Syria acquires SA-18

LONDON [MENL] — Syria has acquired delivery of an advanced shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile.

Western intelligence sources said Syria has obtained hundreds of SA-18 anti-aircraft missiles and launchers from Belarus. The sources said Damascus received the systems in three separate deliveries in a deal estimated at more than $30 million.

This was the first procurement by Syria of the SA-18, a modernized version of the Soviet-origin SA-7. The Syrian Air Force has the SA-7, SA-14 and SA-16 shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles.

The sources said the first shipment of SA-18 systems arrived on the eve of the U.S.-led war in Iraq in late March. The next shipment arrived in early summer and the last one in August. The systems were said to have been deployed at the Syrian military supply center at Zabadani near the border with Lebanon.