Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Syrian Air Force
The Syrian Air Force (Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al Arabiya as-Souriya in Arabic) is the Aviation branch of the Syrian armed forces.
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History
The end of World War II led to a withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Middle East, and this included a withdrawal from Syria. In 1948, the Syrian Air Force was officially established after the first class of pilots graduted from flight schools in Britain.
The 1950s saw Syria and Egypt attempt to unify as the United Arab Republic, this was reflected in the Syrian Air Force with growth in personnel and aircraft. However, this union would not last. With the ascent to power of the Baath Party and Hafez Al-Asad, Syria began looking to the Soviet Union for help and built closer ties with the USSR. This in turn led to a massive influx of Soviet equipment to the Syrian Armed Forces, including the Air Force.
The Syrian Air Force, despite its training and capabilites never fared well against Israel. In the Six-Day War, the Syrian Air Force was defeated rapidly, losing 2/3rds of its forces with the rest retreating to bases in remote parts of Syria. This in turn helped the IDF in defeating the Syrian Army on the ground and led to the loss of the Golan Heights.
The Yom Kippur War provided initial success for both Syria and Egypt, but the end result was another defeat for both nations. Following this conflict, the Syrian Air Force continued to remain in the Soviet sphere of influence, whereas Egypt abandoned Soviet aid, and began building its Air Force with American, French, and Chinese equipment.
Despite Syria's continued supply of Soviet equipment its Air Force again faired badly during conflicts with Israel over Lebanon in the early 1980s, losing over 80 planes while the Israeli Air Force lost none.
Since then, the Syrian Air Force has continued to rebuild with Soviet equipment. However the full extent of this rebuilding is not known. Nor are the exact numbers of planes or what types of aircraft are in the Air Force. This is due to the amount of secrecy maintained by the Syrian government in regards to its military. It is known though that the Syrians have procured MiG-29s and Su-24s which should give its Air Force a great boost, though rumours regarding the recent purchase of some Su-27s appear to be unfounded.
Aircraft
Markings
The roundel used by the Syrian Air Force has the same basic design as that used by the Egyptian Air Force. It consists of three coincentric circles, with a red outer, white middle and black inner. The unique part of the Syrian roundels is the presence of two green stars in the white circle, which is reflective of the two stars on the national flag. The fin flash is also an image of the flag.
External links
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