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| Syrian Arab Army | |
|---|---|
| الجيش العربي السوري | |
.svg) | |
| Founded | 1 August 1945[1] 2024 (current form) |
| Country |  Syria |
| Type | Army |
| Role | Land warfare |
| Size | ~100,000[2] |
| Part of | Syrian Armed Forces |
| Garrison/HQ | Damascus |
| Motto | "Arabic:حُمَاةَ الدِّيَارِ" (Guardians of the Homeland) |
| Colors |
|
| Anniversaries | August 1st |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| President | Ahmed al-Sharaa |
| Minister of Defense | Murhaf Abu Qasra |
| Chief of the General Staff | Ali Noureddine Al-Naasan |
TheSyrian Arab Army is theland force branch of theSyrian Armed Forces. Up until thefall of the Assad regime, theSyrian Arab Army[a] existed as a land force branch of theSyrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominated the military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the most senior posts in the armed forces, and had the greatest manpower, approximately 80 percent of the combined services.[3] The Syrian Army originated inlocal military forces formed by the French afterWorld War I, after France obtained amandate over the region.[4] It officially came into being in 1945, before Syria obtained full independence the following year and 2 years after official independence.
After 1946, it played a major role in Syria's governance, mounting six military coups: two in 1949, including theMarch 1949 Syrian coup d'état and the August 1949 coup by ColonelSami al-Hinnawi, and one each in 1951,1954,1963,1966, and1970. It fought four wars withIsrael (1948, theSix-Day War in 1967, theYom Kippur War of 1973, and1982 Lebanon War) and one with Jordan ("Black September" inJordan, 1970). An armored division was also deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990–91 during theGulf War, but saw little action. From 1976 to 2005 it was the major pillar of theSyrian occupation of Lebanon. Internally, it played a major part in suppressing the 1979–82Islamist uprising in Syria, and from 2011 to 2024 was heavily engaged in fighting theSyrian Civil War, the most violent and prolonged war the Syrian Army had taken part in since its establishment in the 1940s.
The Syrian Army Command told soldiers and officers they were no longer in service as of 8 December 2024, with thefall of the Assad regime.[5] A new Syrian Army led by ex-Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham forces is in the process of reconstruction.[6]
In 1919, the French formed theTroupes spéciales du Levant as part of theArmy of the Levant in theFrench Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. The former with 8,000 men later grew into both the Syrian andLebanese armies. This force was used primarily asauxiliaries in support of French troops, and senior officer posts were held by Frenchmen, although Syrians were allowed to hold commissions below the rank of major.[7] The Syrian officer corps of theTroupes spéciales du Levant mainly consisted of former officers of theOttoman Army and members of Syria's ethnic and religious minorities.[8] By 1927, more than 35% of Syrian soldiers came from the auxiliary troops; they were traditionallyKurdish,Druze or Circassian. After the repression of theGreat Syrian Revolt by GeneralMaurice Gamelin, commander of the Troupes du Levant, they were strengthened and became the main forces of the French apparatus.[9]
In 1927, the force was augmented by North African infantry (tirailleurs) and cavalry (spahis),French Foreign Legion,Troupes de marine infantry and artillery units (both French andSenegalese). The whole force constituted theArmy of the Levant.
