Syrian Armed Forces
Combined military forces of Syria
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| February 10 2025 | Syrian troops reportedly deny entry to a Russian military convoy attempting to leave through the Tartus naval base. |
| 2024 | Collapse of Ba'athist Syria, resulting in the Syrian Navy's dissolution and military assets being transferred to a new coalition attempting to reconstitute state institutions |
| December 21 2024 | Leaders of Syrian rebel forces announced the disbandment of their individual forces and their intention to merge under the new defence ministry, marking a significant restructuring of the Syrian military following the fall of the Assad regime. |
| December 9 2024 | Israeli Air Force launched a targeted attack on Syrian Navy assets in Latakia, destroying at least 6 Osa-class missile boats during the Israeli invasion of Syria. The attack aimed to prevent the incoming Syrian Government from utilizing these naval assets. |
| October 2024 | Major General Osama Horia, previously commander of the 5th Mechanized Division, was appointed as the second Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Army. |
| 2022 | Syrian Army published its Order of Battle, detailing the organizational structure of its key military divisions and brigades across multiple corps and specialized units. |
| June 2022 | Lieutenant General Ali Mahmoud Abbas appointed as Minister of Defence and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Armed Forces, representing a Sunni Muslim in a high-ranking military leadership position. |
| April 2022 | Major General Mufid Hassan was appointed as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Army by President Bashar Al-Assad. |
| 2021 | New military units were created within the Syrian Arab Army, further evolving its organizational structure and potentially enhancing its operational capabilities. |
| 2020 | Major General Hasan Wadih becomes Commander of the Syrian Air Force. |
| 2019 | Russia supplied 2 patrol craft vessels to the Syrian Navy, each 16.9 m inshore vessels. |
| 2019 | The 14th Special Forces Division was established with a command structure including 36th, 554th, and 556th Special Forces Regiments. |
| 2019 | Reorganized and rebuilt with new graduates of military academies, with old battalions and brigades destroyed and reconstructed from scratch. |
| 2018 | Concluded a period of extensive structural modifications to the Syrian Arab Army, involving strategic reforms and potential unit realignments with support from Russian and Iranian military advisors. |
| June 2018 | Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman states that the Syrian Arab Army has recovered its pre-2011 strength levels after experiencing significant manpower shortages during the Syrian Civil War. |
| April 15 2018 | A decommissioned Syrian frigate was sunk by the Russian Air Force as a training target off the coast of Syria. |
| 2017 | Two ships at Tartus port were likely retired. |
| 2015 | Syrian Naval Aviation helicopters relocate to Istamo after establishing a new helicopter base at the arms depot near Bassel Al-Assad International Airport. |
| 2015 | Final recorded fleet composition shows 16 Osa-class missile boats, 6 Ghaem-class patrol boats, 8 Zhuk-class patrol boats, 5 Yevgenya-class minesweepers, and other support vessels before significant fleet reduction. |
| 2015 | A group of Syrian military officials traveled to Moscow to discuss bilateral military and technical cooperation, including potential acquisition of two Amur-1650 class submarines from Russia. |
| 2015 | 8th Armored Division was formed, expanding the Syrian Army's armored divisions. |
| 2015 | 2nd Armored Division was formed, expanding the Syrian Army's armored divisions during the ongoing Syrian Civil War. |
| 2015 | 6th Armored Division was formed, representing a significant organizational development in the Syrian Army's structure. |
| 2015 | Syrian forces began receiving significant military equipment assistance from Russia, marking a notable shift in military support during the ongoing conflict. |
| 2015 | Some regular units of the Syrian Army were equipped with Russian 6B7 helmets, expanding their protective gear options. |
| 2015 | Syrian Arab Army began undergoing significant structural changes through cooperation with Russia and Iran, marking a pivotal period of military reorganization. |
| 2014 | Analyst Charles Lister reports significant Syrian Arab Army (SAA) losses, including 35,601 fatalities, approximately 50,000 defections, and a reduced personnel strength of roughly 125,000 troops. |
| 2013 | Major General Ahmad Baloul assumes command of the Syrian Air Force. |
| October 2013 | Elements of the 17th Division remained under siege north of Raqqa city. |
| August 2013 | The International Institute for Strategic Studies reports that the Syrian army's strength has been reduced by approximately half compared to 2010, due to defections, desertions, and casualties, with troop numbers dropping to around 110,000. |
| June 14 2013 | 73 Syrian Army officers, including seven generals and 20 colonels, along with their families (totaling 202 people), sought refuge in Turkey. |
| March 6 2013 | Reported capture of Raqqa by Syrian Army forces, with elements of the 17th Division involved in the operation. |
| 2012 | Syrian Navy fleet increases to 16 Osa-class missile boats and 5 Yevgenya-class minesweepers, while maintaining other vessel types including 6 Ghaem-class patrol boats. |
| 2012 | The 93rd Brigade of the 17th Division left Idlib to secure Raqqa Governorate. |
| 2012 | Major General Issam Hallaq becomes Commander of the Syrian Air Force. |
| August 2012 | 40 brigadier generals defected from the Syrian Army to the opposition, out of a total of 1,200 generals. |
| July 18 2012 | Damascus bombing results in the death of Syrian Minister of Defence General Dawoud Rajiha, a Christian officer, highlighting the internal tensions within the Syrian military during the civil war. |
| March 15 2012 | Significant military defections occurred, with a Turkish official reporting 60,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian Army, including 20,000 since February 20, primarily junior officers and soldiers dissatisfied with government crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters. |
| 2011 | With the onset of the Syrian Civil War, the Syrian Navy became involved in conflict operations, supporting government forces and conducting maritime interventions along the Syrian coastline. |
| 2011 | Syria acquired an unknown number of Sepal missiles, which first appeared in combat tests of the Syrian Arab Army in late 2011. |
| 2011 | Syrian military demographics revealed a significant ethnic imbalance, with Alawites (12% of population) comprising 70% of career soldiers and approximately 80% of officer corps, despite Sunnis forming the majority of the 300,000 military conscripts. |
| 2011 | Standard issue combat helmets were olive Chinese QGF-02 for active forces, and Soviet SSh-68 for reserve forces, with Syrian Leaf camouflage helmet covers. |
| 2011 | Large-scale re-equipment programme to replace AK(M) and other assault rifle derivatives with AK-74Ms was halted due to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. |
| 2011 | Center for Strategic and International Studies conducted a comprehensive inventory assessment of the Syrian Arab Air Force, documenting 575 fixed-wing aircraft and 191 rotary-wing aircraft, including 461 combat/reconnaissance aircraft, 76 training aircraft, 26 transport aircraft, 71 attack helicopters, and 120 armed transport/utility helicopters. |
| December 2011 | Syria purchased Russian-made Yakhont long-range missiles in a military deal, providing a strategic military advantage in the Eastern Mediterranean. |
| November 16 2011 | Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated fewer than 1,000 army desertions, while an FSA battalion commander claimed 25,000 army deserters had joined their ranks. |
| November 15 2011 | The European Council sanctioned Major General Wajih Mahmud, commander of the 18th Armored Division, for violence committed in Homs. |
| October 1 2011 | According to Colonel Riad Assaad, 10,000 Syrian Army soldiers, including high-ranking officers, had deserted the army and some formed the Free Syrian Army, beginning their engagement in combat against government forces. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Syrian Air Force, Syrian Army, 14th Special Forces Division & Syrian Navy, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.