MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry has dismissed the media reports claiming that the Israeli F-35 fighter jets managed to pierce the Russian air defense radar systems in Syria and to do aerial reconnaissance there, a source at the ministry said.
"The information published by some media that quoted a foreign source claiming the Israeli fighter jets had tricked the Russian radars and had done high-altitude reconnaissance is nonsensical," he said. "Any aircraft becomes easily discernable for and vulnerable to the radars of most countries if it flies at a high altitude."
The Syrian air defenses have proved more than once their ability to detect and, on top of that, to bring down the air-to-surface missiles, which have a far smaller effective reflecting area than the F-35 jets, the source said.
"As for the Russian air defenses in Syria, they provide reliable protection to the Russian defense facilities in Tartus and Hmeymim," he said.
A well-informed source claimed in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida two Israeli F-35 fighters had managed to do aerial surveillance in Iran’s air space earlier this month after crossing the Syrian and Iraqi territory unnoticed.