In August 1945, the Syrian Army was formed mainly fromArmy of the Levant. As Syria gained independence in 1946, its leaders envisioned adivision-sized army. On June 19, 1947, the Syrian Army took the survivors ofPan Am Flight 121 to the Presbyterian mission hospital atDeir ez-Zor. The 1st Brigade was ready by the time of the Syrian war against Israel on May 15, 1948. It consisted of two infantrybattalions and one armored battalion. The 2nd Brigade was organized during the1948 Arab–Israeli War and also included two infantry battalions and one armored battalion.[10]
At the time of the1948 Arab–Israeli War, the army was small, poorly armed, and poorly trained. "Paris had relied primarily on French regulars to keep the peace in Syria and had neglected indigenous forces. Consequently, training was lackadaisical, discipline lax, and staff work almost unheard of. ... there were about 12,000 men in the Syrian army. These troops were mostly grouped into three infantry brigades and an armored force of about battalion size," writes Pollack.[11]
Between 1949 and 1966, a series of military coups destroyed the stability of the government and any remaining professionalism within the army. In March 1949, the chief of staff, GeneralHusni al-Za'im, installed himself as president. Two more military dictators followed by December 1949. GeneralAdib Shishakli then held power until deposed in the1954 Syrian coup d'etat. Further coups followed, each attended by a purge of the officer corps to remove supporters of the losers from the force.[12] 'Discipline in the army broke down across the board as units and their commanders pledged their allegiance to different groups and parties. Indeed, by the late 1950s, the situation had become so bad that Syrian officers regularly disobeyed the orders of superiors who belonged to different ethnic or political groups.[13]
The1963 Syrian coup d'état had as one of its key objectives the seizure of theAl-Kiswah military camp, home to the 70th Armored Brigade. In June 1963, Syria took part in theIraqi military campaign against theKurds by providing aircraft, armoured vehicles and a force of 6,000 soldiers. Syrian troops crossed the Iraqi border and moved into the Kurdish town ofZakho in pursuit ofBarzani'sfighters.[14] There was anothercoup d'etat in 1966.
However, in 1967 the army did appear to have some strength. It had around 70,000 personnel, roughly 550 tanks and assault guns, 500 APCs, and nearly 300 artillery pieces.[15] The army had sixteen brigades: twelve infantry, two armored (probably including the 70th Armored), and two mechanized. The Syrian government deployed twelve of the sixteen brigades to theGolan, including both armored brigades and one mechanized brigade. Three 'brigade groups', each comprising four brigades, were deployed: the 12th in the north, holding the sector from the B'nat Ya'acov bridge to the slopes ofMount Hermon, the 35th in the south from the B'nat Ya'acov bridge to theYarmuk River border with Jordan, and the 42nd in reserve, earmarked for a theater-level counterattack role. During theSix-Day War Israeli assault of the Golan heights, the Syrian army failed to counterattack the Israelis as the Israelis breached the Syrian positions. While Syrian units fought hard whenever the Israelis entered their fields of fire, no attempts appear to have been made to exploit Israeli disorientation and confusion during the initial assault.[16]
Judging from reports of 1967–1970, including the reporting of the 5th Infantry Division in 1970, the Army appears to have formed its firstdivisions during this period. The1st and3rd Armored Division, and5th,7th, and9th Mechanized Infantry Divisions were all formed prior to 1973.[17] Samuel M. Katz wrote that after Hafez al-Assadgained power in November 1970, the army expanded to the five divisions listed above, plus ten independent brigades, an artillery rocket brigade (the 69th), and "a reinforced brigade variously termed the 70th Armored Brigade or the Assad Republican Guard. It is today known as the Armored Defense Force; as Assad's praetorian guard it is stationed in and around Damascus and subordinate to theDefense Companies under the command of Assad's brotherRifaat."[18]
On 18 September 1970, the Syrian government became involved inBlack September in Jordan when it sent a reinforced armored brigade to aid thePalestine Liberation Organization.[19] Syrian armored units crossed the border and overranIrbid with the help of local Palestinian forces. They encountered severalJordanian Army detachments, but rebuffed them without major difficulty. Two days later, the 5th Infantry Division, heavily reinforced, was also sent into Jordan. Two armored brigades were attached to the division, bringing its tank strength up to over 300T-55s and its manpower to over 16,000. The division entered Jordan atar-Ramtha, destroyed a company of JordanianCenturion tanks there, and continued directly towardsAmman.
Pollack says it is likely that they intended to overthrow the Jordanian monarchy itself. Despite defeating the Jordanian Army at al-Ramtha on 21 September, after fierce air attacks on 22 September, the Syrians stopped the attack and began to retreat. The retreat was caused by Jordan's appeal for international aid : "The report said that Hussein "not only appealed for the moral and diplomatic support of the United Kingdom and the United States, coupled with the threat of international action, but had also asked for an air strike by Israel against Syrian troops." (New York Post)[20]
After 1970 further Syrian engagements included:
The Syrian armed forces have also been involved in suppressing dissident movements within Syria, for example theIslamist uprising in Syria in 1979–1982. In March 1980 the3rd Armored Division and detachments from the Defense Companies arrived in Aleppo. The division was under the command of GeneralShafiq Fayadh,Hafez al-Assad's first cousin. The troops sealed "off whole quarters and carr[ied] out house-to-house searches, often preceded by tank fire."[22] Hundreds of suspects were rounded up. Only two conventional Army brigades deployed to Hama in 1982, the 3rd Armored Division's 47th Armored and 21st Mechanized Brigades. Three quarters of the officers and one third of the soldiers in the two brigades were Alawites.[23] Most of the repression was carried out by the Defense Companies and the Special Forces. Meanwhile, the Special Forces were isolating and combing throughHama, killing and capturing suspected government opponents.[24]
Syrian forces fought Israel during the1982 Lebanon War.
