Global Security Newswire

Indications that Syrian armed forces assets might be slipping from government control have intensified fears among Israeli observers over the potential for the militant group Hezbollah to shift Scud D missiles and other armaments from Syria into Lebanon, the Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday (see GSN, Dec. 7, 2010).

Hezbollah in 2010 purportedly received an allotment of the Scud weapons, the most sophisticated delivery systems in Syria's possession. An armed conflict with Israel was previously the anticipated trigger for moving the weapons into Lebanon, but mounting challenges to President Bashar Assad's regime have intensified worries that Hezbollah might seek an earlier shift to preclude the armaments' seizure by Syrian opposition forces or separate nongovernmental entities.

An indication of such a move would force Israel to determine whether to use force to halt the shipment, possibly risking a wider conflict with Syria and the militant organization.

The Scud D delivery systems would dramatically enhance Hezbollah's firepower, according to the Post; the armaments can accommodate WMD materials and travel roughly 435 miles.

Separately, Israel intends within months to attempt its first shoot down of a mock enemy missile with the developmental Arrow 3 defense system (see GSN, March 2). The Block 4 Arrow projectile is the first to incorporate certain electronic components intended to aid in countering the Syrian Scud D and other extended-distance ballistic weaponry (Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post, June 13).