Russia. Sistemi S-400 al confine finlandese, altri S-300 in Siria.

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2016-10-05.

 

«Russia has moved two powerful S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems close to the Finnish border»

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«The two S-400 “Triumph” systems have been installed in the Leningrad Region under joint command of both air force and air defence divisions»

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«The anti-aircraft systems, which have a range of 400 km, will then be deployed to secure the air space along Russia’s north-western border»

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«The S-300 anti-aircraft missile system has indeed been sent to the Syrian Arab Republic»

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«the new weapon system could potentially counter any US cruise missile attack in Syria»

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I sistemi S-400 Triumph dovrebbero essere l’arma contraerea più efficiente disponibile da parte delle forze armate russe.

Ovviamente, non sono mai state testate in un combattimento contro forze ritenute essere equivalenti, ossia quelle americane. Di conseguenza, si può solo prendere atto di questa precauzione.

La situazione russa dovrebbe essere soppesata con maggiore attenzione dell’attuale. Mentre la minaccia di un attacco missilistico strategico è bilaterale, quello di uno scontro ravvicinato è al momento non a favore della Russia, che constata spiegamenti di forze non indifferenti proprio ai suoi confini occidentali. Un comportamento comprensibile, ma troppo aggressivo della Nato, potrebbe essere psicologicamente destabilizzante.

Similmente, l’invio di altri sistemi S-300 in Siria sembrerebbe quasi essere un monito che gli attuali confini russi si estenderebbero fino a quella nazione. Nella dichiarazione di Mr Konashenkov, questo schieramento è volutamente avverso ogni possibile intrusione di aerei da guerra americani: parole inusuali nel mondo diplomatico, adsueto ad una forma espressiva ben più ovattata.

In ogni caso, potrebbe essere verosimile che con il rinnovo della Presidenza americana la tensione si allenti. Un reciproco arretramento dei sistemi d’arma offensivi e difensivi dalle linee di confine sarebbe altamente auspicabile. Ciò però imporrebbe una sostanziale revisione della strategia americana in Medio Oriente, sempre poi che essa esista.

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The Moscow Times. 2016-09-21. Russia Places S-400 Anti-Aircraft Missiles on Finnish Border

Russia has moved two powerful S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems close to the Finnish border, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.

The two S-400 “Triumph” systems have been installed in the Leningrad Region under joint command of both air force and air defence divisions, a spokesperson for Russia’s Western Military District, Colonel Igor Muginov, told Interfax.

Russian troops are now preparing for shooting exercises using the S-400 at the Ashuluk firing range in Russia’s far-northern Astrakhan region, Muginov said.

The anti-aircraft systems, which have a range of 400 km, will then be deployed to secure the air space along Russia’s north-western border.

The missiles, produced by state-owned arms producer Almaz-Antay, were installed in Crimea last month. The region has a Russian military hotspot since the peninsula was annexed from Ukraine in 2014

Russia has previously complained of NATO expansion towards its borders, with President Vladimir Putin warning Finland in July that there would be consequences should the country join the alliance.

“We have withdrawn our troops 1,500 km from the border”, Putin said. “[But if Finland joined NATO,] do you think they would stay there?”

There have also been several tense incidents in the Baltic Sea in the last year involving U.S. and Russian armed forces over the last year..

In April, the U.S. military reported that a Russian fighter plane had performed a barrel roll over one of its reconnaissance aircraft in the Baltic. Russia claimed that its pilot had acted within the rules of international airspace regulations and that the U.S. plane had its transponder signal turned off.

This followed earlier incidents of Russian planes buzzing U.S. ships in the Baltic Sea, which Washington claim “raised serious safety concerns.”

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→ Al Arabiya. 2016-10-05. Russia says it has sent S-300 air defense system to Syria

Russia’s defiance ministry said Tuesday that it had sent an S-300 missile system to its naval facility in the Syrian city of Tartus, a measure it says is meant to bolster its security.

“The S-300 anti-aircraft missile system has indeed been sent to the Syrian Arab Republic,” defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

Konashenkov made the statement after US news station Fox News said Russia has deployed an advanced anti-missile system in Syria for the first time, citing three US officials.

The officials said the new weapon system could potentially counter any US cruise missile attack in Syria, in a latest show for Russian military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

This makes it the first time Russia has deployed the SA-23 system outside its borders, Fox News said, according to one Western official citing a recent intelligence assessment.

On Tuesday, the United States has defended its stance in Syria when it said it has not given up “pursuit of peace in Syria” as Russian and Syrian warplanes continued to pound residential areas in besieged parts of Aleppo.