In 1984, Major GeneralAli Haidar's Special Forces were instrumental in blocking an abortive attempt byRifaat al-Assad and his Defense Companies to seize the capital.[25] Fayadh's 3rd Armoured Division moved into the capital to join Haidar's forces in the confrontation with the Defense Companies. The 3rd Armoured Division, it seems, had historically been based atal-Qutayfah, near Damascus.[26]
Bennett dates the establishment of corps in the Syrian Army to 1985. Writing forty years later, Tom Cooper says "..despite the establishment of.. corps.. most division commanders continued reporting directly to thePresident. Correspondingly, not only the Chief of Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces but also the Corps HQ exercised only a limited operational control over the Army's divisions."[27] Declassified CIA documents from February 1987 say that the 3rd Corps and 17th and 18th Armoured Divisions were established in 1986.[28]
The 9th Armoured Division served in the1991 Persian Gulf War as the Arab Joint Forces Command North reserve and saw little action.[29]
In 1994, Haidar expressed objections to the Syrian president's decision to bring Bashar home from his studies in Britain and groom him for the succession after the death of Basil, the eldest Assad son.[25] Soon afterwards, on 3 September 1994,Jane's Defence Weekly reported that then-President Hafez al-Assad had dismissed at least 16 senior military commanders. Among them was Haidar, then commander of the Special Forces, and GeneralShafiq Fayadh, a first cousin of the President who had commanded the "crack" 3rd Armored Division for nearly two decades. The 3rd Armored Division was "deployed around Damascus." JDW commented that "the Special Forces and the 3rd Armored Division, along with the 1st Armored Division are key elements in the security structure that protects Assad's government. Any command changes involving those formations have considerable political significance." Post-uprising reporting indicated the 1st Armored Division had historically been atal-Kiswah.[26]
On 29 September 2004,Jane's Defence Weekly reported that Syria had begun to redeploy elements of one or more Syrian Army special forces regiments based in the coastal hills a few kilometres south of Beirut in Lebanon. A senior Lebanese Army officer told JDW that the 3,000 troops involved would return to Syria.[30]
Cordesman wrote that in 2006 the Syrian Army had "organized two corps that reported to the Land Forces General Staff and the Commander of the Land Force."
As of 2010, the army's formations included three army corps (the1st, 2nd, and 3rd), eight armored divisions (with one independent armored brigade), three mechanized divisions, one armored-special forces division and ten independent airborne-special forces brigades.[31] The army had 11 divisional formations reported in 2011, with a fall in the number of armored divisions reported from the 2010 edition from eight to seven.[32] The independent armored brigade had been replaced by an independent tank regiment.
In 2009 and 2010, according to theInternational Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the Syrian army comprised 220,000 regular personnel, and the entire armed forces (including the navy, air force and Air Defence Force) had 325,000 regular troops.[33] Additionally, it had about 290,000 reservists.[33][34][35]
The vast majority of Syrian military equipment was Soviet manufactured.[36]
At October 1, 2011, according to high-ranking defected Syrian Colonel Riad Assaad, 10,000 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, had deserted the Syrian Army.[37]Some of these defectors had formed theFree Syrian Army, engaging in guerilla-style attacks and combat with security forces and soldiers in what would turn into theSyrian Civil War.
