The Russians don't have to start anything if they set up a blockade. Now who do you think that leaves it on if they don't budge?
Its called the S 300.....and you are aware that Russia has several ships around Tartus.....Correct?
Russia Steps Up Missile Sales to Syria
Not only will Russia make good on delivering advanced S-300 anti-missile batteries and surface-to-air missiles to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, it has also provided anti-ship cruise missiles with advanced guidance systems, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
According to the report, an upgraded version of the Yakhont anti-ship missiles is equipped with more advanced radar systems that will effectively prevent any foreign military intervention in Syria.
"It enables the regime to deter foreign forces looking to supply the opposition from sea or from undertaking a more active role if a no-fly zone or shipping embargo were to be declared at some point," the Times quoted IHS Jane's International Defense Review editor-in-chief Nick Brown. "It's a real ship killer."
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Russia deployed at least a dozen warships to guard its naval base at Syria's Tartus port and provide further deterrence to any foreign intervention in the country's civil war.....snip~
Russia Steps Up Missile Sales to Syria - Inside Israel - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com
Five Things You Should Know About Syria And Russia’s S-300 Missile System
An S-300 air-defense system seen during a large-scale military exercise in Kazakhstan in 2011
What are the capabilities of the S-300 system?
The S-300 missile system is designed to shoot down aircraft and missiles at a range of 5-to-150 kilometers. That gives it the ability to destroy not only attackers in Syrian airspace but also any attackers inside Israel.
It can track and strike multiple targets simultaneously at altitudes ranging from 10 meters to 27,000 meters.
"The S-300 is Russia's top-of-the-range air-defense system," says Robert Hewson, the London-based editor of "IHS Jane's Air-Launched Weapons." "
It is a surface-to-air missile system that's capable of shooting down any modern combat aircraft or missiles, including cruise missiles. In a way, it is the Russian equivalent to the U.S. Patriot system. And what it does for Syria is it adds a whole new level of capability on top of the existing Syrian air defenses.
Syria already has a lot of Russian [surface-to-air] missiles, but the S-300 would be the most advanced."
How much would a deployed S-300 system complicate a decision by the international community to create no-fly zones in Syria?
The deployment of the S-300 system would greatly complicate any such measures in Syria.
A launch of the S-300 air-defense system
Could foreign powers find ways to circumvent the S-300 system if it were deployed?
One way to circumvent air-defense systems is to try to disrupt their operations through electronic techniques rather than attack them directly. But Elleman says it is an open question whether the S-300 could be blocked this way.
"Electronic warfare and spoofing of systems in quite common," he says, "but one must keep in mind that the S-300 is a very sophisticated piece of weaponry. And I am not convinced that the West, Israel, or Turkey could reliably neutralize the system without taking some kind of kinetic action -- in other words, going after some of the radar or some of the interceptors [with force]. So, in terms of circumventing, I think it would be very difficult and very risky." .....snip~
Five Things You Should Know About Syria And Russia
Which doesn't count the Russian's Destroyers that can launch a Cruise missile to take out another. Or any other Anti Missile defense systems. Nor does it count the Mig 35 or 47. Which is alleged to be able to drop in from above the earth's atmosphere.