Syria is transferring some of its most prized weapon systems to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, according to US officials cited by leading US newspapers, according to JANEs Defence Magazine.
The Wall Street Journal reported on 2 January that Yakhont anti-ship missile systems were been disassembled and smuggled into Lebanon, while other advanced weapons are being stored at Syrian sites under Hezbollah's control. It added that the militant group does not as yet have all the components it needs to operate the Yakhont, a supersonic Russian missile that has a range of up to 300 km.
A US official corroborated the report for The New York Times , saying that as many as 12 Yakhont missiles are now in Hezbollah's possession inside Syria and some of the components had been taken to Lebanon. The official said that Syria was transferring the missiles to Hizbullah to make it harder for Israel to destroy them with air strikes.
The Israeli Air Force has carried out a series of air strikes in Syria over the last year, including one that reportedly targeted a Yakhont storage facility near Latakia on 5 July.
While The Wall Street Journal 's sources did not identify the other weapons being stockpiled by Hezbollah in Syria, The New York Times cited Israeli security analyst Ronen Bergen as saying they included 'Scud-D', 'Scud-C' and Fateh-110 ballistic missiles, as well as unguided Fajr artillery rockets.
There seems little point in Syria transferring Scud-Ds to Hezbollah. These missiles are the Syrian variant of the North Korea Hwasong 7 and are believed to have a range of up to 700 km. While this means they could be used to target Israel from deep inside Syria, the range would be excessive for Hizbullah's requirements.
It would make more sense to give the group more accurate, shorter range ballistic missiles, such as the Russian OTR-21 Tochka (SS-21 'Scarab') or Iranian Fateh-110.
Hezbollah's ability to exploit the over-the-horizon range of the Yakhonts is also questionable, given its lack of aircraft with target acquisition radars. However, the missiles would be a threat to stationary platforms working in Israel's Leviathan gas field.
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.