Russia to jam signals in Syria and supply regime with more advanced anti-missile technology after plane was shot down

Russia has said it is to supply ally Syria with more advanced anti-missiles technology and jam radar signals in the eastern Mediterranean, after a deadly incident of friendly fire.

Moscow will send newer S-300 missile defense systems to Syria within the next two weeks, Sergei Shoigu, defence minister, said in a statement on Monday.

The missile system, originally developed by the Soviet military but since modernised, fires missiles from trucks and is designed to shoot down military aircraft and short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.

The decision came a week after Israeli F-16 planes struck targets near Moscow’s air base in Latakia, western Syria, prompting the Syrian government to respond.

Its unsophisticated air defence missiles instead hit a Russian Il-20 surveillance plane, killing all 15 servicemen onboard.

Russian officials said Syria's outdated S-200 systems were not sophisticated enough to identify the Russian plane as a friendly one.

“This forced us to take adequate response measures aimed at improving the security of Russian military personnel,” Mr Shoigu said.

He said the supply of S-300s to Syria will "calm down some hotheads" whose actions "pose a threat to our troops."

The missile defence systems had been on order since 2013, Mr Shoigu revealed, but it had been delayed at the request of the Israelis who feared it would be used against them.

Israel has been bombing Iranian and Lebanese Hizbullah bases and munitions factories inside Syria that it sees as a threat to its national security for more than a year. Russia agreed to turn a blind eye unless the Syrian regime itself was directly targeted.

An Israel Defense Forces delegation travelled last week to Moscow in an attempt to ease the tensions caused by the incident.

The delegation, headed by the commander of the air force, Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, offered Russian Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Andrey Yudin their view of what transpired, however it appears not to have been accepted.

Moscow’s defence ministry has continued to blame Israel for the incident and accused it of “deliberate provocation”.

President Vladimir Putin has attempted to defuse tensions with its ally, saying it had been a tragic accident.