China, not Russia, supplying Iran tech to defend against Israeli strike

[ErnstBlofeld]

GeoStrategy Direct:

After years of efforts, Iran and Syria have found the suppliers to develop an effective asymmetrical military strategy that could overcome Israel's air superiority.

Russia no longer has to supply the most advanced weaponry to Damascus and Teheran. China has been doing this — either indirectly through North Korea or via technology transfer that provides Iran and Syria with copies of effective missiles and air defense systems.

Who within the regime of China's President Hu Jintao is coordinating this secret program is not known, but what matters is the end result.

Iran has supplied advanced long-range radar to the Syrian military as part of a new mobile defense strategy meant to overcome Israel's overwhelming combat air superiority.

Western intelligence sources said Iran supplied what they termed modern radar that could identify and track fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft at a range of up to 150 kilometers. They said the radar, similar to that used in the Russian S-300 air defense battery, marked an Iranian variant of a platform deployed in China's military.

"This is a truck-mounted radar that's quite sophisticated, particularly for Syria," an intelligence source said.

The sources said the new Syrian radar appeared to be part of an Iranian strategy to establish a mobile air defense system that could avoid Israeli air strikes. They said the network, based on a concept called "shoot and scoot," was derived from lessons learned by Damascus and Teheran in wake of the 1982 war in Lebanon, when Israel destroyed virtually all of Syria's Soviet-origin air defense assets.

Syria's new radar was identified as an Iranian variant of the Chinese HT-233 radar, deployed in the HQ-9 air defense system. China has been marketing HQ-9 as both an air and missile defense system to such North African and Middle East states as Algeria, Iran and Turkey.

The Iranian radar was delivered in 2009, the sources said. They said a number of systems arrived in Syria from July to October of last year.

"The Iranians purchased a small number of radars as part of a larger acquisition of air defense systems," another intelligence source said. "They eventually reverse-engineered and copied the elements they were interested in and started producing their own version."



HT-233 was identified as an engagement radar for HQ-9, said to be based on the S-300, and exhibited at a Chinese military parade in 2009. In the standard HQ-9 configuration, the radar, said capable of tracking up to 50 targets simultaneously, has been linked to six four-round launchers and a TWS-312 command post.

Carlo Kopp, a leading defense analyst, deemed HT-233 a derivative of the Russian 30N6E tracking radar, used in the S-300. Kopp said HT-233 has been mounted on a range of vehicles, including 8x8 and 10x10 wheeled chassis.

"It is claimed to be capable of concurrently tracking more than 50 targets," Kopp said in an analysis published in January 2010. "The radar provides target acquisition and tracking within its coverage sector, post launch missile capture, midcourse missile tracking and command link guidance."

The sources said the Iranian variant also contained elements of the Chinese SJ-231 radar. SJ-231 has been regarded as an upgrade of HT-233 and designed to be split among two 6x6 and 8x8 vehicles to withstand enemy air strikes.

"This is a vast improvement over the old Soviet-era stuff the Syrians have," the second intelligence source said.

On June 30, the U.S. newspaper Wall Street Journal reported the Syrian deployment of what was termed a "sophisticated radar system that could threaten Israel's ability to launch a surprise attack against Iran's nuclear facilities." The business daily said the radar was delivered by Iran. The United States has refused to confirm the newspaper report.

In May 2010, Israel reported the Syrian deployment of Scud-class missiles along the border with Lebanon. The administration of President Barack Obama has expressed concern but refused to confirm the report.

Israel has acknowledged the arrival of advanced radar to Syria but officials refused to provide details.

"Iran is engaged in developing Syrian intelligence and aerial detection capabilities, and Iranian representatives are deployed in Syria for that purpose," the Israeli military said in a statement. "Radar assistance is only one means of that cooperation."

[ErnstBlofeld]

I guess China has taken over Russia's place in the Persian Gulf.You will not see this article on TOS

[ErnstBlofeld]

 

A typical HQ-9 missile base. An HQ-9 is the Chinese knockoff of a S-300 missile