At 16 November 2011, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-basedSyrian Observatory for Human Rights, however estimated that less than 1,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian Army; at the same moment, anFSA battalion commander claimed that the FSA embraced 25,000 army deserters.[38] Also in November 2011, theFree Syrian Army or the website ofFrance 24 estimated the Syrian Army at 200,000 troops.[39] According to GeneralMustafa al-Sheikh, one of the most senior defectors, however, in January 2012 the Syrian forces were estimated at 280,000 including conscripts.[40]
By March 15, 2012, many more soldiers, unhappy with crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters, switched sides and a Turkish official said that 60,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian army, including 20,000 since February 20. It was added that most of the deserters were junior officers and soldiers.[41] By 5 July 2012, theSyrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated "tens of thousands" of soldiers to have defected.[35] By August 2012, 40 brigadier generals from the Army had defected to the opposition army, out of a total of 1,200 generals.[42]
On June 14, 2013, 73 Syrian Army officers and their families, some 202 people in total, sought refuge in Turkey. Amongst their number were seven generals and 20 colonels.[43] In 2013, Agence France Press wrote on 'Syria's diminished security forces.'[34]
Up until July 2012, the scale of defections from the Syrian Army, though hard to quantify, was too small to make an impact on the strength of that army, according to Aram Nerguizian from the Washington-basedCenter for Strategic and International Studies.[35] Strategically important units of the Syrian armed forces are always controlled byAlawite officers; defecting soldiers – by July 2012 "tens of thousands" according to theSyrian Observatory for Human Rights – are mainlySunni without access to vital command and control, Nerguizian said,[35] however the formed Syrian Minister of Defence GeneralDawoud Rajiha killed in the18 July 2012 Damascus bombing was aChristian.
The army in Syria is the power structure. The armed forces would fight to an end. It would be a bloodbath, literally, because the army would fight to protect not only the institution of the army but the regime itself, because the army and the regime is one and the same.
Analyst Joseph Holliday wrote in 2013 that "the Assad government has from the beginning of the conflict been unable to mobilize all of its forces without risking large-scale defections. The single greatest liability that the Assad regime has faced in employing its forces has been the challenge of relying on units to carry out orders to brutalize the opposition."[45] This has resulted in Bashar following his father's precedent by attaching regular army units to more reliable forces (Special Forces, Republican Guard, or 4th Armored Division). When Hafez al-Assad directed the suppression of revolts in Hama in 1982, this technique was also used.[46]
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In 2014, analyst Charles Lister wrote that "As of April 1, 2014, the SAA had incurred at least 35,601 fatalities, which when combined with a reasonable ratio of 3 wounded personnel for every soldier killed and approximately 50,000 defections, suggests the SAA presently commands roughly 125,000 personnel. This loss of manpower is exacerbated by Syria's long entrenched problem of having to selectively deploy forces based on their perceived trustworthiness."[46]TheInternational Institute for Strategic Studies in London calculated that by August 2013 the strength of the Syrian army had, compared with 2010, roughly been cut in half, due to defections, desertions and casualties: it now counted 110,000 troops.[34]
Prior to its collapse, the Syrian Arab Army suffered from serious recruitment issues as the Syrian Civil War dragged on, with military age men across sectarian lines no longer willing to join or serve their conscription terms. These issues were especially notable among the Druze population, who have clashed with regime security forces and broken Druze youths out of regime imprisonment to avoid them serving in the army.[47] Increasingly, Assad's Alawite base of support refuse to send their sons to the military due to massive casualty rates among military age men in their community; according to prooppositions sources a third of 250,000 Alawite men of fighting age have been killed in the Syrian Civil War, leading to major tensions between the sect and the Syrian government.[48]
As of mid-2018, then-IsraeliDefence MinisterAvigdor Lieberman said that the Syrian Arab Army had regained its pre-2011 strength levels, recovering from manpower shortages earlier in the Syrian Civil War.[49]
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The 3rd Armored Division had deployed elements of three brigades from its bases around Qutayfah to Deraa, Zabadani, and Hama, while the11th Armored Division had stayed close to its bases in Homs and Hama.[50]
The European Council named Major General Wajih Mahmud as commander of the18th Armored Division in theOfficial Journal of the European Union on 15 November 2011, sanctioning him for violence committed inHoms.[51] Henry Boyd of theIISS noted that "inHoms, the 18th Armored Division was reinforced by Special Forces units and ... by elements of the 4th Division under Maher's de facto command."[52]
Information from Holliday 2013 suggests that the reserve armored division is the17th (rather than any other designation), which was responsible for eastern Syria.[53] The division's 93rd Brigade leftIdlib to secureRaqqa Governorate in early 2012.[54] Following the reportedcapture of Raqqa on 3–6 March 2013, elements of the 17th Division remained under siege to the north of the city in October 2013.[55]
TheNational Defence Force was under the control and supervision of the Syrian Army[56] and acted in an infantry role, directly fighting against rebels on the ground and running counter-insurgency operations in co-ordination with the army which provided them logistical and artillery support.
