On Jun.10, several reports coming from Syria gave the news that an entire Syrian Air Defense Battalion, the 743th based at Al Gantoo, near Talbiseh, had defected.
Even if the Battalion consists of about 140 soldiers, just a few of them were at the site located to the north of the city of Homs when talks with the Free Syrian Army started, and only 10 agreed to join the FSA.
The site is believed to host SA-6 SAMs, the videos uploaded on Youtube by the opposition forces only show SA-2 Guideline batteries.
http://youtu.be/Q4kNoY_Knzw
However, the Assad forces attacked the site and destroyed all the equipment in order to prevent the rebels from using the ammunition and weapon systems found there.
More from The Aviationist
The Incredible Armada of Aircraft Behind 1969’s Battle of Britain Film
On Sept. 15, 1969, cinema audiences were treated to a dramatic portrayal…
US Approves Possible Sale of Nine KC-46A Pegasus Tankers for Japan
The latest deal would take the number of KC-46As in Japan’s inventory…
U.S. State Department Approves $7.2B Sale Of F-35 Jets To Romania
The Foreign Military Sale’s approval comes after Romania announced the plan to…
Wooden Avengers, Target Kites, and Draftees: How America’s First New Deal Community Took the Fight to the Axis
Situated in the quiet hills of West Virginia, the small town of…
DARPA Awards BAE Systems $4 Million for Autonomous Beyond Visual Range Air Combat Program
Autonomy solutions for BVR combat will initially be developed and demonstrated on…
Even if the Syrian helicopters dispatched to get rid of anything that could be used by the FSA, might have destroyed the mobile SAM stations, some anti-aircraft weapons were possibly captured by the rebels: some of them, including a ZSU-23-4 Shilka, could soon be used against the regime’s drones (reportedly used to monitor UN observers) and Mil Mi-8/17 Hip gunships that have ruled the Syrian sky so far.
Related Articles
- Watch this: Mysterious luminous object appears over Lebanon, Turkish-Syrian border. Ballistic missile reentry vehicle or meteor? (theaviationist.com)
- Syrian Air Force Mig-21 spotted over Hama for the first time since the beginning of the uprising. (theaviationist.com)
- First video of a Syrian helicopter gunship attacking rebels near Azaz, northwest of Aleppo (theaviationist.com)
- Syrian regime escalates air war: new video of Mil Mi-8 firing rockets (theaviationist.com)
- Video: Syrian Mig-23 destroyed on the ground by the rebels (theaviationist.com)
- Video: Free Syrian Army’s anti-aircraft fire aiming at regime’s gunship helicopter (theaviationist.com)
- Latest from Syria: mortars, anti-aircraft vehicles and (maybe) chemical weapons (theaviationist.com)
- Syrian drones spying on rebels: made in Iran UAVs or amateur radio controlled models? (theaviationist.com)
