Syrian Air Force

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Syrian Air Force Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al Arabiya as-Souriya
Founded	1948
Country	Syria
Battles/wars	Six-Day War Yom Kippur War 1982 Lebanon War
Insignia
Roundel
Aircraft flown
Attack	Su-24, Su-22, Mi-24
Fighter	MiG-29, MiG-21, MiG-23
Interceptor	MiG-25
Transport	Il-76, An-26, Mi-17, Mi-8, Gazelle

The Syrian Air Force (Arabic: القوّات الجوية العربية السورية‎, Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al Arabiya as-Souriya) is the Aviation branch of the Syrian armed forces.

Contents 1 Markings 2 History 3 Aircraft 3.1 Interceptors 3.2 Fighters 3.3 Ground Attack 3.4 Transports 3.5 Helicopters 4 Missiles 4.1 Air-to-air 4.2 Air-to-surface 4.3 Surface-to-air 5 Defections

[edit] Markings

The roundel used by the Syrian Air Force has the same basic design as that used by the Egyptian Air Force. It consists of three concentric circles, with a red outer, white middle and black inner. The unique part of the Syrian roundels is the presence of two green stars in the white circle, which is reflective of the two stars on the national flag. The fin flash is also an image of the flag.

[edit] History

The end of World War II led to a withdrawal of the United Kingdom and France from the Middle East, and this included a withdrawal from Syria. In 1948, the Syrian Air Force was officially established after the first class of pilots graduated from flight schools in Britain.

The 1950s saw Syria and Egypt attempt to unify as the United Arab Republic, this was reflected in the Syrian Air Force with growth in personnel and aircraft. However, this union would not last. With the ascent to power of the Baath Party and Hafez Al-Asad, Syria began looking to the Soviet Union for help and built closer ties with the USSR. This in turn led to a massive influx of Soviet equipment to the Syrian Armed Forces, including the Air Force.

The Syrian Air Force, despite its training and capabilities never fared well against Israel. In the Six-Day War, the Syrian Air Force was defeated rapidly, losing two-thirds of its forces with the rest retreating to bases in remote parts of Syria. This in turn helped the IDF in defeating the Syrian Army on the ground and led to the loss of the Golan Heights.

The Yom Kippur War provided initial success for both Syria and Egypt. Though again Israel scored far more casualties in the air then it endured. Following this conflict, the Syrian Air Force continued to remain in the Soviet sphere of influence, whereas Egypt abandoned Soviet aid, and began building its Air Force with American, French, and Chinese equipment.

During this war the PAF sent 16 pilots to the Middle East in order to support Egypt and Syria but by the time they arrived, Egypt had already been pushed into a ceasefire. Syria remained in a state of war against Israel. Eight (8) PAF pilots started flying out of Syrian Airbases; they formed the A-flight of 67 Squadron at Dumayr Airbase.

The Pakistani pilots flew Syrian Mig-21 aircraft conducting CAP missions for the Syrians. Flt/Lt. A. Sattar Alvi became the first Pakistani pilot, during the Yom Kippur War, to shoot down an Israeli Mirage in air combat. He was honored by the Syrian government. Other aerial encounters involved Israeli F4 Phantoms; Pakistan Air Force did not lose a single pilot or aircraft during this war.

The Pakistani pilots stayed on in Syria until 1976, training Syrian pilots in the art of air warfare.

Despite Syria's continued supply of Soviet equipment its Air Force again fared badly during conflicts with Israel over Lebanon in the early 1980s, losing over 80 planes while the Israeli Air Force lost only a handful, and none to Syrian Air Force fighters.

Since then, the Syrian Air Force has continued to rebuild with Soviet equipment. However the full extent of this rebuilding is not known. Nor are the exact numbers of planes or what types of aircraft are in the Air Force. This is due to the amount of secrecy maintained by the Syrian government in regard to its military. It is known though that the Syrians have proccurred MiG-29s and Su-24s which should give its Air Force a great boost, though rumours regarding the recent purchase of some Su-27s appear to be unfounded.

[edit] Aircraft

[edit] Interceptors

• MiG-25

[edit] Fighters

• MiG-21
• MiG-23
• MiG-29

[edit] Ground Attack

• MiG-23 BN
• Su-22
• Su-24

[edit] Transports

• An-24
• An-26
• Dassault Falcon 20
• Dassault Falcon 900
• Il-76
• Tu-134
• Yak-40

[edit] Helicopters

• Mi-2
• Mi-8
• Mi-17
• Mi-24
• Gazelle

[edit] Missiles

[edit] Air-to-air

• AA-2 Atol
• AA-6 Acrid
• AA-7 Apex
• AA-8 Aphid
• AA-10 Alamo

[edit] Air-to-surface

• AS-7 Kerry
• AS-10 Karen
• AS-11 Kilter
• AS-12 Kegler
• AS-14 Kedge
• HOT

[edit] Surface-to-air

• SA-2 Guideline
• SA-3 Goa
• SA-5 Gammon
• SA-6 Gainful
• SA-7 Grail
• SA-8 Gecko
• SA-9 Gaskin
• SA-11 Gadfly
• SA-13 Gopher
• SA-14 Gremlin
• SA-18 Grouse

[edit] Defections

In comparison to other Arab air forces, Syria Air Force highest number of defections, mostly to Turkey, including:

• In 1965, a Syrian pilot defected with MiG-17F to Israel.
• In July 1988, two Syrian pilots defected with their MiG-29's to Turkey.
• In April 1989, a Syrian pilot defected with his MiG-23ML to Turkey.
• In October 1989, Syrian pilot Abdel Bassem landed his MiG-23ML in Israel.