Syrian Navy

Syrian Arab Navy
الْبَحْرِيَّةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ السُّورِيَّةُ
Flag of the Syrian Arab Navy
Founded	1946; 76 years ago (1946)
Country	Syria
Type	Navy
Role	Naval warfare
Size	4,000 [1]
Part of	Syrian Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ	Damascus
Equipment	19 missile boats 14 patrol crafts 7 minesweepers 3 landing crafts
Commanders
President of Syria	Marshal Bashar al-Assad
Minister of Defense	Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayyoub
	Vice Admiral Yasser al-Haffei

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 of the Syrian Armed Forces.

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[]

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 II		Missile boat		Soviet Union	13	3 Osa I and 10 Osa II
Tir II (IPS 18)		Missile boat		Iran	6	Believed to be local produced by Maritime Industries Group or copies of North Korean patrol boats.
Patrol craft
Zhuk-class		Patrol craft		Soviet Union	8	23.8 m inshore vessels.
MIG-S-1800 class		Patrol craft		Iran	6	Monohull and catamaran produced by Maritime Industries Group with longer variants (S-1900 and S-2600).[7]
Minesweeper
Sonya-class		Minesweeper		Soviet Union	1
Yevgenya-class		Minesweeper		Soviet Union	5
Natya-class		Minesweeper		Soviet Union	1
Amphibious warfare
Polnocny B		Landing ship tank		Poland	3

Naval aviation[]

• 618th Maritime Warfare Squadron

Aircraft	Image	Version	Type	Origin	Quantity	Notes
Helicopters
Mil Mi-14PL Haze-A			Surface surveillance	Soviet Union	11
Kamov Ka-25			Surface surveillance	Soviet Union	5
Kamov Ka-28PL Helix-A			Surface surveillance	Soviet Union	5

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 , , and .^[9]

See also[]

• Syrian Marines

References[]