Struggling with reliability issues and defections, officers of the SAA increasingly preferred the part-time volunteers of the NDF, who they regarded as more motivated and loyal, over regular army conscripts to conduct infantry operations and act as support for advancing tanks.[57]
An officer in Homs, who asked not to be identified, said the army was increasingly playing a logistical and directive role, whileNDF fighters act as combatants on the ground.[58]
The NDF continued to play a significant role in military operations across Syria despite the formation of other elite units, many of which received direct assistance from Russia.
In December 2024, the Syrian Arab Army, alongside the Syrian Arab Republic itself, collapsed as theAssad regime fell. Some of the remaining Assad regime forces crossed into Iraq, others removed their uniforms before the rebels could arrive in Damascus, the last remaining territory controlled by the SAR.[59] Retired U.S. GeneralWesley Clark said that a video showing Assad's forces evacuating to Iraq showed the "demoralization and collapse of an army", and that the forces knew they would lose, with the rebels taking Damascus and Assad's whereabouts unknown. He compared it to thefall of Kabul in 2021, where the U.S.-backedAfghan Armed Forces collapsed, and that when faced with certain defeat, armies simply "melt away".[60]
At first, the leaders of the different Syrian rebel forces announced on 21 December 2024 that it would disband their forces and merge them under the defence ministry.[61] A number of reconcillation centres opened all across the country as several soldiers that previously served under the Assad regime turned over their weapons to the state in exchange for new civilian identity cards to disassociate themselves from the old regime.[62]
As of 11 December 2024[update], leaders of theSyrian Democratic Forces, the military forces of theAutonomous Administration of North and East Syria, were preparing for "negotiations that would create a broader-based Syrian government that is not underal-Julani's control". Leaders of theSouthern Operations Room met with al-Julani on 11 December and expressed interest in "coordination", a "unified effort" and "cooperation", without stating that they would support the HTS transitional government.[63]
On 17 December 2024, Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Bashir has said thedefense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.[64]Murhaf Abu Qasra (nom de guerre; Abu Hassan al-Hamawi),[65] the military commander ofHay'at Tahrir al-Sham said toThe Economist, "All military units will naturally transition to the ministry of defence, forming a unified army tasked with protecting the nation on behalf of all Syrians."The Economist added that Qasra insisted "..that there will be no place in the new Syria for jihadists eager to launch attacks".[66] Abu Qasra, speaking withAFP, said that HTS would be "among the first to take the initiative" to dissolve its armed wing for a national army;[65] on 21 December it was reported that Abu Qasra was appointed transitionalMinister of Defense.[67]
On 22 December 2024,Ahmed al-Sharaa said that the new Syrian government would announce the new structure of the Syrian military within days.[68] Two days later, the transitional government announced that a meeting between opposition groups and Ahmed al-Sharaa "ended in an agreement on the dissolution of all the groups and their integration under the supervision of the ministry of defence".[69][70]
On 26 December 2024, the "former forces of deposed leader Bashar al-Assad" killed 14 HTS fighters in the process of the HTS/new government capturingMohammad Kanjo Hassan. General Hassan, the former chief of military justice and head of the field court, had been closely associated with theSednaya Prison, where detainees had been often been brutally tortured. This has led to theWestern Syria clashes against the newSyrian transitional government/regime.[71]
On 29 December 2024,Ahmed al-Sharaa announced thepromotion of 42 individuals to the rank of Colonel, 5 to the rank of Brigadier General, and 2 to the rank of Major-General in the Syrian Army. This number included Defense Minister Abu Qasra and newChief of the General Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces and ArmyAli Noureddine Al-Naasan, who were both elevated to the rank of Major-General.[72][73] In January 2025 the defense ministry said that it has met with over 60 armed groups and claimed that all of the armed groups agreed to be a part of the armed forces and reorganized into units.[74] but they reject the SDF proposal of creating a Kurdish "bloc" within the armed forces.[75] Later in February the SDF, theDemocratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and theSyrian Democratic Council decided in a meeting that the SDF would merge with the Syrian army.[76][77]
