Syrian Armed Forces

Equipment of the Syrian Armed Forces 

After five years of civil war the Syrian armed forces are in rough shape. Thousands of tanks have been knocked out of action, hundreds of thousands have died, and the entire nation is in turmoil. The Syrian military was initially geared toward fighting Israel, particularly to retake the Golan Heights region. However, as the civil war has progressed, technological changes have been made, including North Korean modifications on some vehicles and indigenous modifications on others. The Syrian Arab Army is largely hurt by defections and losses, with the majority of resources going to bolster elite special forces units (Tiger Forces) and the Republican Guard, whilst street combat is typically carried out by elements of the Lebanese group Hezbollah. These forces, since September 2015, have been supported by aircraft from the Russian Air Force. The Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) has begun using homemade barrel bombs en-mass, dropped from helicopters (transport helicopters usually) on civilian areas. The Syrian Arab Navy has essentially been forgotten and ignored, with the ships falling into disrepair. 

Syrian Arab Army (SAA) 

Main Battle Tank

•  T-55
•  T-55A
•  T-55AM
•  T-55AMV
•  T-62
•  T-72
•  T-72AV
•  T-72B
•  T-72M1

Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle 

•  BRDM-2

Infantry Fighting Vehicle 

•  BMP-1
•  BMP-2
•  BTR-82A

Armored Personnel Carrier (Tracked)

•  BTR-50

Armored Personnel Carrier (Wheeled)

•  BTR-152
•  BTR-60
•  BTR-70
•  BTR-80

Self-Propelled Artillery 

•  122 mm 2S1 Gvozdika
•  122 mm D-30 (mounted on T-34/85)
•  130 mm M-46 (Truck-mounted)
•  152 mm 2S3 Akatsiya

Towed Artillery 

•  122 mm D-30
•  122 mm M-30 (M1938)
•  130 mm M-46
•  152 mm D-20
•  152 mm ML-20 (M1937)
•  180 mm S-23

MLRS 

•  107 mm Type-63
•  122 mm BM-21 Grad
•  140 mm BM-14
•  220 mm 9P140 Uragan
•  300 mm 9A52 Smerch
• 330 mm (No Other Information) 

Mortar

• 82 mm (No Other Information)
•  120 mm M-1943
•  160 mm M-160
•  240 mm M-240

Tank Destroyer

•  9P133 (BRDM-2 w/ AT-3 Sagger) 
•  9P148 (BRDM-2 w/ AT-5 Spandrel) 

MANPATS

•  9K111 Fagot (AT-4 Spigot) 
•  9K113 Konkurs (AT-5 Spandrel)
•  9K115 Metis (AT-7 Saxhorn) 
•  9K115-2 Metis-M (AT-13 Saxhorn 2)
•  9K116-1 Bastion (AT-10 Stabber)
•  9K135 Kornet (AT-14 Spriggan)
•  Milan

Rocket Propelled Grenade

•  RPG-29

Self-Propelled SAM System

•  9K33 Osa (SA-8 Gecko)
•  9K31 Strela-1 (SA-9 Gaskin)
•  9K37 Buk (SA-11 Gadfly) 
•  9K35 Strela-10 (SA-13 Gopher)
•  96K6 Pantsir-S1 (SA-22 Greyhound)
•  9K317 Buk-M2 (SA-17 Grizzly )

MANPADS

•  9K32 Strela-2 (SA-7 Grail)
•  9K38 Igla (SA-18 Grouse)
•  9K36 Strela-3 (SA-14 Gremlin)
•  9K338 Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch) 

Self-Propelled AAA

•  23 mm ZSU-23-4
•  57 mm ZSU-57-2
•  57 mm S-60 (on 2K12) 

Towed AAA

•  23 mm ZU-23
•  37 mm M-1939
•  57 mm S-60
•  100 mm KS-19

Tactical Ballistic Missile System

•  Scud
•  Scud-B
•  Scud-C
•  Scud-D
•  Locally-produced Variant 
•  9K79 Tockha (SS-21 Scarab)
•  Fateh-110/M-600

Armored Recovery Vehicle 

•  BREM-1
•  T-54/55 ARV

Mine Warfare 

•  UR-77

Vehicle-Launched Bridge

•  MTU
•  MTU-20

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle 

•  Mohajer 3/4
•  Ababil

Syrian Arab Navy 

Corvette (Fast Ship) 

•  2 Petya III

Fast Patrol Boat w/ Guided Missiles 

•  16 Osa I/II
•  6 Tir 

Patrol Boat

•  8 Zhuk

Coastal Minehunter 

•  1 Sonya

Ocean Minesweeper 

•  1 Natya

Inshore Minesweeper

•  5 Yevgenya

Medium Landing Ship

•  3 Polnochny B

Training Vessel 

•  1 Al Assad 

Diving Tender 

•  1 Palmyra 

Syrian Coastal Defense 

Anti-Ship Missile

•  P-35 (SS-C-1B Sepal)
•  P-15M Termit (SS-C-3 Styx)
•  C-802
•  K-300P Bastion (SS-C-5 Stooge) 

