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ARMA 2^{[N 1]} is an open world, military simulationvideo game developed and published by Bohemia Interactive for Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to ARMA: Armed Assault (ARMA: Combat Operations in North America), and the predecessor to ARMA 3. ARMA 2 saw a limited release in May 2009, and a wide release from June 2009 through July 2009. An expansion pack titled ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead was released in 2010.^[5] In June 2011, a free version of the game was released, featuring multiplayer and limited single-player modes. It is also considered the official successor of Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (which has since been renamed to ARMA: Cold War Assault by Bohemia Interactive).^[6]

The game had sold 2.3 million copies as of February 2015.^[7]

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• 2Synopsis
  • 2.2Plot
• 3Development
  • 3.3Modding
• 4Release
• 5Expansions

Gameplay[edit]

ARMA 2 is a tactical shooter focused primarily on infantry combat, but significant vehicular and aerial combat elements are present. The player is able to command AI squad members which adds a real-time strategy element to the game. This is further enhanced by the high command system, which allows the player to command multiple squads using the map. ARMA 2 is set primarily in the fictional Eastern European state of Chernarus (meaning 'Black Rus'). The Chernarussian landscape is based heavily on the Czech Republic; the home country of the developer.

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ARMA 2, plus all expansions, features eleven distinct armed factions, each with their own vehicles and weapons. Caught in the middle are the Chernarussian and Takistani civilians. The factions included in Arma 2 are: USMC, Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Chernarussian Defense Forces (CDF), Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star (ChDKZ), National Party (NAPA), and the citizens of Chernarus.

ARMA 2 features around 80 realistically represented weapons with many variants including assault rifles, machine guns, and missile launchers, with realistically simulated ballistics.

There are around 130 vehicle variants, and any vehicle that exists in-game can be controlled by the player, including civilian cars, tractors and bicycles. Similarly, all aircraft encountered in the game can be flown by the player, with limited fuel and realistic weapon loadouts.

ARMA 2 includes a mission editor which makes it possible to create user-made single player missions or campaigns and multiplayer missions through use of the in-game wizard. More complex missions can be enhanced with scripting commands. The syntax and interface have both been kept largely consistent with the ARMA series, meaning that missions are ported across games.

Synopsis[edit]

Setting[edit]

ARMA 2's single-player campaign takes place in late 2009, in the province of South Zagoria in the north-eastern region of the fictional post-Soviet state of Chernarus, as well as the remote Chernarussian island of Útes. South Zagoria's approximately 225 square kilometers are based on actual satellite photos of České Středohoří, in northern Bohemia, Czech Republic.^{[citation needed]} The precise location used is the remote area between Děčín and Ústí nad Labem.^{[citation needed]}

Chernarus is in a state of political unrest, with its democratic government trying to keep from being overthrown by pro-communist rebels. Among the most powerful of these rebels is a group calling themselves the 'Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star' (Chernarusskiy Dvizheniye Krasnoy Zvezdy), abbreviated as ChDKZ. Referred to by the locals as the 'Chedakis', the ChDKZ are led by communist revolutionary, Gregori 'Akula' (English: Shark) Lopotev. After many months of civil war, the ChDKZ fails to overthrow the current government and establish the Socialist Republic of Chernarus.^{[clarification needed]} The Chernarussian government asks the international community for assistance in defeating the rebels, and the United States responded by sending a U.S. NavyExpeditionary Strike Group off the coast of Chernarus, hoping that a presence of an Amphibious Ready Group with hundreds of U.S. Marines stationed on board would calm any tensions in the area. However, the ChDKZ remains undeterred, and by late 2009 the ChDKZ launch a coup d'état against the Chernarussian government, taking control of the northeastern Chernarussian province of South Zagoria. This caused the remaining Chernarussian military forces in the area to retreat towards the inland town of Zelenogorsk.

On 21 September 2009, as a part of their coup, the ChDKZ invade the island of Útes (home to a Chernarussian military training base). Overwhelmed, the remaining Chernarussian military forces in the area regrouped at a church in the Útes village of Strelka in an attempt to fight off the tenacious ChDKZ attack. Ultimately, the Chernarussian military forces on the island were overwhelmed by the massive onslaught, and the island fell to the ChDKZ. As a result, U.S. Marines, operating nearby from the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, USS Khe Sanh (LHD-9), launched an amphibious invasion of Útes to liberate the island from the ChDKZ forces. Soon after the U.S. Marines landed on the island, the ChDKZ were routed, and Útes was liberated.

A few days after the liberation of Útes, U.S. Marines on board the USS Khe Sanh (LHD-9) prepared to deploy to mainland Chernarus in support of Operation Harvest Red, whose purpose is to bring an end to the civil war in Chernarus and re-establish Chernarussian sovereignty. Officially, the U.S. Marines are deploying to Chernarus as a peacekeeping force. In reality, they are there to capture ChDKZ leader 'Akula', and to help defeat the ChDKZ once and for all.

