This week, unverified reports suggest that Israel’s attacks on Syria’s Tiyas airbase aim to prevent certain activities from taking place. Turkey Deploying air-defense systems to the location aims at safeguarding Syrian airspace. These systems form part of Turkey’s “Steel Dome” initiative, which is an integrated air-defense program presently being developed.
Extensive speculations have circulated regarding the renewed relations between Ankara and Damascus following the collapse of Bashar Al Assad in December, are expanding military co-operation .
Tiyas, commonly referred to as T4, stood out as the biggest airbase in Syria during the rule of the Assad government. It faced frequent attacks from Israel, which asserted that Iran was utilizing the location for drone activities and advisory roles. weapons smuggling For groups backed by Iran like Lebanon’s Hezbollah Hezbollah .
Turkey's defence boom
Based on an analysis conducted by the Foundation for Defence of Democracies—a U.S.-based research organization—Turkey has the potential to utilize its domestically developed Hisar-O and Hisar-U medium-range air-defense systems, along with the extended-range Siper air-defense system capable of engaging adversary aircraft from distances up to 200 kilometers.
This kind of operation might make ongoing Israeli attacks more complicated, as they target alleged significant weapons caches from the Assad era that could represent a future strategic risk. Since December, Israel has carried out such assaults on suspected weapon storage sites and military installations in Syria numerous times, amounting to hundreds of strikes.
Similar to Israel, NATO member Turkey boasts a sophisticated indigenous defense sector and is emerging as a significant exporter of cutting-edge weaponry—a sharp contrast to the outdated and largely obsolescent arms possessed by Syria’s previous government.
In the early stages of the conflict that began in Syria back in 2011, the country was equipped with an extensive air-defense system comprising Soviet (and subsequently Russian) radars and missile systems. This robust setup caused concern among Western defense strategists who feared it might complicate plans for establishing a "no-fly zone" aimed at preventing airstrikes by the Assad government against civilians.
The no-fly zone failed to come into existence, even though NATO carried out significant attacks against the Syrian regime in April 2018. Instead of this proposed measure, Syria's air defense system quickly deteriorated due to the ongoing civil conflict and was largely obliterated during multiple strikes led primarily by Israel, which were often intended to stop shipments of weapons from Iran.
Even enhanced with potent Russian-provided S-300 Systems-wise, Syria’s air-defense protections were found to be inadequate as the S-300 systems couldn’t be employed against Israeli forces without approval from Moscow—an authorization said to have been granted merely one time in 2016. In this instance, Israel demonstrated its capability to inflict significant harm upon these S-300 defenses. Iran In airstrikes conducted in October, it was indicated that the system is extremely susceptible to Israeli weaponry, though these weapons were not utilized against it within Syrian territory. Russia removed the S-300 systems from Syria in 2022 to back up its military efforts in Ukraine.
Turkey possesses much more advanced systems that might cause concern for Israeli forces contemplating aerial missions. One example is the Koral mobile electronic warfare system. As per Turkish analyst Ali Baker, this system demonstrated significant effectiveness during clashes like the 2020 conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as Turkey’s intense involvement in Syria that year. The equipment was able to disrupt adversary communication and radar, rendering their ground troops vulnerable to coordinated drone assaults.
Aesa advantage
Israel also boasts advanced electronic warfare abilities and has developed innovative strategies for combat, like cyber-attacking Syria’s air-defense network since as early as 2007. Keeping an eye on potential large-scale aerial missions over Iran, Israel has recently modernized its aircraft fleet. F-16I as well as a range of electronic warfare and early warning enhancements along with missile defense mechanisms.
Israel also has sophisticated pods that can be fitted onto various aircraft within its fleet, like the F-15I and F-16I. These include the Scorpius pod, capable of swiftly detecting and disrupting hostile radar systems through its use of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology.
Aesa radar Offer much greater flexibility compared to traditional radar beams and can unleash precise bursts of energy to neutralize adversary systems. These advancements have made them crucial in contemporary combat scenarios, as they are hard to spot because of their quick frequency hopping capabilities and possess substantial electronic countermeasure strength, along with the capacity to recognize and monitor numerous targets simultaneously.
In spite of reports about potential Turkish deployments, there hasn’t been any reference to Ankara’s truck-mounted ALP-300G radar system. This advanced equipment began manufacturing in 2024 and includes AESA technology as well. Similar to the Koral system, the ALP-300G is designed for mobility, allowing quick setup and relocation, thus making it challenging for Israel to target effectively.
Coupled with Turkey’s Siper air-defense system, the ALP-300G might pose the greatest challenge to the Israeli Air Force in several decades. Based on information from Turkish defense companies Aselsan and Roketsan, a single Siper battery has the capability to launch up to 20 missiles during engagements, capable of concurrently locking onto as many as 10 adversary aircraft at once.
This might offer the system the type of missile saturation strategies employed by Syria. shoot down An Israeli F-16I from 2018 equipped with advanced missiles. These systems contribute to Turkey’s layered defense system known as Steel Dome, currently under development. This setup draws inspiration from Israel’s Iron Dome concept, though Iron Dome primarily addresses shorter-range threats.
To combat these systems, Israel possesses stealth aircraft like the F-35I, which represents a significant challenge to Russian-made equipment. Numerous specialists argue that this model might excel even when facing the S-400, an advanced system acquired by Turkey in 2017 and received two years later. There are speculations suggesting that this technology could potentially end up in Syria.
Israel has been at the forefront of employing air-to-surface ballistic missiles to neutralize sophisticated defense systems such as the S-300. By leveraging the strong propulsion of these munitions along with the swiftness and elevation of the delivering aircraft, they achieve remarkable speeds and extended ranges.
However, even though aeroballistic missiles have successfully overcome S-300 systems in Iran, their effectiveness remains unproven when faced with land-based air-defense networks equipped with AESA radar technology.
Although it remains unclear how much Turkey and Israel want to prevent a significant confrontation, they might resort to harassing and impeding each other’s military activities using their sophisticated electronic warfare tools. This kind of behavior has historical precedence in Syria.
In US air missions over Syria targeting ISIS, American military leaders reported that Russian units often interfered with communications and aerial activities by employing various electronic warfare technologies.