Syrian Air Defense Force

Syrian Arab Air Defence Force
Founded	1969
Service branches	Air Defense Force
Headquarters	Damascus
Leadership
President of Syria	Bashar al-Assad
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	40,000
Reserve personnel	20,000
Deployed personnel	40,000
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Russia

The Syrian Air Defense Force is an independent command within the Syrian Armed Forces. It has been merged into and then separated from both the Syrian Arab Army and the Syrian Arab Air Force. The Syrian Air Defense Force controls four air defense corps, eleven air defense Divisions and thirty-six air defense brigades, each with six SAM battalions. It is equipped with 650 static SA-2, SA-3 and SA-5 launchers, 200 mobile SA-6 and SA-11 launchers and over 4,000 anti-aircraft guns ranging from 23mm to 100mm in caliber. There are also two independent SA-8 and SA-10 SAM Regiments, each with four batteries of 48 mobile SAMs.

The Syrian early warning system comprises Long Track; P-12 Spoon Rest; P-14 Tall King; H-15 Flat Face; P-30 Big Mesh; P-35 Bar Lock; P-80; PRV-13; PRV-16 Thin Skin mobile and static radar sites throughout Syria.

Current structure and organization

SA-6 launcher near the Beirut-Damascus highway, overlooking the Bekaa Valley, in early 1982.

• 40,000 active personnel
• Ten Air Defence Division HQ
  • Thirty-three Air Defence Brigade
    • One hundred fifty Air Defence Batteries

25 teams defense (130 batteries) Including:

• Self-propelled
  • 62 batteries:
    • 11 teams - 27 batteries - SA-6 Gainful (PU SAM 2K12 Square);
    • 14 Battery - SA-8 Gecko (PU SAM 9K33 Osa);
    • 12 Battery - SA-22 Greyhound (96K6 Pantsyr S1E);
    • 9 Battery - Buk-M2
• Towed
  • 11 teams - 60 batteries with SA-2 Guideline (CP-75 Dvina / S-75M Volga) and SA-3 Goa (S-125 Neva / S-125M Pechora) (Being upgraded);
• Two SAM regiment with SA-5 Gammon(in each brigade to 2 divisions for 2 batteries each).
  • Four SAM battalion
    • Eight Static/Shelter SAM batteries

• Two independent SAM Regiment
  • Four SAM batteries with SA-8
  • Four SAM batteries with SA-10

Inventory

• 320 Lavochkin CP-75 Dvina/S-75M Volga (SA-2) launchers - under upgrade
• 148 Pechora^[1] +12 2M^[2] Isayev S-125 Neva/S-125M Pechora (SA-3) launchers - under upgrade
• 48 S-200 Angara (SA-5) launchers
• 200 2K12 Kub (SA-6) launchers
• 60 9K33 Osa (SA-8) launchers
• 20 9K31 Strela-1 (SA-9) launchers ^[3]
• 35 9K35 Strela-10 (SA-13) launchers ^[3]
• 20+8 9K37 Buk М1-2+Buk М2 (SA-11) launchers^[4]+^[5]
• 6 9M311-1M Tunguska (SA-19) launchers
• 50 Pantsir-S1 (SA-22) launchers^[6][7]
• S-300 + delivered not completed.^[8]

Combat history

In 1982,19 of 20 batteries—each battery consisting of five tanks and each tank equipped with three SA-6 missiles were wiped out in Operation Mole Cricket 19. Despite decades of technological innovations in the Israeli and Western militaries, Syria still relies heavily on Soviet-era weaponry to defend itself. This is especially true in the north of the country. The government chose to concentrate its newer hardware in the west and south of Syria to guard against Israel.

On 22 June 2012 Syrian Air Defence Force shot down a Turkish McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II reconnaissance jet. The jet's pilots were killed; both Turkish and Syrian forces searched for them before recovering their bodies in early July. The incident greatly escalated the tensions between Turkey and Syria.^[9]

In mid-November 2013, the SyADF targeted, for ten seconds, three Turkish F-16s that were flying near Dörtyol, over southern Hatay province after deploying from the Incirlik and Merzifon airbases.^[10] The incident comes after a Turkish F-16 shot down a Syrian Mi-17 on September 16 after Turkey claimed it crossed into Turkish airspace in the same area.^[11]

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.

References