Plot[edit]

Operation Harvest Red[edit]

In preparation for Operation Harvest Red, elements of the U.S. Marine Corps' Force Recon are deployed behind enemy lines into Chernarus, to weaken ChDKZ coastal defenses for the invading Marine Expeditionary Unit. Among the Force Reconnaissance Marines is Razor Team, a five-man special operations team, consisting of the main character, Master Sergeant Matthew 'Coops' Cooper, Razor Team's second-in-command, and the team's leader, Master Sergeant Patrick 'Eightball' Miles.

Razor Team's mission is to conduct a raid on the small Chernarussian town of Pusta, to disrupt ChDKZ communications in preparation for the invading Marine Expeditionary Unit.^[8] During Razor Team's raid on Pusta, the team rescues a couple of torture victims, and subsequently uncovers a mass grave, revealing that the ChDKZ have been conducting acts of genocide and are guilty of war crimes in South Zagoria. After the raid on Pusta, Razor Team is tasked with helping to unite the Chernarussian military (CDF) with National Party (NAPA) guerillas, who are led by a man named Prizrak. Originally hostile to each other at the beginning, their subsequent cooperation will help restore peace to Chernarus.

As the civil war in Chernarus rages on, a terrorist bombing occurs in the middle of Red Square, in Moscow, Russia, killing dozens and wounding hundreds more. The ChDKZ blames this attack on the National Party, which causes the Russian Federation, already wary of the presence of U.S. forces operating near its border, to demand the unconditional withdrawal of U.S. forces from Chernarus. The Russian Federation proposes to the United Nations Security Council that the United States withdraw its forces from Chernarus, whom the Russians allege are escalating the conflict. The United States' mandate in Chernarus expires, and U.S. forces are quickly withdrawn from the country. Shortly after the U.S. withdrawal, the Russian Federation sends a United Nations-backed peacekeeping contingent into South Zagoria, to replace the U.S. forces. However, in the confusion, Razor Team is left behind as the rest of the U.S. forces withdraw from the country, leaving them in Chernarus. Later, it is revealed that the terrorist bombing of Red Square was in fact a false flag attack committed by the ChDKZ to paint the National Party as terrorists. Razor Team is now tasked with finding evidence which will prove the ChDKZ's involvement in the bombing of Red Square, and the National Party's innocence.

The ending of the campaign depends upon a number of different factors; whether or not Razor Team eliminates Prizrak, who is opposing the alliance between the Chernarussian government and the National Party, and the arrest of Gregori 'Akula' Lopotev. The campaign's endings range from victory for the player, or to defeat, with the elimination of Razor Team by the victorious ChDKZ.^[9]

Operation Eagle Wing[edit]

After the conclusion of Operation Harvest Red in 2009, the civil war in South Zagoria province has escalated into a outright war between the U.S., backing the Chernarussian government, and the Russian Federation, backing the ChDKZ insurgency, sparking World War III. The U.S. launches 'Operation Echo Wave' and dispatches a naval fleet carrying a U.S. Marine expeditionary unit off the coast of South Zagoria to aid the Chernarussian Defense Forces (CDF) in their retaking of the province from the Russians.^[10]

Development[edit]

ARMA 2 is named after the Latin word 'arma', meaning weapons, soldiers, and war. Due to the fact that the previous game in the series was named Armed Assault, ARMA 2 is often referred to as Armed Assault 2, albeit in error. Although ARMA 2's title is stylized as ArmA II, it is done as an homage to the previous game in the series, because the game's title is a slight contraction of Armed Assault in the first game in the series.^[11]

Bedienungsanleitung telefunken tv sa. By enabling the small checkbox ('Exact'), you can execute a search for that exact term.

During development, Bohemia Interactive stated at the Electronic Entertainment Expo that ARMA 2 was to have a 'roleplaying feel to it', with in-game events affecting the character as well as the entire campaign. For example, terrorizing non-playable characters would result in losing their trust, thus encouraging the victimized NPC(s) to give away valuable information to enemy forces. The entire campaign can be played either offline, as single-player, or online co-operative play for up to four players.

Technology[edit]

ARMA 2 uses the third-generation Real Virtuality game engine, which had been in development for over 10 years prior to the game's release and of which previous versions are used in training simulators by militaries around the world. This engine has full DirectX 9 support (Shader Model 3). It features realistic day-night cycles, changing weather, fog and visibility, and a view distance of up to 15 kilometres. Every weapon in the game fires projectiles with real trajectories, bullet drop, and penetration characteristics. As such, no weapon system in the game is 'guaranteed' a hit – only after the engine has simulated the event can it be determined if a given shot or missile has hit the target.^{[citation needed]} The number of agents supported by the engine is limited mainly by computer performance.^[12] This allows a wide range of scenarios to be played, from small unit actions up to large-scale battles. Almost all events in the game are dynamically defined, including most unit speech and AI choices about how to evaluate and respond to specific situations in the game world: scenarios rarely unfold the same way twice – although a side with an overwhelming advantage will tend to win consistently. The player can choose to turn their head independently from their weapon / body, unlike in most shooters where the view is locked to the weapon. This allows players to look left and right while running forwards to maintain awareness of the battlefield or to look around while in a confined space without having to lower or shift their weapon.

