Personnel of the Syrian Armed Forces

The Syrian Armed Forces consist of around 620 000 troops distributed as follows:

Syrian Ground Forces: They consist of 500 000 soldiers of which 200 000 are on active duty and 300 000 are recruits. The troops are distributed among the following military organizations:

• 3 Army Corps
• 7 Armored Divisions
• 3 Mechanized Divisions
• 4 Infantry Brigades
• Special Armored Forces including 3 Specialized Regiments and 10 Independent Regiments

• 2 Artillery Brigades
• 3 Missile Brigades, each including 3 Missile Battalions
• 2 Naval Defense Brigades
• Border Guard Brigade known as “Al-Hajjana”
• Republican Guard including 3 Armored Brigades, 1 Mechanized Brigade and 1 Artillery Regiment. This division is thought to be the strongest within the Syrian Armed Forces with the heaviest equipment and manpower (15 000 troops).

Syrian Navy: consists of 20 000 troops and is headquartered in Lattakia. It has naval bases in Minat al-Bayda in Lattakia, Banias and Tartous.

Syrian Air Force: consists of 100 000 troops.

Military equipment

Little is known about the military equipment of the Syrian Armed Forces. The disclosed data concerning their equipment includes the following:

• 400 to 500 Scud C and Scud D missiles with a range of 500 and 700 kilometers respectively, purchased from Russia and Northern Korea. In addition, Syria possesses unspecified numbers of Frog 7 rockets, Silkworm missiles and other Iranian rockets.
• 4000 tanks including 320 T-80 tanks, in addition to 6000 armored vehicles.
• 900 airplanes including 460 fighters, 50 reconnaissance aircrafts, 200 helicopters, 160 trainers, 30 military transport aircrafts distributed over 25 fighter squadrons in all 110 Syrian airbases.