New Russian Air Defenses in Syria Keep U.S. Grounded
There is a new crisis for the international effort to destroy the
Islamic State, created by the Kremlin. The U.S. has stopped flying
manned air-support missions for rebels in a key part of northern Syria
due to Russia’s expansion of air defense systems there, and the Barack
Obama administration is scrambling to figure out what to do about it.
Russia’s
military operations inside Syria have been expanding in recent weeks,
and the latest Russian deployments, made without any advance notice to
the U.S., have disrupted the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to support
Syrian rebel forces fighting against the Islamic State near the
Turkey-Syria border, just west of the Euphrates River, several Obama
administration and U.S. defense officials told us. This crucial part of
the battlefield, known inside the military as Box 4, is where a number
of groups have been fighting the Islamic State for control, until
recently with overhead support from U.S. fighter jets.
But
earlier this month, Moscow deployed an SA-17 advanced air defense system
near the area and began “painting” U.S. planes, targeting them with
radar in what U.S. officials said was a direct and dangerous
provocation. The Pentagon halted all manned flights, although U.S.
drones are still flying in the area. Russia then began bombing the
rebels the U.S. had been supporting. (U.S. manned airstrikes continue
elsewhere in Syria.)
