Screen grab from RT video.
Russian military advisors had been training Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers on the use of man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADs), RT reported on January 31.
According to the Russian network, Russian advisors and SAA officers developed a new training program that reduces the time needed to train soldiers on portable air-defense systems from six months to two weeks.
During the short training program, soldiers are taught how to identify, track and fire at fighter jets and drones as well as on how to deal with jamming from the enemy.
Syrian soldiers trained on Soviet-made 9K32 Strela-2M MANPADs, which are guided by infrared homing and have a top firing range of 4,2 kilometers.
The SAA possess thousands of more modern MANPADs like the Russian-made 9K38 Igla and 9K338 Igla-S, which have a top range of 5,2 and 6 kilometers respectively. There are even reports that the SAA received Russia’s state-of-the-art 9K333 Verba MANPADs that can hit aerial targets 6,5 kilometers away.
The training on MANPADs is apparently meant to address the threat of combat drones and loitering munitions, which were heavily used against the SAA by militants and the Turkish military in the past.
This is a high-risk move because the weapons can get in the wrong hands. The Syrian military must have greatly improved their discipline and competence for Russia to believe this is safe to do and it puts them way ahead of the poorly equipped SDF and Idlib militants whose patrons don’t trust them with such equipment.
Not really a high risk. The drones and potential aircraft intrusions operate deep within SAA territory. There’s very little risk of these falling into the hands of enemies.
Very smart move by Russia. Two thumbs up for that one. Well done.