Tel Aviv: Another escalation in the tense relations between Israel and Turkey is building up. Recently, a Turkish-made ASELSAN HTRS-100 air traffic control radar has been installed and put into operation at Damascus International Airport.
According to the Turkish authorities this is a civil aviation safety and modernisation step. But according to Israeli defence sources, though the system is technically civilian ATC/approach radar, its capabilities and Turkish–Syrian operational involvement carry clear military-intelligence implications for Israeli and regional air operations.
The ASELSAN HTRS-100 is an Air Traffic Control Radar System, comprising primary surveillance radar (PSR) in S-band and secondary surveillance radar (SSR) with IFF interrogation modes. The officially declared role is flight safety, air traffic management and weather monitoring around Damascus International Airport, including improved detection, tracking, and approach control in adverse conditions.
According to the Israeli sources, in spite of the fact that the radar is defined as civil ATC, the HTRS-100’s precise 3D tracking of “all aerial targets around airports,” integration with IFF and robust performance in clutter makes it inherently suitable for supporting air-defence picture building.
The installation of the radar in Damascus airport indicates that Turkish personnel will retain a key role in operating or supporting radar deployments on Syrian soil, giving Ankara direct access to raw air picture and associated intelligence, added the sources.
As per assessment of Western intelligence sources, the Turkish radar deployments in Syria could effect the Israeli Air Force’s freedom of action over Syrian airspace and complicate routes toward Iran, with the Damascus installation seen as part of this broader radar footprint.
No official Israeli comment was available, but sources said that if the Turkish radar interferes with the Israeli freedom of operation in the Syrian air space connected with the threats from Iran, it will be ”eliminated”.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