On 8 March 2025, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Syrian security forces and pro-government fighters had been involved in themass killings of more than 750 Alawite civilians amidst clashes with supposed remaining pro-Assad groups in the western Governorates of Syria.[78]
By June 2025, theSyrian transitional government had recruited half of its planned 200,000-man army by uniting various Syrian factions led byHay'at Tahrir al-Sham, including 30,000 members of theSyrian National Army and 15,000 members of theSyrian Democratic Forces, as well as foreign fighters. Two-thirds of the senior commanders are HTS members.[79]Reuters reported that the US gave the nod to Syria to integrate foreign fighters into its army.[80]
In October 2025, SDF officials confirmed on October 14 and 15 that the SDF will integrate into the Syrian army in three divisions and several independent brigades, SDF negotiation committee member andSyriac Union Party co-chairSanrib Barsoum stated that several SDFcounterterrorism brigades will be deployed across the country as needed, The commander of the SDF-affiliatedNorthern Democratic Brigade told Kurdish media on October 14 that the SDF'sWomen's Protection Units will form a brigade in the Syrian army.[81]
In 2011, the majority of the Syrian military wereSunni, but most of the military leadership wereAlawites.[82] Alawites made up 12% of the pre-war Syrian population, but 70% of the career soldiers in the Syrian Army.[83] A similar imbalance is seen in the officer corps, where some 80% of the officers are Alawites. The military's most elite divisions, theRepublican Guard and the4th Armored Division, which are commanded byBashar al-Assad's brother Maher, are exclusively Alawite. Most of Syria's 300,000 conscripts in 2011 were Sunni.[82]
In mid-2022, the Minister of Defence and also Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces Lieutenant GeneralAli Mahmoud Abbas, and Major General Mufid Hassan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, were some of the Sunni Muslims in the positions of power.[84] Some volunteer brigades, such asArab Nationalist Guard, are made up of Sunni Syrians and other Sunnis from the Middle Eastern region that adhere to pan-Arab ideals.[85]
For many years compulsory and voluntary military service began at 18 years of age. Under the Assads, the conscript service obligation was 18 months, for many years; women were not conscripted but could volunteer to serve; and the re-enlistment obligation was 5 years, with retirement after 15 years or age 40 (enlisted) or 20 years or age 45.[86][87]
Before 2011, it was difficult to access reliable information about the SAA because of the Damascus government's sensitivity to potential espionage, particularly by Israel.[88]
Richard Bennett wrote in 2001 that "..corps [were] formed in 1985 to give the Army more flexibility and to improve combat efficiency by decentralizing the command structure, absorbing at least some of the lessons learned during the Israeli invasion of the Lebanon in 1982."[89] The organization and military doctrine of the army followed the Soviet model.[90]
Richard Bennett's estimate of the 2001 order of battle was:
Bennett said the 1st Corps also [had] four independent special forces regiments, including two trained for heliborne commando operations against the Israelisignals intelligence & observation posts onMount Hermon and elsewhere in the Golan Heights.
The IISS listed smaller formations in 2006 as:[91]
Protecting Damascus:
Joseph Holliday of theInstitute for the Study of War described the basic structure of the Syrian Arab Army as:[93]
Between 2015 and 2018, the Syrian Arab Army underwent many structural changes, with the cooperation ofRussia andIran.[94]
Syrian army "Special Forces" were specialized "light" infantry (airborne, air assault) and were "elite" only in relation to Assad's conventional mechanized and armoured units. Special Forces regiments were created to conduct counter-insurgency operations.[95] Special Forces units included the: 41st, 45th, 46th, 47th, 53rd and 54th independent special forces regiments.[96] Special Forces were heavily used from the early stage of the Syrian Civil War and as a result suffered heavy casualties, possibly up to three regiments (41st, 46th, 54th) may have been destroyed during the Syrian Civil War, the surviving three regiments were merged to other formations such as the Republican Guard, Tiger Forces and 4th Corps.[97] Later reports state that two battalions from the 54th regiment serve within the 17th Division.[98]
New units were created by 2021.[99] As of August 2022, according to Gregory Waters, the structure was:[97][100]
Units reporting to the Chief of Staff[edit]
Special Forces units formed during the Syrian Civil War:
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Not to be confused with5th Corps (Syrian rebel group).
