarding the EPR values with which the air defense system can operate should also be perceived as very conditional information. In particular, Almaz-Antey reports that low-flying targets with an ESR of 0.02 sq.m. are available for phased array guidance radars. at a distance of 90 km. But this is not a fact; those who decide to try this characteristic in practice may be very disappointed. In addition, this parameter is, as they say, frontal; it does not take into account the operation of the complex as part of a distributed radar network. Actually, you cannot believe the Lockheed Martin company, which claims that the EPR of the F-35 is equal to 0.001 sq.m. This is 5 times less than the F-22. However, experts, and not only ours, but also foreign ones, unanimously claim that in terms of stealth, the F-35 is significantly inferior to the much more effective F-22. And the real ESR can be in the range from 0.04 to 0.2.
However, it is possible to accurately measure the EPR of the F-35. The United States supplies Turkey with its “invisible” missiles. At the same time, Türkiye is acquiring S-400 air defense systems from Russia. What Washington vehemently opposes, threatening Ankara with harsh sanctions. And this is understandable; with the help of our system, the Turks will be able to comprehensively examine the F-35 for stealth. And if it turns out to be exaggerated, then this could result in not only reputational, but also financial losses for the United States - after all, it is planned to build more than 3 thousand of these aircraft of three modifications.
Until recently, for the United States, whose army was focused on military conflicts with an enemy that did not possess serious military equipment, the problem of “visibility of the invisible” was not acute. Now in the States they are seriously thinking about this. Admiral Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, described the problem as follows: “Rapid growth in computing power is leading to the development of new sensors and new techniques that will make it very difficult to realize the full benefits of the Stealth design. In the face of new and increasingly sophisticated detection systems, the fight to keep our aircraft invisible will require increasingly significant investment in future generations.” But the development of the F-35 turned out to be super serious financially, it cost almost $60 billion.
But Greenert considers the creation of long-range air-to-surface missiles to be a much more effective way, which would allow aircraft not to approach enemy air defense zones when carrying out a combat mission. And also the use of drones to break through air defenses in order to ensure safe passage for manned aircraft. Moreover, aircraft do not necessarily have to be “invisible”; the admiral believes that it is possible to use fourth-generation fighter-bombers, equipping them with modern equipment and long-range missile weapons.
So the story about how “the Israeli invisible one put the Russian S-300 to shame” is the fantasy of an “American thinker.” Even more strange is the statement that now the “disgraced Russians” will leave Syria. At the same time, the Russians were allegedly put to shame even earlier, in the spring of this year: “The S-400 did not respond to missile attacks by American, British and French troops on April 14, 2018, as a result of which some observers came to the conclusion that the system’s capabilities were overestimated,” says the American edition.
The Thinker eventually became so disillusioned with the capabilities of Russian systems that he predicted an easy ride for Israeli F-35s to Iran, where they would destroy the plutonium reactor at Arak. By the way, this reactor was filled with concrete back in 2016, and it is completely unclear why it needs to be bombed.
All these are fantasies based on the desire to glorify American weapons and disgrace Russian ones. It is possible to understand people. But complete ignorance of your weapon is unforgivable. The article claims that the stealth attack caused serious damage to fifty bases.
Firstly, out of 9 Israeli fighters, two were received quite recently. And they are unlikely to have achieved full operational readiness. This means that there were at most 7 planes, or even less.
Secondly, the internal compartments of the F-35 can only accommodate 4 missiles. Consequently, there could be no more than 28 missiles, or even less. How they could attack 50 bases, The Thinker is silent about. Maybe the rockets were reusable?
If you attach additional missiles to external slings, then everything is fine with arithmetic. However, stealth is not normal; in this form, the F-35 is no different in terms of EPR from the F-16, which was built without the use of stealth technologies. In this connection, it is completely unclear how, in this situation, one can talk about “shaming the S-300”
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It appears that Israel's “show of power” during the recent visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has turned into a show of weakness. At least there are rumors about it. On October 16, Shoigu arrived in Israel to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The situation in the region, Syria, the fight against terrorism, as well as military-technical cooperation were discussed.
On the same day, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said its warplanes struck a Syrian air defense anti-aircraft battery, destroying one of the batteries that fired a missile at an Israeli plane flying over Lebanon.
Israel’s first two F-35 stealth fighter jets on their maiden flight as part of the Israeli Air Force on December 13, 2016. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
“The army attacked a Syrian air defense battery with four bombs and, according to the IDF, the battery was destroyed to the point that it was no longer able to operate. The army said the target air defense battery was attacked by Israeli aircraft, prompting Israel to use its anti-missile system for the first time.” Shooter "," wrote the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
"Today, during a routine flight over Lebanon from Syria, an anti-aircraft missile was fired towards an IDF aircraft. In response, IDF aircraft attacked an anti-aircraft battery in Syria. The Syrian regime is responsible for the fire on Israeli aircraft. The IDF retains its ability to disrupt any military action against Israeli civilians persons," the Israeli Defense Forces tweeted at the time.
According to the Israeli military, the Syrian air defense did not cause any material damage, and in general, did not pose a particular danger to their “stealth” systems.
However, new details of the incident are emerging, and as it turns out, not everything is so smooth for Israel and its armed forces. According to available information, the Syrian defense forces used an S-200 missile against an Israeli military aircraft. This Soviet missile is the most advanced long-range anti-aircraft system operated by the Syrian military.
Apparently, there is no doubt that the vaunted F-35 (“stealth”) was shot down, or rather scratched, as the Syrians themselves say, by an old Soviet S-200 missile)))
The F-35 is the world's most expensive military aircraft, with its development price currently around $406.5 billion. Israel is actively purchasing the world's supposedly most advanced fighter jet, paying about $100 million for each aircraft.
All cases of shelling of Syrian territory by Israeli IDF militants can be found in the material -
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