Structure of the Syrian Army
Active Force Structure
- Three All Arms Army Corps HQ:
- 1st Corps HQ Damascus, covers from Golan Heights, the fortified zone and south to Der'a near the Jordanian border.
- 1st Armoured Division
- 21st Mechanized Brigade
- 51st Armoured Brigade
- 81st Armoured Brigade
- 3rd Armoured Division (Damascus)
- 58th Mechanized Brigade[1]
- 62nd Armoured Brigade
- ???? Armoured Brigade
- ???? Armoured Brigade
- 9th Armoured Division (The 9th Armored Division served in the 1991 Gulf War as the Arab Joint Forces Command North reserve and saw little action.)[2]
- 76th Armoured Brigade
- 85th Mechanized Brigade
- 91st Armoured Brigade
- 4th Mechanized Division
- 7th Mechanized Division
- 14th as-Saiqa Divisional Command HQ:
- 2nd Corps HQ Zabadani, covers north of Damascus, to Homs and includes Lebanon.
- 10th Mechanized Division
- Seven independent Airborne Special Forces Regiments
- 3rd Corps HQ Aleppo, based in the north and covers Hama, the Turkish and Iraqi borders, the Mediterranean coastline and is tasked with protecting the complex of CBW and missile production and launch facilities. Maintains operational control over the Syrian Navy
- 5th Armoured Division (The 5th Division, at that time an infantry formation, invaded Jordan during the events of Black September in Jordan, 1970. It was reinforced with two armoured brigades. After an ineffectual defence by the massively outnumbered Jordanian 40th Armoured Brigade, the 5th Division's attack was repelled on 22 September 1970 mostly through the efforts of the Royal Jordanian Air Force.)[3]
- 6th Armoured Division
- 8th Armoured Division
- 11th Armoured Division
- Four independent Infantry Brigades
- Ten independent Airborne Special Forces Regiments (Seven regiments attached to 2nd corps)
- Two independent Artillery Brigades
- Two independent Anti-tank Brigades
- Surface-to-surface Missile Command with three SSM Brigades (each with three SSM battalions),
- One brigade with FROG-7,
- One brigade with Scud-B/C/D.
- One brigade with SS-21 Scarab,
- Three coastal defence missile brigades (Also they are strong rumors that Syria received C-802 systems and 100 missiles from Iran.):
- One brigade with 4 SS-C-1B Sepal launchers,
- One brigade with 6 P-15 Termit launchers, alternative designation SS-C-3 'Styx'
- One brigade with 6+ P-800 Oniks launchers,
- One Border Guard Brigade
Protecting Damascus:
- 4th Armoured Division (The Defense companies were transformed into the 569th Armoured Division, which then became the 4th Armoured Division.)[4]
- The Republican Guard Armoured Division:
- Three Armoured brigades
- One Mechanized brigade
- One Artillery regiment
Reserve Force Structure
- 2nd Armoured Division (Aleppo)
- 12th Motorized Division
- 13th Motorized Division
The two Motorized Division will be formed from the best of the following:
- Two Armoured Brigades
- Two independent Armoured Regiments
- Thirty Infantry Brigades
- Three Artillery Brigades
References
Further reading