Syrian Air Force
The Syrian Air Force (SyAF or SAF), officially the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF or SAAF; Arabic: الْقُوَّاتُ الْجَوِّيَّةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ السُّورِيَّةُ, romanized: al-Quwwāt al-Jawwīyah al-ʿArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is the air force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It was established in 1948. Land-based air defense systems are grouped under the Syrian Arab Air Defense Force, which split from both the Air Force and the Army.
Syrian Arab Air Force
1948[a]
15,000[1] troops 460 aircraft
We are the Eagles (Arabic: نَحْنُ النُّسُورُ, romanized: Naḥn-un-Nusūr)
16 October
- Approx 450 aircraft in 2011 (before Syrian civil war)
- Approx 459 aircraft in 2024[2]
Major General Tawfiq Khaddour[4]
Major General Adel Jadallah Qaysar[4]
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Due to the high security level on everything military related, the past and present of the Syrian Arab Air Force is still largely unknown. This makes it hard to judge the real strength of the air force today.[73] Additionally, considerable losses to the opposition forces in the country's ongoing civil war are not accounted for here. The following information is compiled from multiple, pre 2012 Syrian civil war sources.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 2011 the aircraft inventory from Syrian Arab Air Force estimations was:[74][75]
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The following officers have served as Commanders of the Air Force:
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(1948–1958)
(1958–1961)
(1961–1963)
(1963–1972)
(1972–1980)
(1980–present)
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The roundel used by the Syrian Arab Air Force has the same generic design as that used by the Egyptian Air Force. It consists of three concentric circles, with a red outer part, white middle and black inner part. The unique part of the Syrian roundel 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.