An Israeli spy satellite has spotted their location northwest of the town of Masyaf in the mountain region, about 30 km from the Mediterranean sea.
From its current location, the Syrian missiles dominate a radius of up to 250 kilometers, covering the entire Lebanese airspace, the eastern part of the island of Cyprus, parts of southern Turkey and northern Israel, down to the Sea of Galilee.
The newly arrived unit is deployed within 1.3 km distance of the Russian S-400 surface to air missile site at Maysaf.
The images show the battery’s four launchers and the satellite’s manufacture, ImageSat International, believes it is not currently operational because some components are still missing.
The battery is deployed in the Maysaf area north of the city of Homs in the northern part of the country. T
here is a network of Syrian security industries in this area, where Iran and Syria are reportedly attempting to manufacture precise weaponry for Hezbollah.
According to Arab media reports the area has been attacked by Israel several times in recent years.
The process of training Syrian soldiers to be stationed at the missile batteries is expected to take some time, and the new batteries have not yet reached operational readiness.
Over the weekend the Russian daily Izvestia reported that the three aerial defense systems that Russia supplied to Syria in late September following the downing of a Russian plane, are of the more advanced version of the S-300 missiles, which has higher radar and target identification capabilities.
It was also reported that at least in the first stage, the batteries will be operated by Russian specialists.
Elements of the S-300 unit, mainly launchers, arrived at Hmeimim airfield by the end of last month.
Satellite imagery provided by Imagesat show these elements deployed at a temporary site near the airfield, while construction was underway at the permanent site.
This location is designed with earthwork revetments typical of surface-to-air missile posts.
These elements were likely moved to the recently spotted Maysaf location by the third week of October.
Israeli defense officials believe that the Israel Air Force can, if needed, overcome the new batteries and attack more targets in Syria. In recent weeks Russia has taken a more aggressive stand toward Israel with regard to Israel Air Force action in northern Syria. The Russians are demanding more clarifications from the Israeli army via a hotline to prevent aerial friction between the sides. In a few cases, the radar of Russian defense systems in Syria has been activated in the context of Israel Air Force actions in the north.
