Syrian Armed Forces

Military of Syria
Founded	1946
Service branches	Syrian Army Syrian Navy Syrian Air Force Syrian Air Defense Forces Police and Security Force
Headquarters	Damascus
Leadership
President of Syria	Bashar al-Assad
Personnel
Available for military service	4,356,413 (2005 est.), age 15–49
Fit for military service	3,453,888 (2005 est.), age 15–49
Reaching military age annually	225,113 (2005 est.)
Expenditure
Budget	858 million-1 billion (FY00 est.)
Percent of GDP	5.9% (FY00)

The President of Syria is commander in chief of the Syrian armed forces, comprising some 400,000 troops upon mobilization. The military is a conscripted force; males serve 30 months in the military upon reaching the age of 18. About 20,000 Syrian soldiers were deployed in Lebanon until April 27, 2005, when the last of Syria's troops left the country after three decades.

The breakup of the Soviet Union — long the principal source of training, material, and credit for the Syrian forces — may have slowed Syria's ability to acquire modern military equipment. It has an arsenal of surface-to-surface missiles capable of reaching most of the populated areas of Israel, Syria's longstanding enemy in the region. In the early 1990s, Scud-C missiles with a 500-kilometer range were procured from North Korea, and Scud-D, with a range of up to 700 kilometers, is legedly being developed by Syria with the help of North Korea and Iran, according to Zisser.

Syria received significant financial aid from Persian Gulf Arab states as a result of its participation in the Persian Gulf War, with a sizable portion of these funds earmarked for military spending. In addition, Syria is buying additional weapons to either counter Israel's abilities to attack it or as preparation to take back the Golan Heights at some point in the future.

History

Involvement in military conflict

• The 1948 Arab-Israeli War (against Israel)
• The Six Day War (against Israel)
• The Yom Kippur War (against Israel)
• The Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990),
  • 1982 Lebanon War (against Lebanese militias, the PLO and Israel)
• The Persian Gulf War (against Iraq)

The Syrian armed forces has also been involved in keeping the order in Syria, for example by fighting a Muslim Brotherhood insurrection in the 1980s (mostly notable for the Hama Massacre).

International disputes

Since 1967, most of the Golan Heights territory of South West Syria is under Israeli control. Since 1973, the cease-fire line has generally been respected by both sides, with very few incidents. Syria does not recognize the State of Israel. Syria and Lebanon both publicly maintain that the Israeli-annexed Shebaa farms area on the northern Golan is in fact Lebanese territory, and that Israel has therefore not withdrawn fully from Lebanon; Israel and the UN both dispute this, claiming the Shebaa area is part of the Golan heights territory, which the UN considers Israeli-occupied and Israel since annexation considers Israeli territory.

Syria was invited into Lebanon by that country's president in 1976, to intervene on the side of the government against a rebellion of PLO and Lebanese forces. Syrian forces lingered in the country throughout the Lebanese civil war, and eventually brought most of the nation under their control, in conjunction with a power-struggle with Israel, which occupied part of the south of the country from 1978. Following the end of the civil war in 1990, Syrian forces maintained what was in effect a military occupation of Lebanon until 2005, when they were forced out by widespread public protest and international pressure, following the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri. Syrian forces have been accused of involvement in that murder, as well as continued meddling in Lebanese affairs, and an international investigation into the Hariri killing and several subsequent bomb attacks has been launched by the UN.

Syria also considers the Hatay Province (referred to as Iskanderoun or Alexandretta) of Southern Turkey to be Syrian territory and under occupation, since it was handed over by France to Turkey during the colonial era. However, there has been no fighting over this issue, and with the improvement in Syrian-Turkish relations under Bashar al-Asad, the Hatay dispute seems largely forgotten, even if there has been no formal statement announcing a change in the Syrian position.

Modernization

In early September, 2008. The Syrian Government is in line with Russia to purchase MiG-29SMT fighters, Pantsir S1E air-defense systems , Iskander tactical missile systems , Yak-130 aircraft and two Amur-1650 submarines. Russia's foreign minister said his country's sale of weapons to Syria won't upset the balance of power in the Middle East. The sales are "in line with the international law" and "in the interests of strengthening stability and maintaining security" in regions close to Russian borders, Sergei Lavrov told reporters during a visit to the United Nations in New York. Also Russia plans to turn a Soviet-era navy site in the Syrian port of Tartus into a permanent naval base, RIA Novosti reported, adding that 10 Russian warships are deployed there now while Russia expands the port. Israel and the United States have said they oppose further arms sales to Syria because the weapons could fall under the control of Iran or Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.

Current Structure and Organization of the Syrian Army

A Syrian soldier aims an AK-47 assault rifle from his position in a foxhole during a firepower demonstration, part of Operation Desert Shield.

