No qualified Syrians trained by Moscow to use the S-300s

A Russian defence ministry source has told Reuters he knew of no qualified Syrians trained by Moscow to use the S-300s, putting the completion of the anti-aircraft system in Syria at "six to 12 months from now".

 He added that the Israelis "likely have a million ways to combat the S-300 electronically", but said that since these methods had not been tested in war "whether the S-300 would fail or not cannot be known".

  Zvika Haimovich, a senior Israeli air force officer, told Reuters: "Though it would impinge on our operations, we are capable of overcoming it."

  The Israelis excel in electronic warfare. In 1982, they "blinded" Soviet-supplied Syrian anti-aircraft units in Lebanon, then destroyed 19 of them without Israeli losses, Reuters adds. Similar technologies helped Israeli jets destroy a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria in 2007 and, this year, to hit Syrian targets on at least three occasions to prevent what intelligence sources called attempts to move advanced weaponry to Hezbollah.