Syrian Air Defense Force

Syrian Arab Air Defence Force
Founded 1969
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 36,000
Reserve personnel Unknown
Deployed personnel Unknown
Industry
Foreign suppliers  Russia

The Syrian Air Defense Force (SyADF) 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 S-75 Dvina, S-125 Neva/Pechora and S-200 launchers, 200 mobile 2K12 Kub and Buk launchers and over 4,000 anti-aircraft guns ranging from 23mm to 100mm in caliber. There are also two independent 9K33 Osa 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.

25 teams defense (130 batteries) Including:

Inventory

Combat history

In October 1973, the Syrian air defense forces (SyADF) shot down 102 Israeli warplanes using mostly the 2K12 Kub (SA-6) SAMs.[13]

In 1982, Israel claimed that 19 of 20 batteries, consisting of five tanks with each tank armed with three SA-6 missiles, were wiped out in Operation Mole Cricket 19, and the SyADF claimed to have shot down 43 Israeli warplanes over Lebanon in the same year.[14][15]

On 22 June 2012, the 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.[16]

In mid-November 2013, Turkish sources claimed the SyADF targeted, for ten seconds, three Turkish F-16 fighters that were flying near Dörtyol, over southern Hatay province after deploying from the Incirlik and Merzifon airbases.[17] The incident came after a Turkish F-16 shot down a Syrian Mi-17 helicopter on September 16 after Turkey claimed it crossed into Turkish airspace in the same area.[18]

On 17 March 2015, a US MQ-1 Predator drone was shot down by a Syrian S-125 missile.[19][20]

On 13 September 2016, the Syrian Army claimed to have downed an Israeli warplane and a drone after an attack on Quneitra province.[21]

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ The International Institute For Strategic Studies IISS The Military Balance 2012. — Nuffield Press, 2012. — С. 349 с.
  2. ↑ "Trade Registers". sipri.org. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Syrie armee syrienne forces defense terrestres equipements militaires vehicule blindes informations - Army Recognition". Armyrecognition.com. 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  4. ↑ "Trade Registers". Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  5. ↑ he International Institute For Strategic Studies IISS The Military Balance 2012. — Nuffield Press, 2012. — С. 349 с.
  6. ↑ "IDF: Syria's antiaircraft system still no match for IDF". Ynetnews.com. 1995-06-20. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  7. ↑ "Syria receives SA-22 Greyhound". Geopoliticalmonitor.com. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  8. ↑ http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/19143
  9. ↑ "Сирия получит С-300 в полном объеме". Warfiles.ru. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Вести.Ru: В Дамаске будут следить за переговорами Путина и Кэмерона". vesti.ru. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Сирия получила российские зенитно-ракетные комплексы С-300". Российская газета. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "Сирия получила первую партию российских ракет С-300". Российская газета. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "White House Military Briefing." (PDF). White House Military Briefing. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  14. ↑ Herzog, The Arab–Israeli Wars, Random House (1982) pp. 347–48
  15. ↑ Bruce Walker & the editors of Time-Life books, Fighting Jets: The Epic of Flight, Time Life Books (1983) pp. 162–63
  16. ↑ "Assad regrets downing of Turkish jet, says won’t allow open combat with Ankara". Al Arabiya News, 3 July 2012. Retrieved: 26 August 2013.
  17. ↑ "Syrian air defences 'harass' Turkish aircraft by putting them under radar lock: General Staff - INTERNATIONAL". Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  18. ↑ "Here's how the Turkish F-16 shot down a Syrian Mil Mi-17 Hip helicopter today". The Aviationist. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  19. ↑ http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/06/29/air-force-lost-predator-was-shot-down-in-syria/29474659/
  20. ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/17/middleeast/syria-us-drone/
  21. ↑ https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201609131045247278-syria-army-israel-downing/
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