• 200,000 personnel plus 280,000 conscripts, total 480,000
• 3 Corps HQ (1st, 2nd, and 3rd)
• 7 armoured divisions (apparently 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 11th). 9th Armored Division served in the 1991 Gulf War as the Arab Joint Forces Command North reserve and saw little action.
• 3 understrength mechanised divisions (4th, 7th, and 10th) - each with one mechanized and two motorized brigades
• 4 independent infantry brigades
• 14th Special Forces Division with 3 SF regiments; ten independent regiments
• 2 independent artillery brigades
• 2 independent anti-tank brigades
• Three Surface-to-surface missile brigades (each three battalions)(one brigade with FROG-7, one brigade with SS-21 Scarab, one brigade with Scud-B/C/D)
• Two coastal defence missile brigades (one with 4 SS-C-1B Sepal launchers, one with 6 P-15 Termit launchers, alternative designation SS-C-3 'Styx'). Also they are strong rumors that Syria received C-802 systems and 100 missiles from Iran.
• One border guard brigade
• One Republican Guard division (one artillery regiment, one mechanised brigade, three armoured brigades)

Weapons Inventory

Combat Vehicles

MBT

• T-55/55MV (2150)
• T-62M/K (1000)
• T-72/72M (1600)
  • About 1200 vehicles are stored.

APC Scout

• BRDM-2 (800)

IFV

• BMP-1 (2100)
• BMP-2 (100)

APC

• BTR-50
• BTR-60
• BTR-70
• BTR-152
  • Total: 1600

Artillery

Towed Artillery

• 122 mm gun M1931/37 (A-19) (100)
• 122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30) (600)
• 130 mm towed field gun M1954 (M-46) (600)
• 152 mm towed gun-howitzer M1955 (D-20) (20)
• 122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30) (400)
• 180 mm gun S-23 (10)

Self-propelled artillery

• 2S1 Gvozdika 122 mm (380)
• 2S3 Akatsiya 152 mm (50)

Towed Mortars

• 82 mm (200)
• 160mm Mortar M1943 (400)
• M-160 160 mm (100)
• M-240 240 mm (10)

Multiple Launchers Rocket Systems

• 107 mm Type 63 (200)
• 122 mm BM-21 (280)

Long Range Battle Field Rockets

• FROG-7 (18)
• SS-21 (18)
• SCUD-B/C/D (26)

Crew Served

Anti-Tank Missile Systems

• AT-3 (SAGGER) (3000)
• AT-4 (SPIGOT) (150)
• AT-5 (SPANDREL) (40)
• AT-7 (SAXHORN)
• AT-14 (KORNET)
• MILAN (200)
• RPG-29
• RPG-7

Army Air Defense Systems

Anti Air Gun Systems

Self Propelled AA Gun Systems

• ZSU-57-2 self-propelled twin 57 mm anti-aircraft gun system.
• ZSU-23-4 23 mm (400)

Towed AA Gun Systems

• M1939 37 mm (300)
• ZSU-23-2 23 mm (650)
• S-60 57 mm (675)
• KS-19 100 mm (25)

Surface to Air Missile Systems

MANPADS

• (4000) SA-7 Grail
• (100) SA-14 Gremilin
• SA-18 Grous

Self Propelled SAM Systems

• (56) SA-8 Gecko
• (20) SA-9 Gaskin
• (35) SA-13 Gopher
• (??) SA-19 Grison
• SA-22- Syria is in talks with russia to purchase atleast 36 Pantsir S1E air-defense systems

Syrian Navy

History

In 1950 the Syrian Navy was established following the procurement of a few naval craft from France. The initial personnel consisted of army soldiers who had been sent tp French academies of naval training.

It has been reported that Russia and Syria are conducting talks about permitting Russia to develop and enlarge the base in order to establish a stronger naval presence in the Mediterranean., and amidst the deteriorating Russia relations with the west in conjunction with the 2008 South Ossetia war‎ and the plans to deploy US missile defense shield in Poland, it has been asserted that President Assad has agreed to Tartus port’s conversion into a permanent Middle East base for Russia’s nuclear-armed warships.

Equipment

• Frigates:

2 Petya II

• Missile Boats:

2 Osa I

8 Osa II

• Amphibious warfare vessels:

3 Polnocny B

• Mine Warfare vessels :

1 Sonya

3 Yevgenya

• Naval aviation:

11 Mil Mi-14PL Haze-A

2 Kamov Ka-28PL Helix-A

Syrian Air Force

Main article: Syrian Air Force

File:Syriaaflogo.gif

Syrian Air Force logo

The Syrian Air Force (Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al Arabiya as-Souriya in Arabic) is the Aviation branch of the Syrian armed forces.

Further reading

• Kenneth M. Pollack, Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-91, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002, and Pollack's book reviewed in International Security, Vol. 28, No.2.