VIDEO: Israeli Missile Destroys Russian-Made Missile Defense System

The Twitter account representing the Israeli Defense Forces, @IDFSpokesperson, posted a stunning video of an Israeli missile descending towards an SA22 Greyhound short range air defense system. According to Military Today, the SA22 is capable of shooting down cruise missiles and guided bombs.

This one wasn’t.

The IDF struck an SA22 aerial interception system as part of a wide-scale attack against Iranian military sites in Syria pic.twitter.com/dFGXIwMT45

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 10, 2018

The IDF strikes were a response to the rockets that were launched by the Iranian Quds Forces against IDF positions on the Golan Heights & the Syrian aerial defense fire at IAF aircraft

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 10, 2018

Per Military Today:

The Pantsyr-S1 (Western reporting name SA-22 Greyhound) was designed to protect strategic military and civil point targets. It was originally designed to meet requirements of Russian Air Defense Forces (PVO). This system is capable of engaging a wide variety of aerial targets, such as aircraft, helicopters, ballistic and cruise missiles, guided bombs and UAVs.

Developers claim that it is also capable of engaging stealthy aircraft, such as the F-22 and F-35.

It was first publicly revealed in 1995 and entered service in 2007-2008. The first 10 Pantsyr-S1 air defense systems were delivered to the Russian Air Force in 2010. It is claimed that by 2014 more than 200 of these air defense systems were produced. It has also been exported to Algeria, Syria (up to 40 units) and United Arab Emirates (50 units). This air defense system was recently ordered by Iraq. The Pantsyr-S1 saw action during the military conflict in Ukraine.

Here’s what the SA22 looks like when not evaporated:

SA-22 Air Defense System. (VITALY V. KUZMIN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Back in 2015, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold specifically mentioned Iran’s attempts to transfer SA22s to Hezbollah as yet another reason for the world to reject the Obama-negotiated nuclear deal with Iran:

IRAN TRYING TO MOVE YAKHONT MISSILES AND SA-22 AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS TO HEZBOLLAH

Iran is trying to transfer state-of the-art weaponry, including the SA-22 (Pantsir-S1) air defense system and the Yakhont anti-ship cruise missile, from military storehouses in Syria to Hezbollah, Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday from Berlin.

Gold, on his first trip to a European capital for high-level talks in his new role, said that Iran is busy trying to convert its signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action into diplomatic benefits in Europe.

[Gold] said that … the regional situation has become more complicated as a result of the Iranian nuclear deal, and … there is no evidence that Iran is moving in a more moderate direction in 2015.

…

[Gold] briefed his interlocutors on the continued subversive efforts of the Iranians in the Middle East. He said that such efforts have included trying to transfer arms to Hezbollah, recent attempts by the terrorist group to move explosives from Iraq into Kuwait, and efforts over the last six months to set up a new Hezbollah front against Israel on the Golan Heights.

If this type of activity has been going on for the last six months, Gold asked, “then what happens when the sanctions on Iran are lifted, and they get a cash bonus of up to $150 billion?” He answered, “Iran will then be equipped to radically increase its destabilizing activities along Israel’s borders.”

Gold said that his meetings in Berlin come at a time when “there is an underlying assumption in the West that Iran may be adopting a more moderate course of action.”