A well-informed military source said Russia had stationed the S-300 surface-to-air missile system with an air defense battalion in Tartous province, where Syrian officers are not allowed to operate the system.
Four Antonov AN-124 Ruslan aircrafts delivered the system during the week to Battalion 37, who are stationed at the Assad family costal stronghold, as part of new security measures following the downing of a Russian plane last month.
The Syrian Air Forces has recalled all officers who were trained on the S-300 systems in Russia, to undertake more training at the Russian Hemeimeem air base, according to the source.
On Tuesday, Russian Defence Minister Sergi Shoigu said at a meeting of the country's security council that its army had "finished the delivery of the S-300 systems" including a total of four launch platforms.
Shoigu said it would take three months to train the Syrian military to operate the new air defence systems, while the integration of Russian and Syrian air defence assets into a single automated system will be completed by Oct. 20, 2018.
"We now control a close zone of up to 50km (30 miles) and the far zone of 200km (124 miles) from where attacks on Syrian territory have been launched," Shoigu said.
The decision to deliver the modern defense system was reached following the shooting down of a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft, which was accidentally hit by a Syrian missile, killing 15 troops in the northwestern Lattakia province.
Moscow said Israel was culpable, as the IL-20 had been caught in the crossfire as four Israeli F-16 jets attacked targets in northwestern Syria.
The Israeli military said the indiscriminate firing of Syria’s air defense fire was the cause of the incident.
The United States has called the Russian move to arm the Syrian military "a serious escalation".
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
