Three Months to Train Syrian Specialists on S-300 Air-defense Systems: Russian Minister

The Syrian specialists will need three months to train on how to use the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile defense systems, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday.

"We have finished personnel recruitment and have begun to train them," Shoigu was quoted as saying by TASS on Tuesday at a Russian Security Council meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin.

So far, Russia has supplied Syria with 49 equipment pieces as part of delivery of the S-300 air defense system, Shoigu said.

"In conformity with the presidential decision, we have begun to carry out a number of measures to reinforce Syria’s air defense systems in order to ensure better protection for our servicemen. We have completed the delivery of S-300 systems. It included 49 pieces of equipment, including radars, control vehicles and four launchers," he told a Russian Security Council meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin.

According to the minister, the delivery was finished a day ago.  The Russian Defense Ministry published a video showing the delivery of the missile defense system. The video aired by the Rossiya 24 and Zvezda TV channels shows the missile systems being unloaded from the An-124-100 Ruslan strategic airlift jet aircraft at the Hmeymim air base in Syria.