There is no longer any doubt about the importance of the “Syrian laboratory” in Russia’s general offensive against Ukraine. In Syria, the Kremlin tried terror techniques targeting civilians to better weaken the armed opposition, then downplayed them: systematic destruction of bridges, schools and hospitals; simulacra of “humanitarian corridors” to better capture civilians who think they are escaping hell; The invader’s steamroller aimed to leave the populace with the choice between submission and exodus, all against the background of the UN’s paralysis by the Russian veto.
In addition, General Sergei Surovikin, whom Vladimir Putin appointed to head the “special military operation” last October, has long led Russian troops in Syria. And right after he took office, the integration of Iranian drones into Russian bombing waves proved devastating to energy infrastructure, with the stated goal of crushing Ukrainian resistance through the freezing winter.
Iran’s “martyr” drones
The Assad regime procured Iranian observation drones of the type Mohajer-4 or Ababil-3 with a range of around one hundred kilometers very early on. They are manufactured by Iranian Aircraft Manufacturing Industries, a company referred to by its Persian acronym HESA. These weapons bear names with strong Islamic resonance, Mohajer meaning “emigrants”, in reference to the Meccans who converted to Islam and accompanied the Prophet Mohammed in his hegira to Medina in 622. As for the Ababil, in the Koran they refer to the birds that would have protected Mecca from invaders from Yemen around 570.
The Assad regime’s backlash against the revolutionary insurgency in 2012-13 forced Iran to become increasingly involved in Syria, either directly through the Revolutionary Guards or indirectly through the Lebanese Hezbollah, then pro-Iranian militias based out of Iraq. This Iranian engagement has been accompanied by an increase in the number of drones deployed, this time with the deployment of Shahed (“Martyrs”) type combat drones 123, then 129.
The Syrian campaign launched by the Kremlin in September 2015 to rescue the collapsing Assad regime resulted in operational cooperation of unprecedented intensity between Russian and Iranian forces. This is particularly true at Tiyas Air Force Base, known as T-4, near Palmyra, where the two countries’ contingents coexist. Based on this, Iranian engineers assemble and operate the Shahed-129, testing and perfecting its combat capabilities by boarding an anti-tank missile.
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