The overwhelming majority of Syrian air defense systems reacted to the coalition strikes only after all 105 guided missiles hit their targets, states The Daily Beast.

According to sources in the US government informed of the operation on April 14, the Syrian air defense estimates managed to launch only two interceptors, and both could not get into any of the approaching targets.

"The weakness of the air defense efforts contrasts sharply with the ridiculous statements about the success with which Syria's ally Russia has acted," notes journalist Ankit Panda. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that, although the Syrian forces used Soviet-era systems, they successfully intercepted about 70% of advanced Western missiles.

"In fact, the Syrian troops used 38 of the 40 interceptor missiles only after the guided missiles of the coalition hit their targets, including a chemical weapons storage and production facilities near Homs and near Damascus. Some of the launches of Syrian missiles hit the footage of amateur video filming, "- wrote the author of the article.

It is not surprising that the Syrian air defense systems did not prove themselves very well against advanced, low-visibility maneuverable missiles launched outside the affected area, such as JASSM-ER,.

"American cruise missiles for attacks on ground targets JASSM-ER and Tomahawk, French SCALP and British cruise missiles Storm Shadow are designed to create problems for enemy interceptors," writes Panda. "Long-range cruise missiles with an air-breathing engine are able to fly low and leave a weak thermal trail, so the enemy's radars do not just detect them at an early enough stage of the flight to successfully target the interception means".

"When looking at the chronology of the strikes struck on Saturday and the goals that were ultimately hit, the fact that the coalition did not send any of the 105 missiles to suppress the activities of the enemy air defense. This decision suggests that the coalition planners were confident that these weapons could successfully infiltrate Syrian airspace, "reads the article.

"Syria's decision to launch interceptors after the coalition missiles struck, could have been caused by a number of factors," points out The Daily Beast.

Given that the regime has picked up Russian statements on successful interceptions, the launches might have created an impression among observers near Homs and Damascus that the regime repels.

The results of the work of the Syrian air defense weapons can also explain the false reports of additional attacks provoked on Monday evening by the launch of Syrian interceptor missiles alongside Homs.

"It is quite possible that, recognizing their extremely unsatisfactory Saturday indicators, the Syrian military conducted a combat readiness test so that in the future the reaction to the blows was better," the correspondent argues. - Or even easier: after Saturday's events, air defense calculations were on their nerves ".