Israel military official: Assad regime investing heavily in air defenses

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has spent a fortune on arming his military with advanced Russian weaponry, Israel Air Force chief Amir Eshel said Wednesday. The Syrian regime already possesses a myriad of aerial defenses, including SA-24, SA-22 and SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, and Damascus is expected to receive the S-300 missiles in the near future, Maj. Gen. Eshel told a security conference in the suburb of Herzliya. The procurement of such weapons is made despite the regime's meager resources, Eshel noted. "Aerial superiority is a condition to win and win quickly, and is of great strategic importance. The other side understands that well, which is why Assad, with his low budget, has invested billions in purchasing anti-aircraft missiles, " the Ynet news site quoted the IAF chief as saying. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi last week, failed to convince the latter to backtrack on a deal to sell Assad the S-300 missiles, which Israel says can threaten its aerial superiority in the region. Eshel's remarks came days after Israeli and Syrian forces exchanged fire in central Golan Heights.