The Israeli Ministry of Defense has released details — and imagery — of a dramatic commando raid into Syria, which targeted an underground missile production facility, back in September. The raid, codenamed Operation Many Ways, was deemed an outstanding success, with the facility destroyed and none of the 120 Israeli special forces troops involved being injured. Until now, however, very few details of how the raid took place had emerged.
The raid was carried out on Sept. 8 by members of the Israeli Air Force (IAF), specifically its elite Shaldag unit and Unit 669. Shaldag is a clandestine outfit that specializes in long-range penetration operations, including commando-style raids. Unit 669 is tasked primarily with combat search and rescue (CSAR), a key requirement of missions carried out in or close to hostile territory.
The target of Operation Many Ways was, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say, an Iranian-run missile manufacturing site, codenamed Deep Layer by the Israeli military — part of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) network.
What the Israeli Ministry of Defense described as “precision-guided missiles” and long-range rockets were planned to be made at the facility and then supplied to Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as to the Assad regime in Syria. In terms of Iranian support for Hezbollah, Deep Layer was Iran’s “flagship project,” according to the IDF.
The IDF says the target was surveilled with “extensive intelligence gathering and monitoring,” and a plan for its destruction reportedly started to take shape “months” ahead of the operation.
Fitting its name, Deep Layer was located deep underground, buried within a mountain in the Masyaf area of Syria, west of Hama. Reportedly situated between 230 and 430 feet below ground, the facility was considered more or less impregnable by IAF airstrikes. But destroying it using a commando raid was also a huge challenge since its location was more than 124 miles north of the Israeli border, and around 28 miles from Syria’s western coastline.
As to the layout of the facility, the IDF says it was horseshoe-shaped, with an entrance in the side of the mountain where raw materials went in, and an exit nearby from where the completed missiles emerged. There was also a third entrance used for logistics and to reach offices inside the facility. Along the horseshoe were at least 16 rooms where missile and rocket motor assembly took place.
At the time of the raid, the facility was not yet working at full capacity, construction work began here in late 2017. However, according to the IDF, at least two missiles had been successfully manufactured as part of testing, and rocket engines were already being mass produced. Ultimately, it was expected that the facility would be able to produce between 100 and 300 missiles of various kinds annually.
The soldiers involved in the operation, 100 members of Shaldag and another 20 members of Unit 669, were transported into and out of Syria aboard four CH-53D helicopters, locally named Yasur. Official pictures that have now been released, like the one below, show that military working dogs were also part of the force. Reconnaissance and fire support were provided by undisclosed Israeli fighter jets, as well as vessels of the Israeli Navy.
According to the Israeli media, the CH-53s were escorted by a pair of AH-64 attack helicopters while other air assets included 21 fighters, 14 reconnaissance aircraft, and five drones, among others. Meanwhile, 30 more aircraft were on standby in Israel to respond if the operation began to go wrong.
“The six helicopters flew over the Mediterranean Sea far off the coast of Lebanon, before crossing into Syria above its own coastline,” The Times of Israel reports. “The choppers flew unusually low in order to evade Syrian radars and air defense systems.”
The Syrian air defense systems around the facility were, the IDF determined, the second-most densely concentrated in Syria, surpassed only by Damascus, although at least some had already been knocked out by IAF airstrikes and had not been repaired or replaced.
Reportedly, it took the helicopters only 18 minutes to reach the facility after they had crossed the Syrian coastline, and none were detected. Concurrent with their arrival, IAF fighters and drones along with missile-armed Israeli Navy vessels hit targets both related to the facility and elsewhere in Syria. The strikes on other targets were intended to serve as a deception to mask the objective of the commando raid, were it to be detected.
Although the helicopters were apparently not detected by local air defenses, Israeli reports indicate that “dozens” of Syrian soldiers began to head to the facility, suggesting that they must have been alerted to the operation, although perhaps only after the commandos had landed. To hamper any Syrian response, strikes also targeted roads in and out of the facility.
The first of the CH-53s put troops down very close to the entrance to the facility, and once all four had dropped off troops the helicopters moved to landing zones nearby and waited for the mission to be completed. The Unit 669 members remained on the aircraft, waiting for the call to action if any of the commandos were injured.
The operation is said to have involved the first team of commandos securing the area while a second team advanced toward the entrance, killing two guards. Meanwhile, another team took up a position on a nearby hill, from where they operated a small drone. This drone was reportedly equipped not only for surveillance, but was also armed so it could “eliminate anyone approaching the facility.”
Within an hour, the first team of commandos had broken through one of the entrances, which were protected by heavy doors. Further internal doors were opened using nearby forklifts. Indeed, at least some of the commandos underwent forklift driver training, for just this eventuality.
As well as forklifts on site, the commandos used a quad bike they had brought with them to move explosives around the tunnels. In all, 50 commandos were involved in planting explosive devices, while the other 50 waited outside to provide surveillance and offer covering fire. Meanwhile, IAF fighters continued to hit targets, dropping 49 munitions in total during the raid, although not all were around the facility.
After around 660 pounds of explosives had been rigged up, a remote detonator was planted at the site entrance, and the 100 commandos moved to the original landing site where the same helicopters picked them up. As they boarded, the explosives were triggered.
In all, the IDF assesses that its soldiers killed 30 guards and Syrian soldiers during the operation, while Syrian media reported 14 dead and 43 wounded.
According to the IDF, the operation was completed with the commandos involved having spent a little more than 2.5 hours on the ground in Syria.
“During the operation, the forces reached critical machinery for manufacturing precision missiles, including a planetary mixer, numerous weapons, and intelligence documents, which were transferred for investigation,” the IDF disclosed. “The soldiers destroyed the compound and safely returned to Israeli territory.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the operation in Syria: “I salute our heroic fighters for the daring and successful operation deep in Syria. This was one of the most important preventive operations that we have taken against the efforts of the Iranian axis to arm itself in order to attack us; it attests to our boldness and determination to take action everywhere to defend ourselves.”
Operation Many Ways took place when Syria was still ruled by Bashar al-Assad and before Israel launched its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
After the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, it seems that Israel has decided that it can publicize details of the commando raid. This will also serve as a warning of potential further operations directed against Iran and its proxies in the region. The fact that the operation demonstrated Israeli willingness and capacity to launch such raids against deeply buried and highly defended bunkers sent a signal to Iran, which is a key takeaway we highlighted when the first mention of the special operations raid emerged. While executing a similar operation against an underground target in Iran would be far more complex and risky, this has always been a real possibility and Israel has proven itself more than capable of operating within Iran’s borders.
More recently, Netanyahu spoke of a changing order in the region, with two of Iran’s key proxies there, Hamas and Hezbollah, deeply degraded and the Assad regime eliminated, stating:
“After Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are almost the last remaining arm of Iran’s axis of evil. The Houthis are learning, and will learn the hard way, that those who strike Israel will pay a very heavy price for it.”
While disclosing details of Operation Many Ways, the IDF said it will “continue to act strategically and professionally with various methods and tactics to remove threats directed at the citizens of Israel.” This clearly includes special operations raids against very hardened underground facilities well beyond Israel’s borders.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com