By Entorno and AFP | 2024-11-08

The destruction of Iran's Russian-made S-300 air defense systems by Israeli air strikes is the latest sign that Russian military equipment performs poorly in real life, away from arms shows.

Israel struck several military facilities in Iran on October 26, marking the latest exchange of fire in a conflict that has simmered for months.

The strikes "hit Iran's defense capabilities and missile production," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said later.

Israel's strikes were in retaliation for an October 1 attack by Iran, when Tehran fired about 200 missiles at Israel, though Israeli aerial defense systems downed most of them.

Israel was much more successful than Iran was.

Iran's Russian-made air-defense equipment stopped few, if any, of the missiles fired by 100 Israeli jet fighters, according to US and Israeli officials cited by the Wall Street Journal on October 28.

Iran's destroyed equipment included its three Russian S-300 air-defense systems. Israel earlier this year hit Iran's only other S-300.

The Israeli show of force has left Iran more vulnerable, said Joost Hiltermann, Middle East program director at the International Crisis Group.

"The importance of attacking Iran's air defenses is that in a next round Iran would be largely undefended," he told AFP.

The S-300

The S-300, which has been steadily updated since its introduction in the late 1970s, can be a significant threat, especially if used as part of a layered air defense system, according to The War Zone.

Iran had one of the more modern iterations of the S-300, namely the S-300PMU-2 Favorit, which was introduced in 1997.

The most modern S-300s have a range of 350km, according to Russian state-run media outlets. The system can allocate up to 12 missiles to up to six different targets.

The different versions of the system can engage ballistic missiles as well as aircraft. It can also destroy land targets.

Israel's strikes come amid similar attacks on S-300s by Ukrainian forces fighting Russia.

Kyiv has hit more advanced S-400 air defense systems, including strikes in May and in August, the Journal reported.

Moscow's allies, including China and Belarus, and its biggest arms customers, including India, Vietnam and Algeria, use both the S-300 and S-400, according to Entorno affiliate website Kontur.

Lost faith

Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has lost more than 9,000 tanks, 18,000 armored combat vehicles, 19,900 artillery systems and 369 aircraft, according to the Ukrainian general staff.

The invasion "has been a public-relations disaster for [Russia's] defense industry," Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a think tank in Singapore, told the Journal.

"Russia's traditional customers have lost faith in the country's defense industry and are looking for new suppliers," he said.

Russia's arms exports have dropped significantly since its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as Moscow uses every piece of equipment it can produce.

Those exports fell 52% last year from 2022, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), based on its calculations of export values.

A low volume of outstanding orders "suggests that Russian arms exports are likely to remain well below the level reached in 2014-18, for at least the short term," said a SIPRI report published in March.

Venezuelan neglect

A BBC report from February 2020 stated that Venezuela received three S-300 units, three Buk M2A units, and eleven S-125 units between 2011 and 2014, based on data from SIPRI.

These acquisitions and other military purchases from Russia reflect the alliance established by then-President Hugo Chávez with Moscow after he took office in 1999.

Since then, Venezuela's arms procurement has primarily relied on Russian suppliers, a trend that has continued under his successor, Nicolás Maduro.

Despite official statements and Chávez's own promotion of these systems, analysts note that the weaponry has scarcely been observed in Venezuela, which has struggled with economic and social crises driven by corruption, debt and the collapse of its productive sectors.

Military analysts interviewed by the BBC questioned the operational readiness of these systems, pointing to widespread desertions within the Venezuelan armed forces, leaving few troops capable of operating the equipment.

"Due to neglect and a lack of planning and resources, these systems are far from optimal," a Venezuelan military commander told the BBC, requesting anonymity.