Founded 1969 President of Syria Bashar al-Assad | Headquarters Damascus Reaching military
age annually 225,113 (2005 est.) | |
Available for
military service 4,356,413 (2005 est.), age 15–49 Fit for
military service 3,453,888 (2005 est.), age 15–49 | ||
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.
Contents
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
25 teams defense (130 batteries) Including:
Inventory
Combat history
In October 1973, the Syrian air defense forces (SyADF), in conjunction with all the Arab forces, shot down 102 Israeli warplanes using mostly the 2K12 Kub (SA-6) SAMs.
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.
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.
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. 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.
On 17 March 2015, a US MQ-1 Predator drone was shot down by a Syrian S-125 missile.
On 13 September 2016, the Syrian Army claimed to have downed an Israeli warplane and a drone after an attack on Quneitra province.
On 17 March 2017, the Syrian Army claimed to have downed an Israeli warplane after an attack on military site near Palmyra. The Israel Defence Forces denied any such loss.