Pls. read my post above BREAKING news.
I
paste your post here, it is from Polish Member Laniakean_LimerencePoland
I've seen at least 5 posts a day commenting on Russian S-400 anti-air system deployed to Hmeymim base, where posters are heavily exaggerating its true abilities.
Let me explain to you what exactly Russians moved to Syria and how it affects Turkish/anti-ISIS coalition war planes.
Let's analyse this video provided by RT:
It shows S-400 being unloaded from AN-124. What we can see from this video are 5P85SE launchers that are mostly used in older systems like S-300P which leads me to think that missiles used are most probably from the same system which is inferior in range to that of S-400.
Trucks used in the video are MAZ 7910 which are made in Belarus and used as ballistic missile launcher carriers or rocket artillery such as BM-34 Smiercz.
So let's go back in time and see what Russians showed at their annual parade in Moscow:
S-400 in Moscow
What we can see in this picture is different than supposed "S-400" in Syria.
Trucks used are Russian Made BAZ-6402 with newer 5P85TE2 launchers.
I bet you all have seen those maps that showed the range of S-400:
http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/...6164_f6a279f5-8fe8-4366-8447-276772cd3808.jpg
This is misleading, as real range against manoeuvring targets should be around 90km - 150km. What is pictured above is actually true only to one type of a missile - 40N6 which is used against non-manoeuvring heavy targets like AWACS or heavy bombers.
In this video:
Around 0:57 mark we can see 96L6 Radar based on Russian BAZ-6909 from S-400 system. So it's the only component from the system which is in fact modern and capable of tracking targets at long ranges.
However Turkey has claimed it successfully jammed it for a short time. If this is true, and Turkish military can jam it for longer periods it may render it completely useless and leave Russians only with short range Pantsir S-1 to defend their base.
To sum it up:
- AA system in currently deployed in Latakia is not S-400 but modernised S-300P with S-400 Radar
- True range is much, much lower 90km - 150km as opposed to 400km
- It’s prone to jamming, so true effectiveness is not known
However as I cannot look inside the launchers there is slight possibility that Russians in fact would use newer rockets, but I find it highly unlikely since there were delays in production.
PS. Moscow cruiser pictured below:
https://rasica.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/pjf001-702144.jpg
Is useless as it's radar systems are not up to date (based on S-300F), has low range and I doubt how well it can identify if a target is friend or foe over crowded Syrian skies.
I've been a long time lurker, but this is my first contribution to this subreddit. Please excuse my poor grammar, its middle of the night and I'm not feeling well.