ARMA 2 provides a battlefield with all necessary data loaded in the background, with no interruptions by loading screens. However there are loading screens between episodes and missions. In order to augment player immersion in the gameplay, ARMA 2 features an optional 'ambient battle' feature in which the world around the player can automatically be populated by friendly and hostile units who will engage in combat.

Patches[edit]

Shortly after the game's German release a 1.01 patch appeared, with the objective of improving the game's AI. Another patch, v1.02, was released on 20 June 2009 fixing more AI graphical issues such as the AI walking through walls during cut scenes, driving vehicles with no hands, and unrealistic war reactions by the AI and other various singleplayer campaign problems. Then, another updated patch v1.02.58134 was released on 26 June. Patch v1.03 was released on 4 August albeit without an option for stand-alone server hosts. Patch 1.04 was released on 15 September. On 22 December 2009, patch 1.05 was released, which included a new mini-campaign, Eagle Wing, and a new vehicle, the AH-64 Apache. Patch v1.07 was debuted on 28 June 2010. Changes of note include improved performance within larger cities, enhanced AI driving skills, a raise of the file cache size to 4 GB RAM or more to take advantage of 64-bit operating systems, and improving the game engine's use of processors with 4 or more cores. Currently, the latest patch for ARMA 2 is v1.11^[13] (debuted on 22 December 2011, and sharing many features with ARMA 2 Operation Arrowhead patch v1.60), which brought significant optimisations in multiplayer Netcode and performance, as well as numerous single-player campaign and missions fixes. On 19 August Marek Španěl from Bohemia Interactive announced that the latest beta patches are available to everyone from the official ARMA 2 website.^[14] Current development of the beta versions has added, among other things, support for more efficient anti-aliasing modes like FXAA and SMAA in the ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead engine.

Modding[edit]

ARMA 2, like its predecessors, has an extensive support for modding the game. The developers have released a complete suite of tools to modify and create new content for ARMA 2.^[15] The Real Virtuality Engine includes a built-in scripting language to do tasks such as control AI characters, create triggers and waypoints, and add post-processing effects.

DayZ[edit]

In April 2012, Dean Hall released DayZ, an open worldsurvival horrormodification for ARMA 2 which also required the Operation Arrowhead standalone expansion pack to work. DayZ received much critical acclaim in the video gaming media for its 'innovative design elements', with Kotaku and Eurogamer describing it as possibly the best zombie game ever made,^[16][17] and PCGamer saying it was one of the most important things to happen to PC Gaming in 2012.^[18] The mod was responsible for putting the three-year-old game into the top seller charts for over seven weeks, spending much of this time the top selling game,^[19][20] and is responsible for over 300,000 unit sales within two months of its release.^[21]

Release[edit]

The demo version of ARMA 2 was released on Bohemia Interactive forums on 25 June 2009, and shortly thereafter on Steam. In the demo version, the player is given the possibility to play two single player missions as well as six of the eight training missions, with limited access to the mission editor. There is also access to a benchmark and limited online multiplayer.

Arma 2 uses different copy protections depending on publisher as well as a in-house coded copy protection solution against tampering known as DEGRADE.^[22] If the software detects that it was pirated, the DEGRADE-system degrades features of the game, rendering it unplayable. The version downloadable from Steam is not limited by number of installs, but other download services may utilize some limits. As of version 1.05 the publishers copy protection have been removed from ARMA 2 although DEGRADE is still included.

ARMA 2: Free[edit]

In June 2011 Bohemia Interactive released a free-to-play version of ARMA 2, featuring full multiplayer compatibility with the retail version of ARMA 2.^[6] However, the single-player campaign was omitted and players are not able to use high-resolution textures. In 2012, Steam removed ARMA 2: Free from its database. The service eventually was discontinued on 8 April 2014.^[23]

Expansions[edit]

Wikipedia Arma 3

ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead[edit]

On 22 April 2010, Bohemia Interactive confirmed that a standalone expansion pack for ARMA 2, titled Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead, would be released worldwide on 29 June 2010.^[30] According to the site, players will be able to play as members of the United States Army in a fictional region of west-Asia named Takistan,^[31] where the terrain is based on Afghanistan. Operation Arrowhead includes three new maps, a variety of new units, vehicles and equipment, as well as the eponymous campaign. Among the new units are a new array of United States Army personnel and vehicles, Czech forces and German KSK units. United Nations peacekeepers are also present as an independent faction.

