Syrian Air Defense Force

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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 36,000
Reserve personnel Unknown
Deployed personnel Unknown
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 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:

  • 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

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 equipped with three SA-6 missiles, were wiped out in Operation Mole Cricket 19, and the SyADF claimed to shoot 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-16s that were flying near Dörtyol, over southern Hatay province after deploying from the Incirlik and Merzifon airbases.[17] 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.[18]

In the afternoon of 7 December 2014, two formations composed by two Israeli Air Force F-15I's each, fired Popeye missiles to two separate target sites in Syria. Syrian air defense Buk-M2 missile batteries fired two missiles at the incoming attack planes, both were jammed and two Pechora 2M missiles were hastily launched at the four incoming Popeye missiles, shooting one down.[19]

On 17 March 2015, a US MQ-1 drone was shot down by a Syrian S-125 missile.[20][21]

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

  1. ↑ The International Institute For Strategic Studies IISS The Military Balance 2012. — Nuffield Press, 2012. — С. 349 с.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ he International Institute For Strategic Studies IISS The Military Balance 2012. — Nuffield Press, 2012. — С. 349 с.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/19143
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  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. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/06/29/air-force-lost-predator-was-shot-down-in-syria/29474659/
  21. ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/17/middleeast/syria-us-drone/
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