This year, the Syrian Air Defence Force has been on the receiving end of attacks from Israeli, US, British and French strike aircraft and cruise missiles. Tim Ripley examines
Air war over Syria
Residents of the Syrian capital, Damascus, awoke to the sound of explosions around the city on the morning of April 14. Looking out of their windows, they could see missiles arcing into the sky. Within minutes, the international media was broadcasting footage of the action. Later that morning, events took a new turn. Russia, having come to the aid of the Syrian president, sent one of its generals to a press conference at the MoD in Moscow where he gave a detailed account of the battle.
The general described how the allied attack unfolded, citing the number of cruise missiles fired at 103, revealing the aircraft types involved, where US warships had fired their cruise missiles from and their flight paths. Three hours later, a US general provided the Pentagon’s account of the operation which in most respects chimed with the Kremlin’s account. He said the allies launched 105 cruise missiles. The only serious bone of contention was whether or not Syrian surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) had successfully shot down any …
