Ankara to Deploy Latest Air Defence System after Syria Downs Two Turkish Drones

Turkey will soon deploy its HİSAR-A low-altitude air defense missile system (ADS) and the HİSAR-O medium-altitude ADS in Syria’s Idlib province, Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) head İsmail Demir said Tuesday.

The announcement came even as the Syrian Arab army shot down two drones of the Turkish regime troops in the surroundings of Saraqeb city and east of Khan al-Sobol in Idleb southeastern countryside Tuesday, Syrian news agency SANA reported.  The Syrian Army had previously downed three drones on March 1

Currently, the Korkut low-altitude air defense system is active on the ground, Demir told broadcaster CNN Türk, adding that the deployment of the HİSAR family of systems will add a new level to Turkey’s air defense capabilities.

Turkey has not been able to deploy aircraft in Syrian airspace due to Syria having Russian-supplied ADS such as the Pantsir-S1 and the S-300.  This perhaps explains why Ankara is keen to deploy the HISAR-A and HISAR-O which completed the test phase only in March 2019.

Demir also confirmed that its aerial operations conducted with swarms of domestically developed armed and unarmed drones and homegrown precision-guided munitions had achieved “notable success.”

Turkish Electronic Warfare System Deployed in Syria

Turkey’s domestically developed electronic warfare systems, such as the Koral Electronic Support (ES) and Electronic Attack (EA) System, are also active on the ground, steadily assisting the drone operations, Dailysabah reported.

A recent blowing-up of a Syrian Army’s Pantsir- S1 ADS by Turkey’s ANKA drone’s missile in Idlib has been attributed to the Koral EW system that jammed the radar of the Pantisr-S1 which enabled the ANKA to get into close-range firing position and destroy the Russian-made ADS.

The Koral system is installed on military vehicles and is operational on a large frequency band. The system consists of one electronic support vehicle and four electronic EA vehicles.

As of Monday morning, Turkey “neutralized” a total of 2,557 Syrian regime troops, also destroying 135 tanks, 40 armored vehicles, 45 cannons, 44 multiple rocket launchers, 12 anti-tanks, 29 anti-aircraft weapons, one drone, eight helicopters, nine ammunition depots and seven ammunition ramps, the report said.  The Syrian side has not confirmed the loss.