An Israeli officer said that despite the Russian draw-down in Syria the Kremlin maintains a highly substantial arsenal of warplanes in Syria. "He [Russian President Vladimir Putin] changed the shape of the forces [in Syria], but he didn't evacuate," explained the senior Israeli Air Force officer who spoke to Defense News on the condition of anonimity. "He's brought in different assets and returned things he had less use for. Now there's more emphasis on air support by attack helicopters." Russia announced it gave air support to the Syrian military's offensive against Islamic State (ISIS) which was a success. This took place after it announced it was withdrawing the "main part" of its arsenal in Syria two weeks ago. "I don't want to get into numbers," said the IAF officer, "but he still has a significant force there [with which] he can do almost whatever he wants." The Russians advanced S-400 air defense missile systems remain in place to deter the Turks as do many of their advanced air superiority Sukhoi 30 and 35 Flanker jet fighters. "The [Russian-Israeli] deconfliction mechanism is being preversed and managed well," the officer said, "Both sides agreed upon rules; and each side guards his own boundaries." Both Russia and Israel established that mechanism shortly after the Russian deployment to Syria in late September to avoid incident. Following Turkey's shootdown of a Russian warplane over the Syrian-Turkey border on November 24 Russia turned off a similar mechanism with Turkey and deployed aforementioned S-400 missiles and Sukhoi Flanker jets to deter Ankara.
