Syrian Navy

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البحرية السورية / Syrian Navy

m
Lineup 1946
Country SyriaSyria Syria
Armed forces Armed Forces of Syria
Type Armed forces
Strength 6 200
Location Tartus, Latakia, Baniyas and Minet el-Beida.
A Romeo-class Soviet submarine of which three boats were delivered to Syria
Polenocny-class landing ship
A Ka-25 Hormone anti- submarine helicopter operated by the Syrian Air Force for the Navy

The Syrian Navy is the naval force of the Syrian Arab Republic . It currently comprises around 3,700 relatives and 2,500 reservists.

history

The Syrian Navy was established in 1950. It initially consisted of ships that had been bought in France and army soldiers who were retrained in France.

During the 1973 Yom Kippur War , the Syrian Navy was defeated by the Israeli Navy during the Battle of Latakia and remained in port for the remainder of the war. In the 1980s, the Syrian Navy was re-equipped by the Soviet Union in return for base rights in Tartus .

In fact, this has not significantly improved the position of the Navy within the Syrian armed forces . It remained under the subordination to the land forces as part of the Latakia regional command . The tour takes place exclusively from land.

equipment

In the 1980s, the Syrian Navy received, among other things, three submarines of the Romeo type , minesweepers , missile speedboats of the Komar , Osa and Osa-II types and Petya-II submarine hunters . In addition, there were Ka-25 Hormone and Mi-14 Haze submarine helicopters , which, however, were subordinate to the Air Force, and a small marine infantry of around 800 men. In 1984/85, three Polish landing craft were procured for their transport. The training ship Al-Assad , delivered by Poland in 1989 , with around 3500 tons the largest ship in the Syrian Navy, can also be used as a troop transport.

The current clarity of seagoing units is rated as low, while the coastal missiles of the types SS-N-26 Yakhont , SSC-1 , SSC-3 and C-802 can pose a serious threat to ships operating offshore.

Bases

Despite its small size, the Syrian Navy has four naval bases , including the Tartus naval base shared by Russia . The other bases are in Latakia , Baniyas and Minet el-Beida .

Stake value

Training, maintenance and modernization did not keep pace with the reconstruction of maritime capabilities in the 1980s. It is unknown which of the ships delivered in the 1980s are still operational. One of the submarines sank on the pier in 1995, the serviceability of the other two is doubtful.

The operational value of the Syrian Navy can be assessed as low. It is limited to coastal operations, such as on August 14, 2011, when Syrian warships participated in the bombardment of Latakia to quell protests . Only the coastal missiles represent an operational component to be taken into account by other navies.

literature

  • Klaus Mommsen. The Navy of the Syrian Arab Republic . In: Marineforum 10-2012, p. 35 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Threat Assessment: The Syrian Arab Republic Navy . Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  2. ^ Syrian Arab Navy . Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  3. ↑ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/latakia.html
  4. ^ Syrian 'warships shell port city of Latakia' . Al Jazeera. August 14, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.