Bohemia Interactive has so far released two downloadable content packs for Operation Arrowhead. The first DLC, titled British Armed Forces, adds units from the British Army, and a new mini-campaign, where players assume the role of a company from The Parachute Regiment operating in Takistan.^[32][33] The second DLC, titled Private Military Company, includes a new campaign, environment, vehicles and weapons.^[34] On 4 June 2012, a third DLC titled Army of the Czech Republic was announced.^[35]

Reception[edit]

ARMA 2 received generally positive reviews. The game has been praised for its realism, graphics, and the sheer scale of the game. However, as with the original Armed Assault, the game has received criticism for the number of bugs it contained on release^[37] and the quality of the AI.^[38] A reviewer at TheReticule.com ultimately felt that though at times it 'doesn't work', the game is 'a genuinely excellent game of the same pedigree of Operation Flashpoint and has done a lot of [sic] regain my faith in BIS'.^[39] Another reviewer noted that the game managed to show the 'job of a real soldier today: contact with the population', something that is lacking in other similar games^[40]The developers have since released several patches addressing common bugs. In PC Gamer´s leaderboard of top 100 greatest PC games of all time ArmA received 22nd place.^[41] The game was also awarded by PC Gamer as Most PC Game of the year.^[42] The reason was complexity, community, technical perfection and miracle of simulation.

British TV network ITV broadcast footage taken from the game in a documentary aired on 26 September 2011, entitled Exposure: Gaddafi and the IRA, mistaking it for footage taken of an IRA attack in 1988. The broadcaster apologised, blaming human error.^[43] A spokesperson for ITV commented on the error and said: 'The events featured in Exposure: Gaddafi and the IRA were genuine but it would appear that during the editing process the correct clip of the 1988 incident was not selected and other footage was mistakenly included in the film by producers. This was an unfortunate case of human error for which we apologise.'^[44]

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Sequel[edit]

ARMA 2: Firing Range is a standalone spin-off for mobile phones, released in 2011.^[45] It utilises augmented reality.^[46]

ARMA 3 is an open-world military tactical shooter video game developed by Czech studio Bohemia Interactive for Microsoft Windows. It was released on September 12, 2013. Set more than 25 years after the events of ARMA 2, in 2035, NATO forces are trying to hold off a massive enemy offensive from the east.^{[citation needed]}

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'ArmA II'. 505 Games.
2. ^'Hrej.cz'. Press release. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
3. ^'ARMA II in North America!'. MCV. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
4. ^ ^abFahey, Mike (23 June 2009). 'Got Game Bringing ArmA II Boxed Copies To North America'. Kotaku. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
5. ^'ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead on Steam'. Store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
6. ^ ^ab'Arma 2 free – ARMA 2 Official Website'. Arma2.com. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
7. ^Doskočil, Jan. 'Nástroj SteamSpy odtajňuje prodejnost her na Steamu'. Eurogamer.cz. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
8. ^http://www.gamepressure.com (9 October 2009). 'ArmA II Game Guide Campaign; Mission 2 Into the Storm'. Guides.gamepressure.com. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
9. ^'Arma 2 guide'. Gamepressure.
10. ^'Eagle Wing: Director's Cut'. Moricky. September 2009. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
11. ^Španěl, Marek (29 April 2009). 'ARMA 2 – The Name Tale'. Bohemia Interactive Studio. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
12. ^'Heavily overclocked system displaying 1500 agents in battle'. Youtube. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
13. ^'major update for entire ARMA 2 product range released'. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
14. ^'Beta-Patch'.
15. ^'ARMA II Editing Tools Released'. Bohemia Interactive. 14 August 2009. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
16. ^Plunket, Luke (9 May 2012). 'This Might be the Greatest Zombie Game Ever Made'. Kotaku. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
17. ^Smith, Quitin (25 May 2012). 'Day Z: The Best Zombie Game Ever Made?'. Eurogamer. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
18. ^Lahti, Evan (16 May 2012). 'Day Z interview — how zombies + Arma 2 created gaming's best story machine'. PCGamer. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
19. ^'Zombies help ageing title Arma II top video game charts'. BBC. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
20. ^Rose, Mike (18 May 2012). 'How a mod put three-year-old Arma 2 on top of Steam's charts'. Gamasutra. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
21. ^Usher, William (1 July 2012). 'DayZ Helps Arma 2 Rack Up More Than 300,000 In Sales'. Cinema Blend. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
22. ^'Interview: Bohemia Interactive's CEO on fighting piracy, creative DRM'. PC Gamer. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
23. ^Maiberg, Emanuel. 'Arma 2 Free closes down, Bohemia puts Arma 2 series on sale'. PC Gamer. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
24. ^'ArmA II: Operation Arrowhead – PC – IGN'. Pc.ign.com. 1 July 2010. Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
25. ^'ArmA II: Combined Operations – PC – GameSpy'. Pc.gamespy.com. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
26. ^Sam Naylor (26 August 2010). 'ARMA 2 DLC 'British Armed Forces' Released Today RipTen Videogame Blog'. Ripten.com. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
27. ^'Arma 2: Private Military Company Released'. Forums.bistudio.com. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
28. ^'News: ArmA II: Reinforcements releasing in April 1'. Strategy Informer. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
29. ^'Arma 2: Army of the Czech Republic released'. PC Gamer. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
30. ^'Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead arrives in June!'. Idea-games.com. 22 April 2010. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
31. ^'ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead Official Website'. Arma2.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
32. ^'British Armed Forces Features'. ARMA2. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
33. ^Naylor, Sam. 'ARMA 2 DLC 'British Armed Forces' Released Today'. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
34. ^'Arma 2: Private Military Company Features'. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
35. ^'Arma 2: Army of the Czech Republic DLC project announcement'. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
36. ^ ^abcd'ARMA 2 Reviews'. Metacritic. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
37. ^ ^abStone, Tim (17 June 2009). 'ARMA 2 Review'. Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
38. ^Shannon, Daniel (20 July 2009). 'ARMA II Review'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009. Buggy campaign is almost unbeatable; AI drivers should have their licenses revoked
39. ^Wild, Greg (10 June 2009). 'ArmA II – The Verdict'. The Reticule. Archived from the original on 13 June 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
40. ^Mandement, Laurent (6 August 2009). 'Test d'ArmA II sur PC'. Gamers.fr. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
41. ^'The PC Gamer Top 100 Greatest Games'.
42. ^http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/4883/pcgamer2010arma2.jpg
43. ^'BBC News – ITV documentary in IRA computer game blunder'. BBC. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
44. ^Crecente, Brian (27 September 2011). 'Idiot Documentarians Reveal 'Secret IRA Terrorism Footage'. It's a Video Game from 2009.[Update 2]'. Kotaku.
45. ^https://www.metacritic.com/game/ios/arma-2-firing-range
46. ^http://www.arma2.com/firing-range

