Syrian Arab Navy |
|
---|---|
Founded | 1946 |
Service branches | Navy |
Headquarters | Damascus |
Leadership | |
President of Syria | Bashar al-Assad |
Minister of Defence | General Ali Mohammed Habib Mahmoud |
Chief of Naval Staff | Vice Admiral Talib al-Barri |
Manpower | |
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.) |
Active personnel | 4,000 |
Reserve personnel | 2,500 |
Expenditures | |
Budget | $935 million to 2 billion (FY11)[1][2] |
Percent of GDP | 3.8% (FY00) |
Industry | |
Foreign suppliers | Russia |
The Syrian Navy is the smallest of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is under the Syrian Army's Latakia regional command with the fleet based in the ports of Baniyas, Latakia, Minat al Bayda, and Tartus.
Contents |
In 1950 the Syrian Navy was established following the procurement of a few naval vessels from France. The initial personnel consisted of army soldiers who had been sent to French naval academies for training.[3]
During the Yom Kippur War the Israeli Navy sank five Syrian ships without a loss during the Battle of Latakia. As a result the Syrian Navy remained in port for the rest of the conflict.[4]
Tartus hosts a Soviet-era naval supply and maintenance base, under a 1971 agreement with Syria. The base was established during the Cold War to support the Soviet Navy's fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Since Russia forgave Syria of three-fourths of its $13.4 billion Soviet-era debt and became its main arms supplier, Russia and Syria have conducted talks about allowing Russia to develop and enlarge its naval base, so that Russia can strengthen its naval presence in the Mediterranean.[5] Amid Russia's deteriorating relations with the West, because of the 2008 South Ossetia War and plans to deploy a US missile defense shield in Poland, President Assad agreed to the port’s conversion into a permanent Middle East base for Russia’s nuclear-armed warships.[6] Since 2009, Russia has been renovating the Tartus naval base and dredging the port to allow access for its larger naval vessels.[7]
During the 2011 Syrian uprising, it is claimed that Syrian Navy warships supported a military attack by government forces against rebels in the town of Latakia.[8]
|
|