Mere Rhetoric: Syria Modernizing Its Airforce With Russian Help

Happy Thursday:

Syria has approached Moscow with a request to purchase new Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft as part of Damascus' drive to upgrade its ailing army. The Sukhoi 30 was developed in 1996 and has been compared with the US-made F15 E Super Eagle. The Syrian air force's fleet consists of Russian MiG 29 aircraft. Israeli defense officials believe Syria is endeavoring for a military buildup for fear of a possible confrontation with Israel. Syria was said to have recently purchased sophisticated anti-tank missiles from Russia. Last, Israeli media outlets reported that Syria was trying to purchase from Russia the sophisticated S-300 anti-aircraft system. Should the system reach Damascus, the Israeli Air Force would find it difficult to penetrate the Syrian and Lebanese airspaces.

That would at a minimum spell the end of the facto air superiority that Israel has enjoyed over Syrian skies. Future attacks aren't going to be like the last time that Israel had to smack Syria on the nose - in response to Israeli jets knocking out radar installations a couple years ago, Syria didn't even bother scrambling their jets. And while we don't know anything about anything - we have to assume that Israel would still be able to penetrate Syrian airspace, albeit with losses.

All this is a good reason to never, ever, ever give Syria back the Golan. Which is the exact opposite of what Olmert has been proposing:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that peace with Syria would mean giving up the Golan Heights, seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981."The whole world knows that in any future negotiations, if they are renewed, we will have to give up on the entire Golan Heights," Olmert said during a heated exchange with oppposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud). Netanyahu had reacted angrily to Olmert's assertion that three of his predeccessors, Netanyahu included, had held talks with Syria on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu, for motives and ideology that we care increasingly less about, advocates keeping the Golan under Israeli sovereignty. Yeah, maybe it's because he's against peace deals - we dunno. Certainly, he seems to be a little more against losing wars than the current government.

References:
* Syria seeking new Russian aircraft [YNet]
* PM: Ceding entire Golan is price of peace with Syria [Ha'aretz]
* Syria waging war against us, says Netanyahu [YNet]

Previously:
* Assad Threatened To Murder Lebanese Parliament Speaker. Plus: Obama Promises To Negotiate With Assad.
* Washington Post: We Were Wrong. Please Bomb Iran and Syria ASAP. Thank You.
* Syria is Hiding Weapons in Civilian Aid Convoys. Of Course They Are.

[Cross-posted to Israpundit]