External links[edit]

The Syrian Army, officially the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) (Arabic: الجيش العربي السوري‎, romanized: al-Jayš al-ʿArabī as-Sūrī), is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is the dominant military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the most senior posts in the armed forces, and has the greatest manpower, approximately 80 percent of the combined services. The Syrian Army originated in local military forces formed by the French after World War I, after France obtained a mandate over the region.^[5] It officially came into being in 1945, before Syria obtained full independence the following year.

Since 1946, it has played a major role in Syria's governance, mounting six military coups: two in 1949, including the March 1949 Syrian coup d'état and the August 1949 coup by Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi, and one each in 1954, 1963, 1966, and 1970. It has fought four wars with Israel (1948, the Six-Day War in 1967, the October War of 1973, and 1982 in Lebanon) and one with Jordan (Black September in Jordan, 1970). An armored division was also deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990–91 during the Persian Gulf War, but saw little action. From 1976 to 2005 it was the major pillar of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Internally, it played a major part in suppressing the 1979–82 Islamist uprising in Syria, and since early 2011 has been heavily engaged in fighting the Syrian Civil War, the most violent and prolonged war the Syrian Army has taken part in since its establishment in the 1940s.

• 1History
  • 1.2Syrian Civil War
• 3Structure in 2012
• 5Uniforms and rank insignia (1987)

History[edit]

In 1919, the French formed the Troupes spéciales du Levant as part of the Army of the Levant in the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. The former with 8,000 men later grew into both the Syrian and Lebanese armies. This force was used primarily as auxiliaries in support of French troops, and senior officer posts were held by Frenchmen, although Syrians were allowed to hold commissions below the rank of major.

As Syria gained independence in 1946, its leaders envisioned a division-sized army. On June 19, 1947, the Syrian Army took the survivors of Pan Am Flight 121 to the Presbyterian mission hospital at Deir ez-Zor. The 1st Brigade was ready by the time of the Syrian war against Israel on May 15, 1948. It consisted of two infantry battalions and one armored battalion. The 2nd Brigade was organized during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and also included two infantry battalions and one armored battalion.^[6]

At the time of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the army was small, poorly armed, and poorly trained. 'Paris had relied primarily on French regulars to keep the peace in Syria and had neglected indigenous forces. Consequently, training was lackadaisical, discipline lax, and staff work almost unheard of. .. there were about 12,000 men in the Syrian army. These troops were mostly grouped into three infantry brigades and an armored force of about battalion size' writes Pollack.^[7]

Between 1948 and 1967, a series of military coups destroyed the stability of the government and any remaining professionalism within the army. In March 1949, the chief of staff, General Husni al-Za'im, installed himself as president. Two more military dictators followed by December 1949. General Adib Shishakli then held power until deposed in the 1954 Syrian coup d'etat. Further coups followed, each attended by a purge of the officer corps to remove supporters of the losers from the force.^[8] 'Discipline in the army broke down across the board as units and their commanders pledged their allegiance to different groups and parties. Indeed, by the late 1950s, the situation had become so bad that Syrian officers regularly disobeyed the orders of superiors who belonged to different ethnic or political groups' writes Pollack.^[9] The 1963 Syrian coup d'état had as one of its key objectives the seizure of the Al-Kiswah military camp, home to the 70th Armored Brigade. There was another 1966 Syrian coup d'etat.

