Latest news with #PalmyraAirport
Forbes
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Turkey Unlikely Capable Of Contesting Israeli Air Supremacy Over Syria
Recent Israeli airstrikes against airbases in central Syria have led some Syria analysts to speculate that Israel was signaling its firm opposition to Turkey establishing a military presence in Syria to the new caretaker government in Damascus and its Ankara backer. True or not, one thing is abundantly clear: Turkey would have its work cut out challenging Israeli air supremacy over Syria. The Israeli military announced separate strikes on the airbases of Tiyas, or T-4, and Palmyra Airport in central Syria on March 21 and March 25, respectively. Preliminary reports indicate the first strike wounded two Syrian military personnel. The Israeli military claimed it had struck 'remaining military capabilities' from the former regime of President Bashar al-Assad at the bases, and the air force published footage of the strikes, alongside concurrent attacks targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Analysts have interpreted the strikes as a warning against the new Syrian government in Damascus, headed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and its backer, Turkey. Reuters reported in February that Sharaa was expected to discuss a Syria-Turkey defense pact that would include establishing Turkish airbases—most likely at T-4 and Palmyra—during his first meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that month. There is no indication that Turkey will deploy forces or aircraft to either central Syria in the near future. Nevertheless, the Syria-based North Press Agency reported that Turkey has begun the groundwork to 'establish an air defense center' in Syria's northwestern Menagh airbase near the Turkish border, presumably to help Syria monitor its airspace again. Following the December 8 fall of the Assad regime, Israel quickly expanded its presence in southern Syria and destroyed vast quantities of the former regime's strategic military arsenal. It has denounced Sharaa's government and suggested it would take action against it to protect Syria's minority Druze community. Israel is also wary of Turkey, which has close ties with Sharaa, expanding and consolidating its military's presence in post-Assad Syria. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have a security meeting on Sunday to discuss Turkey's involvement in Israel's northern neighbor. Furthermore, Reuters reported in February that Israel was actively lobbying the U.S. not to pressure Russia to withdraw from Syria, arguing the Russian military's vastly diminished presence in Syria serves as a necessary bulwark against further Turkish expansion there. Since 2016, when Turkey launched its first cross-border operation into Syria during the civil war, the Turkish military and its Syrian militia proxies have controlled sizable swathes of northern Syria, most of it captured from its Kurdish opponents. Its proxies recently seized Menagh, hitherto controlled by Kurdish forces since 2016, after Assad's regime collapse. Turkey's reported activity there may suggest it's gradually helping Damascus reestablish some surveillance and air defense capabilities. However, this is likely limited and unlikely to challenge Israel's air supremacy over most of Syria. Israel would undoubtedly protest any Turkish deployment at T-4 or Palmyra, especially if it involved deployments of F-16s or ground-based air defenses. Even if Turkey did attempt such a deployment in cooperation with Damascus, Ankara—despite its capable air force and air defenses—would have a hard time deterring or preventing Israeli overflights in Syria for numerous reasons. Turkey has the second-largest F-16 fleet in NATO and the third-largest on the planet. Israel has the second-largest F-16 fleet worldwide, a large fleet of F-15s, and a growing fleet of fifth-generation F-35s, two formidable fighter types Turkey does not possess. Any attempt by Ankara to help Syria establish new air defenses would likely encounter many of the same obstacles Russia and Iran did over the past decade. Russia bolstered its air defenses in Syria in late 2015 after Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber that briefly violated its airspace by deploying long-range, strategic S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems. The move deterred Turkey. Even when ties thawed the following year, Turkey invariably sought Russian permission before launching cross-border incursions against the Syrian Kurds in 2016, 2018, and 2019. That wasn't the case with Israel. While Netanyahu promptly established a deconfliction mechanism with the Russian military shortly after the latter intervened in the Syrian conflict in September 2015, the Russian presence never truly deterred Israel's frequent airstrikes against Iran-related elements in the country. In 2018, Russia blamed Israel for an