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Defense Companies (Syria)

The Brigades for the Defense of the Revolution,[1] commonly referred to as Defense Companies, Defense Corps or Defense Brigades (Arabic: سرايا الدفاع; Sarāyā ad-Difāʿ) were an all-Alawite paramilitary force in Syria that were commanded by Rifaat al-Assad. Their task was to defend the Assad government, and Damascus, from internal and external attack.[2]

Not to be confused with defense contractors.

Brigades for the Defense of the Revolution (Defense Companies / Defense Brigades)
سرايا الدفاع

1971–1984

 Syria

Syrian Armed Forces

Airborne forces
Armoured Corps

Praetorian Guard
Shock Troops
Special operations force

Airborne forces
Armoured warfare
Counter-insurgency
Direct action
Raiding
Special operations
Urban warfare

55,000 (peak in 1982)

Division Command HQ
5 Brigades
26 Battalions

Damascus Mezzeh Military Airport

T-72 tanks
BM-21 Grad
Mil Mi-24D Attack helicopters
122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30)
2S4 Tyulpan heavy mortars
Ilyushin Il-76 Transport aircraft

Maj. Gen. Rifaat al-Assad

In 1984 the 55,000 strong Defense Companies was broken up and merged into the Syrian Arab Army expanding the Republican Guard, and the 14th Special Forces Division comprising 5 Special Forces regiments. The rump force then became the 569th Armored Division, which years later became the 4th Armoured division[3][4]

– a similar but much smaller force

Struggle Companies (Syria)

– an all Alawite al-Assad family run militia

Shabiha

Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948–91, Kenneth M. Pollack, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002, and Pollack's book reviewed in International Security, Vol. 28, No. 2

Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars (Men-at-Arms, 194) by Samuel Katz, Osprey Publishing 1988,  978-0-85045-800-8

ISBN

Armies in Lebanon 1982 to 1984 (Men at Arms Series, 165) by Samuel Katz and Ronald Volstad, Osprey Publishing 1985,  978-0-85045-602-8

ISBN

1980s – Hafez al-Assad inspects army training camps in Syria in 1980.

1980s – Women soldiers march for Hafez Al-Assad in Syria in 1980.

فرسان القائد رفعت الأسد (تخرج دورة مظليين) 1

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