However, in 1967 the army did appear to have some strength. It had around 70,000 personnel, roughly 550 tanks and assault guns, 500 APCs, and nearly 300 artillery pieces.^[10] The army had sixteen brigades: twelve infantry, two armored (probably including the 70th Armored), and two mechanized. The Syrian government deployed twelve of the sixteen brigades to the Golan, including both armored brigades and one mechanized brigade. Three 'brigade groups', each comprising four brigades, were deployed: the 12th in the north, holding the sector from the B'nat Ya'acov bridge to the slopes of Mount Hermon, the 35th in the south from the B'nat Ya'acov bridge to the Yarmuk River border with Jordan, and the 42nd in reserve, earmarked for a theater-level counterattack role. During the Six-Day War Israeli assault of the Golan heights, the Syrian army failed to counterattack the Israelis as the Israelis breached the Syrian positions. While Syrian units fought hard whenever the Israelis entered their fields of fire, no attempts appear to have been made to exploit Israeli disorientation and confusion during the initial assault.^[11]

Judging from reports of 1967–1970, including the reporting of the 5th Infantry Division in 1970, the Army appears to have formed its first divisions during this period. The 1st and 3rd Armored Division, and 5th, 7th, and 9th Mechanized Infantry Divisions were all formed prior to 1973.^[12] Samuel M. Katz writes that after Hafez al-Assad gained power in November 1970, the army expanded to the five divisions listed above, plus ten independent brigades, an artillery rocket brigade (the 69th), and 'a reinforced brigade variously termed the 70th Armored Brigade or the Assad Republican Guard. It is today known as the Armored Defense Force; as Assad's praetorian guard it is stationed in and around Damascus and subordinate to the Defense Companies under the command of Assad's brother Rifa'at.'^[13]

1970–2010[edit]

On 18 September 1970, the Syrian government became involved in Black September in Jordan when it sent a reinforced armored brigade to aid the Palestine Liberation Organization.^[14] Syrian armored units crossed the border and overran Irbid with the help of local Palestinian forces. They encountered several Jordanian Army detachments, but rebuffed them without major difficulty. Two days later, the 5th Infantry Division, heavily reinforced, was also sent into Jordan. Two armored brigades were attached to the division, bringing its tank strength up to over 300 T-55s and its manpower to over 16,000. The division entered Jordan at ar-Ramtha, destroyed a company of Jordanian Centurion tanks there, and continued directly towards Amman. Pollack says it is likely that they intended to overthrow the Jordanian monarchy itself. Despite defeating the Jordanian Army at al-Ramtha on 21 September, after fierce air attacks on 22 September, the Syrians stopped the attack and began to retreat.

After 1970 further Syrian engagements included:

• Yom Kippur War against Israel^[15]
• Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), (against Lebanese militias, the PLO and Israel)

The Syrian armed forces have also been involved in suppressing dissident movements within Syria, for example the Islamist uprising in Syria in 1979–1982. In March 1980 the 3rd Armored Division and detachments from the Defense Companies arrived in Aleppo. The division was under the command of General Shafiq Fayadh, Hafiz Assad's first cousin. The troops sealed 'off whole quarters and carr[ied] out house-to-house searches, often preceded by tank fire.'^[16] Hundreds of suspects were rounded up. Only two conventional Army brigades deployed to Hama in 1982, the 3rd Armored Division’s 47th Armored and 21st Mechanized Brigades. Three quarters of the officers and one third of the soldiers in the two brigades were Alawites.^[17] Most of the repression was carried out by the Defense Companies and the Special Forces. Meanwhile, the Special Forces were isolating and combing through Hama, killing and capturing suspected government opponents.^[18]

Syrian forces fought Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War.

In 1984, Major General Ali Haidar's Special Forces were instrumental in blocking an abortive attempt by Rifaat Assad and his Defense Companies to seize the capital.^[19] Fayadh's 3rd Armored Division moved into the capital to join Haidar's forces in the confrontation with the Defense Companies. The 3rd Armored Division, it seems, had historically been based at al-Qutayfah, near Damascus.^[20]

Bennett dates the establishment of corps in the Syrian Army to 1985. Writing forty years later, Tom Cooper says they were established 'during the 1980s' but '.despite the establishment of. corps. most division commanders continued reporting directly to the President. Correspondingly, not only the Chief of Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces but also the Corps HQ exercised only a limited operational control over the Army's divisions.'^[21]

The 9th Armored Division served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War as the Arab Joint Forces Command North reserve and saw little action.^[22]

In 1994, Haidar expressed objections to the Syrian president's decision to bring Bashar home from his studies in Britain and groom him for the succession after the death of Basil, the eldest Assad son.^[19] Soon afterwards, on 3 September 1994, Jane's Defence Weekly reported that then-President Hafez Assad had dismissed at least 16 senior military commanders. Among them was Haidar, then commander of the Special Forces, and General Shafiq Fayadh, a cousin of the President who had commanded the 'crack' 3rd Armored Division for nearly two decades. The 3rd Armored Division was 'deployed around Damascus.' JDW commented that 'the Special Forces and the 3rd Armored Division, along with the 1st Armored Division are key elements in the security structure that protects Assad's government. Any command changes involving those formations have considerable political significance.' Post-uprising reporting indicated the 1st Armored Division had historically been at al-Kiswah.^[20]

On 29 September 2004, Jane's Defence Weekly reported that Syria had begun to redeploy elements of one or more Syrian Army special forces regiments based in the coastal hills a few kilometres south of Beirut in Lebanon. A senior Lebanese Army officer told JDW that the 3,000 troops involved would return to Syria.^[23]

Cordesman wrote that in 2006 the Syrian Army had 'organized two corps that reported to the Land Forces General Staff and the Commander of the Land Force.'

