NATO commander warns Russia may seal off Syria airspace

NATO’s top military officer warns Russia is building an air power umbrella in Syria that may be intended to prevent Western powers from operating freely in the country.

“As we see the very capable air defense [systems] beginning to show up in Syria, we’re a little worried about another A2/AD bubble being created in the eastern Mediterranean,” NATO Allied Command Operations in Europe Supreme Allied Commander, General Philip M. Breedlove tells an audience at the German Marshall Fund Monday, the Washington Post reports.

The Post adds:

A2/AD stands for anti-access/area denial. During the early stages of warfare, A2/AD could have been a moat around a castle, or spikes dug into the ground—anything to keep the enemy off a certain swathe of territory. In the 21st century, however, A2/AD is a combination of systems such as surface-to-air missile batteries and anti-ship missiles deployed to prevent forces from entering or traversing a certain area—from land, air or sea.

According to Breedlove, the introduction of an A2/AD bubble in Syria would be Russia’s third denial zone around Europe. The first and oldest he said, was in the Baltics where the Russian naval base in Kaliningrad has robust anti-air capabilities. The second zone—originating from Russian-occupied Crimea—covers the Black Sea.