Israel destroyed an Iranian-made Matla-ul-fajr radar during a recent attack on Syria, the Israeli Alma education and research center reported on March 23.
The radar was deployed at al-Dabaa Air Base near the key town of al-Qusayr in the southern countryside of Homs. The air base, which is located a few kilometers away from the border line with Lebanon, is known to be a deployment center for Hezbollah.
According to Israeli Alma that radar was destroyed during an Israeli attack on al-Dabaa Air Base that took place on December 18 of last year.
“It is highly likely that other such systems are deployed in Syria,”
the center said on Twitter.
The Matla-ul-fajr is a VHF early warning radar. The first generation 2D version of the radar has a range of 300 kilometers and a maximum altitude of 20 kilometers, while the second generation 3D version has a top range of 480 kilometers and an altitude of 14 kilometers. Very little is known about the third generation of the radar, which appears to be a limited upgrade of the second generation with the range extended to 500 kilometers.
The radar is said to be equipped with ECCM [electronic counter-countermeasures] to survive in a heavy electronic warfare environment.
All the components of the radar system, including the antennas, setup instruments, processing, controlling and displaying units, communication devices and power generator, are installed on a trailer for high mobility.
Over the past year, several news reports talked about an Iranian plan to strengthen Syrian air defenses. The deployment of an Iranian-made radar at al-Dabaa Air Base can’t be seen as evidence of the alleged plan, as there is nothing to confirm that the radar was being operated by Syrian service members. The radar may have been deployed there by Hezbollah. The Lebanese group has been building a highly-capable air defense force with direct support from Iran for years.
Source: South Front