Syrian Naval Aviation

ASW Helicopter 

•  Kamov Ka-28 Helix
•  Mil Mi-14 Haze

     

Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF)

Fighter Aircraft 

•  Mikoyan MiG-23 Flogger
•  MiG-23MF Flogger
•  MiG-23ML Flogger
•  MiG-23UM Flogger
•  Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum
•  MiG-29A Fulcrum
•  MiG-29SM Fulcrum
•  MiG-29UB Fulcrum

Fighter Ground Attack Aircraft 

•  Mikoyan MiG-21 Fishbed
•  MiG-21MF Fishbed
•  MiG-21bis Fishbed
•  MiG-21U Mongol
•  Mikoyan MiG-23 Flogger
•  MiG-23BN Flogger
•  MiG-23UB Flogger 
•  Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter-D
•  Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer

Transport Aircraft

•  Ilyushin Il-76 Candid
•  Antonov An-24 Coke
•  Antonov An-26 Curl 
•  Piper PA-31 Navajo
•  Yakovlev Yak-40 Codling
•  Dassault Falcon 20
•  Dassault Falcon 900
•  Tupovlev Tu-134B-3

Training Aircraft

•  Aero L-39 Albatros

Attack Helicopter 

•  Mil Mi-25 Hind-D

Multirole Helicopter 

•  Mil Mi-17 Hip H
•  SA342L Gazelle

Transport Helicopter 

•  Mil Mi-8 Hip

Air-to-Air Missile

•  R-3 (AA-2 Atoll)
•  R-60 (AA-8 Aphid) 
•  R-73 (AA-11 Archer)
•  R-23/24 (AA-7 Apex)
•  R-27 (AA-10 Alamo)

Air-to-Surface Missile 

•  Kh-25 (KS-7 Kerry)
•  HOT

Anti-Radiation Missile 

•  Kh-31P (AS-17A Krypton) 

Air Defense Command 

Self-Propelled SAM System

•  2K12 Kub (SA-6 Gainful)

Towed SAM System

•  S-75 Dvina (SA-2 Guideline) 
•  S-125 Pechora (SA-3 Goa) 

Static SAM System

•  S-200 Angara (SA-5 Gammon) 

MANPADS 

•  9K32 Strela-2/2M (SA-7A/B Grail) 

Conflict in the Karabakh

Flag of the Nogorno-Karabakh Republic

Right now Armenia and Azerbaijan are engaged in a war over the disputed Nogorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The problem basically started back in 1922 when Joseph Stalin made the mountainous region a part of Azerbaijan. This came on the heels of a genocide in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed, and represented yet another setback to the Armenian people.

Nogorno-Karabakh Defense Force T-72B

Tensions began increasing dramatically toward the end of the USSR. A series of skirmishes eventually turned into all-out war as the USSR collapsed between the people of Armenia and the people of Azerbaijan. The people of Nogorno-Karabakh are ethnically Armenian and have always wished to remain part of Armenia, so when the war was halted in 1994 with a Russian-brokered ceasefire they declared autonomy as the Nogorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) and have protection from Armenia. Armenian troops also occupy territories of Azerbaijan surrounding the NKR as a “buffer zone” on the western side of the territory.

Nogorno-Karabakh in dark-brown, with Armenian-occupied "Buffer zone" lands in light brown

Anyway, every few months one side or the other will lob a mortar or snipe a soldier and that’s sorta how things have been going for years. However, recent years have seen an increase in Azeri weapons spending and rhetoric coming out of Baku laced with more and more threats. To give balance, similar threats have come out of Yerevan, but with Armenia’s weapons spending resting around $440 million a year and Azerbaijan’s at about $3.7 billion, it’s easy to see who the aggressor might be. In early April both sides engaged in about a week of fierce combat, which died down after dozens of deaths and much international attention, particularly from US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Azeri helicopter shot down by NKR forces on the opening night of March 31st/April 1st, 2016 

As it stands, anywhere between 50-200 soldiers have been killed and an unknown number of civilians. The last war claimed between 30-50,000 lives, with allegations on both sides of ethnic cleansing. There has been relative calm in recent weeks, but there is nothing holding that in place save for the existing tattered ceasefire and hostilities could restart at any time.

(Disclaimer: As an Armenian much of this story has been told based on what I’ve heard from the Armenian perspective and as such may not be completely unbiased. Please recognize this and understand that while I strive for balance, I cannot guarantee it, especially with the scarcity of good Azeri sources.)