In 2009 and 2010, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the Syrian army comprised 220,000 regular personnel, and the entire armed forces (including the navy, air force and air defenses) had 325,000 regular troops.^[24] Additionally, it had about 290,000 reservists.^[24][25][26]

In 2013, Agence France Press wrote on 'Syria's diminished security forces.'^[25]

Syrian Civil War[edit]

Defections[edit]

At October 1, 2011, according to high-ranking defected Syrian Colonel Riad Assaad, 10,000 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, had deserted the Syrian Army.^[27]Some of these defectors had formed the Free Syrian Army, engaging in combat with security forces and soldiers in what would turn into the Syrian Civil War.

At 16 November 2011, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, however estimated that less than 1,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian Army; at the same moment, an FSA battalion commander claimed that the FSA embraced 25,000 army deserters.^[28] Also in November 2011, the Free Syrian Army or the website of France 24 estimated the Syrian Army at 200,000 troops.^[29] According to General Mustafa al-Sheikh, one of the most senior defectors, however, in January 2012 the Syrian forces were estimated at 280,000 including conscripts.^[30]

By March 15, 2012, many more soldiers, unhappy with crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters, switched sides and a Turkish official said that 60,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian army, including 20,000 since February 20. It was added that most of the deserters were junior officers and soldiers.^[31] By 5 July 2012, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated 'tens of thousands' soldiers to have defected.^[26] By August 2012, 40 Brigadier generals from the Army had defected to the opposition army, out of a total of 1,200 generals.^[32]

On June 14, 2013, 73 Syrian Army officers and their families, some 202 people in total, sought refuge in Turkey. Amongst their number were seven generals and 20 colonels.^[33]

By August 2013, the strength of the Syrian army had, compared with 2010, roughly been cut in half, due to defections, desertions and casualties, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London: it now counted 110,000 troops.^[25]

Strength impaired[edit]

Up until July 2012, the scale of defections from the Syrian Army, though hard to quantify, was too small to make an impact on the strength of that army, according to Aram Nerguizian from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.^[26] Strategically important units of the Syrian armed forces are always controlled by Alawite officers; defecting soldiers – by July 2012 'tens of thousands' according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights – are mainly Sunni without access to vital command and control, Nerguizian said.^[26]

Analyst Joseph Holliday wrote in 2013 that 'the Assad government has from the beginning of the conflict been unable to mobilize all of its forces without risking largescale defections. The single greatest liability that the Assad regime has faced in employing its forces has been the challenge of relying on units to carry out orders to brutalize the opposition.'^[34] This has resulted in Bashar's following his father's precedent by attaching regular army units to more reliable forces (Special Forces, Republican Guard, or 4th Armored Division). When Hafez al-Assad directed the suppression of revolts in Hama in 1982, this technique was also used.

The Syrian Arab Army suffers from serious recruitment issues as the Syrian Civil War drags on, with military age men across sectarian lines no longer willing to join or serve their conscription terms. These issues are especially notable among the Druze population, who have clashed with regime security forces and broken Druze youths out of regime imprisonment to avoid them serving in the army.^[35] Increasingly, Assad's Alawite base of support refuse to send their sons to the military due to massive casualty rates among military age men in their community; a third of 250,000 Alawite men of fighting age have been killed in the Syrian Civil War, leading to major tensions between the sect and the Assad regime.^[36]

As of mid-2018, then-Israeli Defence MinisterAvigdor Lieberman said that the Syrian Arab Army had regained its pre-2011 strength levels, recovering from manpower shortages earlier in the Syrian Civil War.^[37]

Roles of 3rd, 11th, 17th and 18th Divisions[edit]

The 3rd Armored Division has deployed elements of three brigades from its bases around Qutayfah to Deraa, Zabadani, and Hama, while the 11th Armored Division has stayed close to its bases in Homs and Hama.^[38]

The European Council named Major General Wajih Mahmud as commander of the 18th Armored Division in the Official Journal of the European Union on 15 November 2011, sanctioning him for violence committed in Homs.^[39] Henry Boyd of the IISS noted that 'in Homs, the 18th Armored Division was reinforced by Special Forces units and .. by elements of the 4th Division under Maher's de facto command.'^[40]

Information from Holliday 2013 suggests that the reserve armored division is the 17th (rather than any other designation), which was responsible for eastern Syria.^[41] The division's 93rd Brigade left Idlib to secure Raqqa Governorate in early 2012.^[42] Following the reported capture of Raqqa on 3–6 March 2013, elements of the 17th Division remained under siege to the north of the city in October 2013.^[43]

Relationship with National Defense Force[edit]

The National Defense Force is under the control and supervision of the Syrian Army^[44] and acts in an infantry role, directly fighting against rebels on the ground and running counter-insurgency operations in co-ordination with the army which provides them logistical and artillery support.

