U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth air superiority fighters are reportedly patrolling the skies above western and northwestern Syria, including Russian military bases protected by formidable Russian air defenses.

The airspace being reconnoitered by the Raptors includes the Syrian port city of Tartus along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, which is protected from air attack by an S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.

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Tartus is a heavily defended enclave protected by surface-to-air missiles; anti-ship missiles and aircraft from the Russian Aerospace Forces. Russia is upgrading its Tartus facility so it can host up to 11 Russian Navy ships at a time, including nuclear-powered ones. Russia will also beef-up the air defense and sea defense systems protecting Tartus.

Pentagon officials are concerned the F-22 patrols might be detected by the Russian's formidable radar and missile defense systems protecting Tartus and Khmeimim Air Base southeast of the city of Latakia along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in western Syria.

Khmeimim Air Base is Russia's largest air base in Syria and is some 85 kilometers away from Tartus by road.  It's defended by an S-400 Triumf SAM system, whose four different interceptors can attack aircraft flying at low to high altitudes. Russia is also said to have deployed S300V4 long-range SAM systems in western Syria.

The areas being patrolled by the F-22s also include the city of Aleppo and Idlib province, site of the April 4 poison gas attack staged by the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF) on the town of Khan Shaykhun, and the April 7 bombardment of the SAAF's Shayrat Air Base by American UGM-109E Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) in response to the poison gas attack.

Despite its concerns, the Pentagon is confident the F-22s can safely fly within the engagement envelope of both S-400 and S300V4 SAM systems because the Raptors are basically invisible to Russian radars due to their stealthy design. The F-22s are also patrolling to determine how Russia might respond to future American missile attacks on Syria.

F-22 pilots are confident about the Raptor's ability to defeat the S-300V4 and the S-400. As for how effective these SAM systems are, the Air Force isn't 100 percent sure if the Russians have the capability to attack the Raptors as the Russians often claim.

Some military analysts believe the F-22s will play the major role in suppressing Russian SAM systems if the White House chooses to launch new cruise missile strikes -- and probably air strikes by manned U.S. aircraft -- against Bashar al-Assad's regime, which only survives by the grace of the Russians.

TagsF-22 Raptor stealth air superiority fighters, U.S. Air Force, Tartus, Russian Aerospace Forces, Khmeimim Air Base, S-400 Triumf, S-300, Syria, Shayrat Air Base