Syrian Navy

During the Yom Kippur War on 6–7 October 1973, the Syrian Arab Navy engaged for the first time in naval battle with Israeli ships in the Latakia area. It was the first battle in history in which both sides used sea-to-sea missile boats in combat.[6]

The Israeli Navy had five missile boats launched from the port of Haifa towards the main positions of the Syrian fleet off the coast City. At first, the Israeli fleet encountered a small reconnaissance boat, and immediately sank it. Then the ships reached a naval minesweeper, which they attacked and immediately downed.[7]

When the Israeli fleet advanced, it found the main forces of the Syrian fleet, the strongest and most modern militarily, which consisted of three missile boats (two Komar-class missile boats along with an Osa I-class missile boat, a K-123 torpedo boat and a T43-class minesweeper).[8]

The Syrian boats launched their missiles from a long range that the Israeli ships could not launch from. However, the Israeli fleet had an anti-missile system that could mislead its radars and keep them away from their targets. In real combat however, they succeeded completely and all the missiles missed the target. As a result of the battle, all 5 Syrian ships participating in it were sunk, the Israelis did not suffer any losses.[9]

On 29 August 1989, a Syrian missile boat sank the Maltese tanker Sunshield, which attempted to enter the prohibited zone.[10]

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.[11] But the government's version denied that the city was bombed by sea, as it said that the forces of order are chasing armed groups who are attacking property and using the machine guns and the bombs.[12]

The Syrian Marines follows the forces of naval infantry, consisting of about 1,500 conscripts, whose primary role is to protect the three military naval bases in the country, which are divided into three units, each of which is to protect one of the bases. These Marines have three amphibious assault ships, each of which can carry 100 soldiers and five tanks.

In general, the Syrian Marine Corps did not receive any special or advanced armament and very little training in the use of amphibious ships, and in general its recruits are only ordinary soldiers and do not have any experience in the ways of fighting as Marines. Although the Soviet Union set up part of Exercise Zapad-81 (the largest military training exercise ever in the entire history of the Soviet Union, and included the largest amphibious landing operation in its history as well), the Syrian soldiers did not participate.

The marines did not participate in any real amphibious naval landing during any of the wars Syria was involved in. Instead, they were used as infantry with a direct ground clash in the October War and in the Lebanon Civil War. During the Gulf War II, Syria put all its marines together with the 17,000 soldiers it sent to Kuwait, which may mean that it considers them highly experienced soldiers.[4]

The Syrian Coastal Defense Forces were placed under the command of the Syrian Arab Navy since 1984. The coastal defense consists of brigade infantry, each of which is responsible for monitoring a specific coastal sector, and in addition to them, there is a battalion that monitors. In addition to these forces, there are two artillery battalions armed with 18 artillery pieces, 130 mm caliber M-46.[16] The Syrian coastal defense is also armed with Styx, Sepal, YJ-83 and P-800 Oniks missiles, as well as K-300P Bastion-P coastal defense missile system.[4][17]

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.[21] 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.[22] Since 2009, Russia has been renovating the Tartus naval base and dredging the port to allow access for its larger naval vessels.[23]

• 618th Maritime Warfare Squadron

Aircraft	Image	Version	Type	Origin	Quantity	Notes
Helicopters
Mil Mi-14		Haze-A	Anti-submarine helicopter	Soviet Union	19
Kamov Ka-28		Helix-A	Anti-submarine helicopter	Soviet Union	4

The Syrian Navy once operated three Project 613 submarines. These were former the Soviet boats S-167, S-171, and S-183.[28]

They operated three Romeo-class submarines (S-1, S-53, S-101). Built in 1961 for Soviet Navy and transferred to Syria 1985-1987, decommissioned by mid-1990s and all scrapped by 1996.[29]

Syria had two Vanya-class minesweepers since 1972. All ships were retired by the mid-1990s.

They also had two Petya-class frigates in derelict condition at Tartus port.[30] Both probably retired in 2017 or 2018. One decommissioned Syrian frigate was sunk by the Russian Air Force as a training target on 15 April 2018 off the coast of Syria.[31]

The following table shows the strength of the Syrian Arab Naval Forces according to the year since 1990, in addition to the deals to be concluded in this regard until 2015:[4]

Class	Origin	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010	2012	2015
Amur-1650 submarine	Russia							2
Project 633 submarine	Soviet Union	3	1
Petya-class frigate	Soviet Union	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Osa-class missile boat	Soviet Union	12	14	10	12	10	16	16
Komar-class missile boat	Soviet Union	4	4
Tir-class speedboat	Iran					6	6	6
Zhuk-class patrol boat	Soviet Union	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Yevgenya-class minesweeper	Soviet Union	4	5	3	3	3	5	5
Natya-class minesweeper	Soviet Union	1				1	1	1
Sonya-class minesweeper	Soviet Union	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
T43-class minesweeper	Soviet Union	1	1	1	1	1
Vanya-class minesweeper	Soviet Union	2
Polnocny-class landing ship	Poland	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Training ship Al-Assad	Poland	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Support ships	Unknown		2	3	3	2
Ghaem-class patrol boat	Iran					6	6	6

In general, the Syrian Arab Navy did not have any modern equipment or weapons until 2006 (except for the OSA I and II anti-ship missile boats), in addition to its modest numbers of recruits compared to the 150-kilometre long Syrian coast. But since 2006, Russia and Iran began providing Syria with advanced weapons, providing it with heavy, short-range land-sea missiles, which are less expensive and more effective in battles than expensive torpedoes and boats, which are easily endangered during sea battles.[32]

Among the types of missiles that Iran and Russia supplied to the Syrian Navy are the Styx anti-ship missiles, intended for use in close-range missile engagement with battleships and warships. In recent years, they have also acquired an unknown number of Sepal missiles, and their possession was not known until they appeared in modern combat tests of the Syrian Arab Army in late 2011.[33]

The Syrian Navy also has a third type of missile, the Russian-made Yakhont missiles, which Syria purchased from Russia in a military deal in late 2011.[34] These are long-range missiles that have given Syria a strategic military advantage at the Eastern Mediterranean.[32] As for the fourth type of missiles supplied to the Syrian Navy, it is the C-802 anti-ship missile of Chinese origin, which is believed to have been supplied to Syria by Iran.[35]

Syrian Navy hopes to receive two Amur-1650 class submarines. In 2015 a group of Syrian military officials arrived in Moscow to discuss prospects for bilateral military and technical cooperation, including the pair of submarines.[4] The Project-677 or Lada-class diesel submarine, whose export version is known as the Amur 1650, features a new anti-sonar coating for its hull, an extended cruising range, and advanced anti-ship and anti-submarine weaponry.

• The International Institute for Strategic Studies (14 February 2022). The Military Balance 2022. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-62003-0.