South Front
Click to see full-size image. Via Telegram.
The United States-led coalition has deployed the Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (FS-LIDS), which is designed to counter all types of drones, in Syria’s northeastern region.
A photo that surfaced online showed a vehicle of the system near a base of the coalition located at the Conoco gas facility in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside.
The FS-LIDS system uses a small, expendable drone dubbed the Coyote to intercept its target. The drone delivers a kinetic effect by crashing into enemy drones or exploding near them and dispersing blast fragments from its warhead.
The newest version of the interceptor drone, the Coyote Block 2, is propelled by a jet engine, equipped with an active radar seeker and armed with a proximity warhead. It can engage threats at a range of more than 15 kilometers, and can even re-attack if it misses on the first pass.
U.S.-led coalition bases in Syria’s northeastern region and its garrison in the southeastern area of al-Tanf were targeted with suicide drones on several occasions in the past.
Earlier this year, a suicide drone hit a base of the coalition in the northeastern governorate of al-Hasakah. The attack, which killed a U.S. contractor and wounded a number of service members, sparked a limited confrontation with Iranian-backed forces in Syria.
The U.S.-led coalition has been working to expand its presence in Syria for a while now, despite the disapproval of Damascus.
The appearance of the FS-LIDS system came amid high tensions between U.S. and Russian forces over aerial operations in Syrian skies. It also came as the coalition and its proxies were massing forces along the frontline with government forces in Deir Ezzor.
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