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After HTS seized control, it created a new army from its forces and acceding groups.
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The majority of Syrian military equipment was manufactured by theSoviet Union,Russia,China andIran.[157][158][90] Military equipment of the Syrian Army as of 2020:[159][160]
Service uniforms for Syrian officers generally followed theBritish Army style, although army combat clothing followed the Soviet model.[161] Each uniform had two coats: a long one for dress and a short jacket for informal wear. Army officer uniforms were khaki in summer, olive in winter. All Army (including paratroops and special forces) and Air Defense Force personnel wore camouflage uniforms.[162] Among the camouflage wereRed Lizard, Syrian Leaf patterns, andEMR Desert; a locally made copy of theERDL andM81 Woodland.[163][162]In addition to these patterns, the Syrian Armed Forces have also been observed wearingMultiCam uniforms. Photographs and official documentation show its use among Army,Navy, andAir Force officers and enlisted personnel in the 2025.[164][165][166][167] Reports indicate that its use by Syrian forces began as early as 2022, when personnel were documented wearing MultiCam during joint training with Russian special forces.[168]
Officers had a variety of headgear, including a service cap, garrison cap, and beret (linen in summer and wool in winter).[163] The color of the beret varied according to the officer's unit. The most common beret color was black, for Infantry, Engineering, Signals and supporting arms personnel, followed by green, for Armored, Mechanized and Artillery personnel, red for theRepublican Guard and Military Police, and maroon (blue) for the Special Forces.[169]
Since 2009, the SAA had acquired large numbers of Chinese-produced combat gear, including helmets and bullet proof vests.[162] In 2011, the standard issue combat helmets were the olive ChineseQGF-02, and the SovietSSh-68 for the reserve forces.[170] Both of them could be equipped with the Syrian Leaf camouflage helmet covers. Since 2015, some regular units were equipped with6B7 helmets from Russia. Standard protective gear for all Army units were (PASGT) TAT-BA-7 bullet-proof vests. The Republican Guard and Special Forces were the only units equipped withACH,FAST,6B47 helmets and6B45, Ruyin-3ballistic vests. The Syrian military also providedNBC uniforms to soldiers to remain effective in an environment affected by biological or chemical agents. This uniform consisted of a Russian-made ModelGP-5,PMK and ShMS-41 masks.[171]
Service weapons of the Syrian Arab Army consisted of stocks ofCold War-era arms. Main service pistols of the Syrian Army wereMakarov PM andStechkin-APS. Main service assault rifles were SovietAKM/AKMS,AK-74, ChineseType 56 andSa vz. 58.[172] Main service carbines wereAKS-74U and copies of BelgianFN FAL. The Syrian Army used theDragunov SVD sniper rifle and derivatives like theTabuk andPSL. The Army had also modern sniper weapons like theSteyr SSG 69,[173]Heckler & Koch G3 and Syrian-madeGolan S-01.[174] The most widely used machine guns wereRPK,PKM,Type 73,[175]NSV andPKP Pecheneg.[176] Until 2011, the procurement of large numbers ofAK-74Ms was planned to replace the AK(M) and other derivatives, the Civil War put a halt to this large scale re-equipment programme.[162] Since 2015, Syrian forces had received significant equipment assistance from Russia.[177]
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At the beginning of the 1990s, Syria had one of the largest missile arsenals among theThird World countries, which until then had been replenished exclusively with the9K52 Luna-M (70 km),OTR-21 Tochka (120 km) andScud-B (300 km) systems supplied by the USSR.[178] However, after thecollapse of the USSR, a trend towards diversification of missile imports emerged. An agreement was concluded withChina on the supply ofM-9 (600 km) and M-600 missiles with a range of 250 to 300 kilometers to Syria.[179] In 1991 and 1992, two batches ofScud-C orHwasong-6 missiles (600 km) ofNorth Korean missile program manufacture were delivered to Syria. There were plans to increase the range of Scud missiles by reducing the weight of the warhead and creating solid-fuel medium-range missiles from foreign components. According to some reports, financial support for the creation of the missile-building base was provided byIran.[180]
