Syrian Navy

The Syrian Navy, officially the Syrian Arab Navy (Arabic: الْبَحْرِيَّةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ السُّورِيَّةُ, romanized: al-Baḥrīyah al-ʿArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is the navy branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is under the Syrian Army's Latakia regional command with its fleet based in the ports of Baniyas, Latakia, Minat al Bayda, and Tartus. It is the smallest part of the Syrian Armed Forces.

Syrian Arab Navy
الْبَحْرِيَّةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ السُّورِيَّةُ
Flag of the Syrian Arab Navy
Founded1946 (1946)
Country Syria
TypeNavy
RoleNaval warfare
Size4,000 [1]
Part of Syrian Armed Forces
Garrison/HQDamascus
Equipment19 missile boats
14 patrol crafts
7 minesweepers
3 landing crafts
Commanders
President of SyriaMarshal Bashar al-Assad
Minister of DefenseGen. Ali Abdullah Ayyoub
Chief of Naval StaffVice Admiral Yasser al-Haffei

History

In 1950, the Syrian Navy was established following the procurement of a few naval vessels from France. The initial personnel consisted of army soldiers who had been sent to French naval academies for training.[2]

Tartus
See also: Russian naval base in Tartus

Tartus hosts a Soviet-era naval supply and maintenance base, under a 1971 agreement with Syria. The base was established during the Cold War to support the Soviet Navy's fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Since Russia forgave Syria three-fourths of its $13.4 billion Soviet-era debt and became its main arms supplier, the two countries have conducted talks about allowing Russia to develop and enlarge its naval base, so that Russia can strengthen its naval presence in the Mediterranean.[3] Amid Russia's deteriorating relations with the West, because of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War and plans to deploy a US missile defense shield in Poland, President Assad agreed to the port’s conversion into a permanent Middle East base for Russia’s nuclear-armed warships.[4] Since 2009, Russia has been renovating the Tartus naval base and dredging the port to allow access for its larger naval vessels.[5]

Syrian civil war

During the Syrian Civil War, opposition activists claimed that Syrian Navy warships supported a military attack by government forces against rebels in the city of Latakia.[6]

Equipment

Ship
Class Image Type Ships Origin Quantity Notes
Missile boat
Osa I & Osa IIMissile boat Soviet Union133 Osa I and 10 Osa II
Tir II (IPS 18)Missile boat Iran6Believed to be local produced by Maritime Industries Group or copies of North Korean patrol boats.
Patrol craft
Zhuk-classPatrol craft Soviet Union823.8 m inshore vessels.
MIG-S-1800 classPatrol craft Iran6Monohull and catamaran produced by Maritime Industries Group with longer variants (S-1900 and S-2600).[7]
Minesweeper
Sonya-classMinesweeper Soviet Union1
Yevgenya-classMinesweeper Soviet Union5
Natya-classMinesweeper Soviet Union1
Amphibious warfare
Polnocny BLanding ship tank Poland3
  • 618th Maritime Warfare Squadron
Aircraft Image Version Type Origin Quantity Notes
Helicopters
Mil Mi-14PL Haze-A
Surface surveillance Soviet Union11
Kamov Ka-25
Surface surveillance Soviet Union5
Kamov Ka-28PL Helix-A
Surface surveillance Soviet Union5

Coastal defence
Model Image Type Origin Quantity Notes
Coastal defence
C-802 Coastal defence missile  PRC [8]
K-300P Bastion-P / P-800 Yakhont Coastal defence missile  Russia 2 systems (SS-C-5 Stooge)
P-5 Pyatyorka Coastal defence missile  Soviet Union 4 systems (SS-C-1 Sepal)
P-15M Coastal defence missile  Soviet Union 6 systems (SS-C-3 Styx)
M1954 Howitzer  Soviet Union M-46

Former vessels

The Syrian Navy once operated three Project 613 submarines. These were former Soviet boats S-167, S-171, and S-183.[9]

See also

References
  1. The Military Balance 2021 page 366
  2. "Syrian Arab Navy". GlobalSecurity.org.
  3. Weitz, Richard (2010). Global security watch--Russia : a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger Security International. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-313-35434-2.
  4. "Big Russian flotilla led by Admiral Kuznetsov carrier heads for Syrian port". DEBKAfile. 21 August 2008. Archived from the original on 23 August 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  5. "INSS: Syria Report" (PDF). Institute for National Security Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  6. "Syrian 'warships shell port city of Latakia'". Al Jazeera. 14 August 2011.
  7. Shapir, Yiftah (August 2007), "The Syrian Army Buildup" (PDF), Strategic Assessment, Tel Aviv, Israel: The Institute for National Security Studies, 10 (2)
  8. C-802 in Syria 7/7/2012 (video)
  9. "Medium Submarines Project 613". RussianShips.info. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
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