incident in which an antiquated Syrian S-200 anti-aircraft missile destroyed a Russian military transport while targeting Israeli fighter jets, killing all 15 Russian personnel aboard. Moscow angrily responded by dispatching another nominally Syrian S-300 for the stated purpose of helping Damascus upgrade its air defenses. Throughout its deployment, Russia fired that system once, undoubtedly an attempted warning shot that went unheeded, and withdrew it shortly afterward. Its presence never deterred the Israeli Air Force, which would've most likely proven capable of destroying it had it ever made a serious attempt to threaten Israeli fighters. Iran vowed several times throughout the Syrian conflict that it would help Assad reestablish air defenses and prevent repeated Israeli airspace incursions. The Israeli Air Force promptly destroyed a medium-range, Russian-built Tor system that Iranian forces attempted to set up at T-4 in 2018. More recent attempts to deploy strategic Iranian-made systems, such as the Bavar-373, did not succeed. Assad's fall has seen Iranian forces ejected from the country. Russia has also withdrawn its S-400s. Both of those developments have served to strengthen Israeli air supremacy over the war-ravaged country. Turkey has significant homegrown air defenses that it's currently integrating into its multilayered, national Steel Dome system, but these aren't as advanced or capable as Israel's. Turkey previously deployed its American-made medium-range Hawk-23 systems in Syria's northwestern Idlib province in 2020 during clashes with Assad's military. Ankara received S-400s from Russia in 2019 but hasn't put them into service. Unlike other NATO members, it never acquired the American MIM-104 Patriot system. In the unlikely scenario that Turkey deploys its S-400s to Syria, possibly as an attempt to meet U.S. demands they are dismantled or removed from Turkish soil, they would unlikely deter Israeli airspace incursions, or at least those carried out by F-35s. Turkey's previous intervention in Libya in 2020 saw it deploy Hawk missiles alongside its indigenous short-range Hisar systems and Korkut anti-aircraft guns. Such systems could prove vulnerable to air-launched, standoff missile strikes. Israel has launched thousands of standoff munitions like these against numerous Iran-related targets throughout Syria since 2013. During its October 26, 2024, airstrikes against Iran, Israel demonstrated the effectiveness of its air-launched ballistic missiles in hitting distant targets, including Iranian S-300s. In the air, the Turkish Air Force would also face disadvantages in any attempt at challenging its Israeli counterpart over Syria. While formidable, its F-16 fleet is smaller than Israel's and lacks stealth fighters. Turkey hopes to augment its air combat capabilities by acquiring the Eurofighter Typhoon and long-range Meteor air-to-air missile. However, any delivery of these formidable aircraft and weapons is, at minimum, several years away. And, by the time Ankara receives them, Israel will already have fielded more F-35s and more advanced F-15s. Last year alone, Israel signed multi-billion dollar deals for another 25 F-35s—increasing its fleet of fifth-generation fighters to 75 aircraft—and 25 new F-15EX jets. For these reasons, Turkey will not likely make a serious attempt to directly challenge Israel's long-established air supremacy over its southern neighbor any time soon.
Al Manar
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Manar
Israeli Airstrikes Hit Military Bases in Central Syria
In a series of attacks, the Israeli occupation military has targeted multiple military sites in central Syria, according to reports. On Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes hit the Palmyra Airport and the T4 military base in the eastern countryside of Homs province. The Israeli army confirmed it had bombed Syrian military targets in the area. This marks the second such attack on these two bases in recent days. Syria has not yet issued an official statement on the latest raids. 🚨 Syria : Israeli jets once again bombed the Palmyra military airport in Syria, amidst a sudden and nationwide internet outage. — Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) March 25, 2025 In a separate incident on Monday, the Israeli Air Force launched an attack on a military site east of Al-Sanamayn in the countryside of Daraa Governorate in southern Syria. Since the fall of the former Syrian regime in late 2024, Israeli military operations against targets inside Syria have escalated. The Israeli occupation forces have increasingly encroached into Syrian territory, expanding beyond the established 'buffer zone.' The occupation has also established new military posts in strategic locations, such as the slopes of Mount Hermon, placing its forces in a position to monitor and target Syrian government forces across the Daraa, Quneitra, and Damascus countryside regions.