| Name | Range (km) | Warhead mass (kg) | Number | Type/CEP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9K52 Luna-M | 65 | 420 | 700 | Artillery rocket 500 m |
| SS-1CScud-В Hwasong-5 | 300 | 1000 | 900+ | SRBM 450 m |
| SS-1DScud-C Hwasong-6 Golan-1 | 600 | 770 | 2000 | SRBM 700 m |
| SS-1EScud-D Hwasong-7 | 700–1000 | 650–1200 | N/A | MRBM 250–500 m |
| Golan-2 | 850 | 650–1200 | N/A | SRBM 250–500 m |
| Scud-ER Hwasong-9 | 800–1000 | 450–500 | N/A | MRBM 3000 m |
| SS-21 Scarab OTR-21 Tochka | 70–120 | 420 | N/A | SRBM 95–150 m |
| Fateh-110 Tishreen (M-600) | 300 | 500 | N/A | SRBM 100 m |
| Fateh-313 | 500 | 380 | N/A | SRBM 2 m |
| Fath 360 | 30–120 | 150 | N/A | TBM 30 m |
| Shahab-1 | 350 | 1000 | N/A | SRBM 450 m |
| Shahab-2 | 500 | 770 | N/A | SRBM 500 m |
| Zelzal-1 | 160 | 600 | N/A | SRBM 400 m |
| Zelzal-2 | 210 or 400+ | 600 | N/A | SRBM 350 m |
| Maysaloun | 130–600 | 600 | N/A | SRBM 300 m |
| Zelzal-3 | 250–400 | 600 | N/A | SRBM 300 m |
| Naze'at | 100–160 | 500 | N/A | Rocket artillery 500 m |
| Rank group | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | فريق | عماد أول | عماد | لواء | عميد | عقيد | مقدم | رائد | نقيب | ملازم أول | ملازم | |||||||||||||
| Romanization | Fariq | Eimad 'awal | Eimad | Alliwa' | Amid | Aqid | Muqaddam | Ra'id | Naqib | Mulazim awwal | Mulazim | |||||||||||||
| Armycombat uniform[182][183] |  | | |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
| Armyfull dress uniform[184] | | | |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
| Armyservice dress uniform[185] | | | |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
| Rank group | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | |||||||||||||||||||||
The rank insignia ofnon-commissioned officers andenlisted personnel.[161]
| Rank group | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Enlisted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Syrian Army[186] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | No insignia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| مساعد أول Musaeid 'awal | مساعد ثاني Musaeid thani | مساعد Musaeid | رقيب أول Raqib 'awal | رقيب ثاني Raqib thani | رقيب Raqib | عريف Earif | جندي أول Jundiun 'awal | جندي Jundiun | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Although some twenty-five orders and medals were authorized, generally only senior officers and warrant officers wore medal ribbons. The following are some important Syrian awards:Order of Umayyad, Medal of Military Honor, the War Medal, Medal for Courage, Yarmuk Medal, Wounded in Action Medal, and Medal of8 March 1963.[161]
The Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces (Arabic:رئيس هيئة الأركان العامة للجيش والقوات المسلحة,romanized: Rayiys hayyat al'arkan aleamat liljaysh walquaat almusalaha) was the professional head of theSyrian Armed Forces and the Syrian Army. The Chief of the General Staff and his Deputy were appointed by thePresident of Syria, who was thecommander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.[187] As of 2024, the Chief of the General Staff was Lt. Gen. Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim, who was appointed to the role by former Syrian presidentBashar Al-Assad.[188] In April 2022, Maj. Gen. Mufid Hassan was also appointed as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff.[84] In October 2024, Maj. Gen. Osama Horia, former commander of the5th Mechanized Division, was appointed as second Deputy Chief of the General Staff.[189]
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