Syrian Arab Armed Forces

Syrian Arab Armed Forces
Syrian Arab Armed Forces
القوات المسلحة العربية السورية ‎
	Flag of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces
	Coat of arms of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces
Motto	وطن، شرف، إخلاص; Watan, Sharaf, Ikhlas; ("Homeland, Honor, Sincerity")
Founded	1963
Disbanded	De facto: 8 December 2024; De jure: 29 January 2025
Service branches	Syrian Arab Army; Syrian Arab Air Force; Syrian Arab Air Defense Force; Syrian Arab Navy
Headquarters	Hay'at al-Arkan, Umayyad Square, Damascus
Leadership
President of Syria	Bashar al-Assad (last)
Minister of Defence	General Ali Mahmoud Abbas (last)
Chief of the General Staff	General Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim (last)
Personnel
Military age	18
Conscription	Yes
Active personnel	270,000 (2023)
Reserve personnel	538.000 (2024)
Expenditure
Budget	$1.8 billion (2019)
Percent of GDP	4.5% (2020)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS); Établissement Industriel de la Défense (EID); Syrian Defense Laboratories (SDL)
Foreign suppliers	Armenia ; Belarus; Cuba; Iran ; Iraq ; Libya; North Korea ; Laos ; Pakistan; Russia ; Soviet Union (until 1991); East Germany (until 1990); Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (until 1990); Socialist Republic of Romania (until 1990); Venezuela
Related articles
History	Military history of Syria
Ranks	Military ranks of Syria

The Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF; Arabic: القوات المسلحة العربية السورية, romanized: al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥah al-ʿArabīyah as-Sūrīyah) were the combined armed forces of Syria from 1963 to 2024.^{[citation needed]} They served during the rule of the Ba'ath Party in Syria.

The SAAF consisted of the Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Air Defense Force, Syrian Arab Navy.According to the 2012 Constitution of Syria, the President of Syria was the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.^[11] The Minister of Defence held the position of Deputy Commander-in-chief of the Army and Armed Forces.^[12]

The SAAF utilized conscription; males served in the military at age 18, but they were exempted from service if they did not have a brother who can take care of their parents. After the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian military enlisted strength dropped by over half from a pre-civil war figure of 325,000 to 150,000 soldiers in the army in December 2014 due to casualties, desertions and draft dodging,^[13] reaching between 178,000 and 220,000 soldiers in the army,^[14] in addition to 80,000 to 100,000 irregular forces. By 2023, the number of active Syrian soldiers had increased to 170,000,^[15] but the number of active paramilitary and reserve forces may have decreased by as much as 50,000.^[15]

The Syrian Arab Armed Forces collapsed in 2024 with the fall of the Assad regime and flight of Bashar al-Assad.^[16] The new de-facto rulers of Syria, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, are making preparations to drastically reorganise Syria's military forces and ambitions.^[17] On 21 December 2024 it was reported that Murhaf Abu Qasra had been appointed the new defence minister for the interim government.^[18]

^ "تعيين الشرع رئيسا لسوريا في المرحلة الانتقالية". الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-01-29.
^ Hackett 2023, p. 354.
^ Eden Kaduri, Yehoshua Kalisky, Tal Avraham (6 September 2023). "Rebuilding the Syrian Military: The Threat to Israel". INSS Tel Aviv University. Retrieved 25 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Gertz, Bill (23 July 1996). "CIA Suspects Chinese Firm of Syria Missile Aid". The Washington Times.^{[dead link]}
^ "IDENTIFYING MATERIEL MANUFACTURED IN THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA (DPRK)". Conflict Armament Research. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
^ "Exploring Iran's Role in Syrian Defence Industry and its Geopolitical Ramifications". Special Eurasia. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ A Syrian-produced North Korean Type 68 rifle on sale in Yemen. We can notice the Syrian Defense Laboratories logo stamped on it, which we have seen in the past across Syria. (h/t @FighterXwar_ar).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Trade Registers". Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
^ "Chinese Air Defense System Spotted in Syria: Russian Media". Islam Times. 1 January 2020.
^ "Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria: July 2021 update". 2 September 2021.
^ "Syrian Arab Republic: Constitution, 2012". refworld. 26 February 2021. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019.
^ "عنوان السيرة الذاتية للعماد علي عبد الله أيوب نائب رئيس مجلس الوزراء- وزير الدفاع" (in Arabic). pministry.gov.sy. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
^ "Syria increasing efforts to build up military after substantial losses". South China Morning Post. 29 December 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
^ Daily Star 23 September 2014
^ ^a ^b Hackett 2023.
^ Christou, William; McKernan, Bethan (2024-12-08). "Syrians celebrate fall of Bashar al-Assad after five decades of dynastic rule". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
^ Straits Times 2024.
^ "Syria's new rulers appoint defense, foreign ministers". 21 December 2024.

[1] "تعيين الشرع رئيسا لسوريا في المرحلة الانتقالية". الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 2025-01-29.

[FOOTNOTEHackett2023354-2] Hackett 2023, p. 354.

[isr1-3] Eden Kaduri, Yehoshua Kalisky, Tal Avraham (6 September 2023). "Rebuilding the Syrian Military: The Threat to Israel". INSS Tel Aviv University. Retrieved 25 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[Gertz96-4] Gertz, Bill (23 July 1996). "CIA Suspects Chinese Firm of Syria Missile Aid". The Washington Times.^{[dead link]}

[5] "IDENTIFYING MATERIEL MANUFACTURED IN THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA (DPRK)". Conflict Armament Research. Retrieved 10 April 2024.

[6] "Exploring Iran's Role in Syrian Defence Industry and its Geopolitical Ramifications". Special Eurasia. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2024.

[Sdl1-7] A Syrian-produced North Korean Type 68 rifle on sale in Yemen. We can notice the Syrian Defense Laboratories logo stamped on it, which we have seen in the past across Syria. (h/t @FighterXwar_ar).

[trade-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Trade Registers". Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

[9] "Chinese Air Defense System Spotted in Syria: Russian Media". Islam Times. 1 January 2020.

[10] "Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria: July 2021 update". 2 September 2021.

[11] "Syrian Arab Republic: Constitution, 2012". refworld. 26 February 2021. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019.

[12] "عنوان السيرة الذاتية للعماد علي عبد الله أيوب نائب رئيس مجلس الوزراء- وزير الدفاع" (in Arabic). pministry.gov.sy. Retrieved 2022-01-23.

[SCMP2014-13] "Syria increasing efforts to build up military after substantial losses". South China Morning Post. 29 December 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.

[14] Daily Star 23 September 2014

[FOOTNOTEHackett2023-15] Hackett 2023.

[:0-16] Christou, William; McKernan, Bethan (2024-12-08). "Syrians celebrate fall of Bashar al-Assad after five decades of dynastic rule". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-09.

[FOOTNOTEStraits_Times2024-17] Straits Times 2024.

[18] "Syria's new rulers appoint defense, foreign ministers". 21 December 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]