Struggling with reliability issues and defections, officers of the SAA increasingly prefer the part-time volunteers of the NDF, who they regard as more motivated and loyal, over regular army conscripts to conduct infantry operations and act as support for advancing tanks.^[45]

An officer in Homs, who asked not to be identified, said the army was increasingly playing a logistical and directive role, while NDF fighters act as combatants on the ground.^[46]

In October 2015 the 4th Assault Army Corps (Arabic: 4 فيلق اقتحام) was established in the northeast.^[47] The NDF continues to play a significant role in military operations across Syria despite the formation of other elite units, many of which receive direct assistance from Russia.

Structure in 2001[edit]

Richard Bennett wrote in 2001 that 'three corps [were] formed in 1985 to give the Army more flexibility and to improve combat efficiency by decentralizing the command structure, absorbing at least some of the lessons learned during the Israeli invasion of the Lebanon in 1982.'^[48] The organization and military doctrine of the army followed the Soviet model.^[49]

Arma Wikipedia

Richard Bennett's estimate of the 2001 order of battle was:

• 1st Corps HQ Damascus, which covered from Golan Heights, the fortified zone and south to Der'a near the Jordanian border.
  • 5th Armored Division, which included the 17th and 96th Armored Brigades and the 112th Mechanized Brigade
  • 6th Armored Division, with the 12th and 98th Armored Brigades and the 11th Mechanized Brigades
  • 7th Mechanized Division, with the 58th and 68th Armored Brigades and the 78th Mechanized Brigade
  • 8th Armored Division, which included the 62nd and 65th Armored Brigades and the 32nd Mechanized Brigade
  • 9th Armored Division, with the 43rd and 91st Armored Brigades and the 52nd Mechanized Brigade.

Bennett said the 1st Corps also [had] four independent special forces regiments, including two trained for heliborne commando operations against the Israeli signals intelligence & observation posts on Mount Hermon and elsewhere in the Golan Heights.

• 2nd Corps (Syria) HQ Zabadani, covers north of Damascus, to Homs and includes Lebanon.
  • Bennett said in 2001 that the corps' principal units were believed to include:
  • 1st Armored Division, with the 44th and 46th Armored Brigades and the 42nd Mechanized Brigade
  • 3rd Armored Division, with the 47th and 82nd Armored Brigades and the 132nd Mechanized Brigade
  • 11th Armored Division, with the 60th and 67th Armored Brigades and the 87th Mechanized Brigade
  • 4th Mechanized Division with the 1st Armored Brigade and the 61st and 89th Mechanized Brigades
  • 10th Mechanized Division, headquartered in Shtoura, Lebanon. Its main units [were in 2001] deployed to control the strategic Beirut-Damascus highway with the 123rd Mechanized Brigade near Yanta, the 51st Armored Brigade near Zahle in the Beqaa Valley and the 85th Armored Brigade, deployed around the complex of positions at Dahr al-Baidar.
  • three other heavy brigades from the 3rd and 11th Armored Divisions [were] known to be regularly deployed to eastern Lebanon.
  • there [were] five special forces regiments in the Lebanon.
• 3rd Corps HQ Aleppo, based in the north and covered Hama, the Turkish and Iraqi borders, the Mediterranean coastline and was tasked with protecting the complex of chemical and biological warfare and missile production and launch facilities.
  • The 2nd Reserve Armored Division, with the 14th and 15th Armored Brigades and the 19th Mechanized Brigade. The 2nd [was] also believed to operate as the main armored forces training formation. It seems likely that the '2nd' designation, reported in 2001, was incorrect, as it has not been reported during the Syrian Civil War.
  • Other units under the control of this corps included four independent infantry brigades, one border guard brigade, one independent armored regiment, effectively a brigade group, and one special forces regiment.
  • the Coastal Defense Brigade, which [operated] largely as an independent unit within the 3rd Corps area, [was] headquartered in the naval base of Latakia with four Coastal Defense Battalions in Latakia, Banias, Hamidieh and Tartous. Each Battalion has four batteries of both the short range SSC-3 Styx and long range SSC-1B Sepal missile systems.

The IISS listed smaller formations in 2006 as:^[50]

• Four independent InfantryBrigades
• Ten independent Airborne Special Forces Regiments (Seven regiments attached to 2nd Corps)
• Two independent ArtilleryBrigades
• Two independent Anti-tank Brigades
• Surface-to-surface Missile Command with three SSMBrigades (each with three SSM battalions),
  • One brigade with FROG-7,
  • One brigade with Scud-B/C/D.
  • One brigade with SS-21 Scarab,
• Three coastal defense missile brigades
  • One brigade with 4 SS-C-1B Sepal launchers,
  • One brigade with 6 P-15 Termit launchers, alternative designation SS-C-3 'Styx'
  • One brigade with 6+ P-800 Oniks launchers,
• One Border GuardBrigade

Protecting Damascus:

• 4th Mechanized Division (The Defense companies were transformed into the armored division equivalent Unit 569, which in 1984 became the 4th Armored Division.)^[51]
• The Republican Guard Armored Division, with three Armored brigades, one Mechanized brigade, and one artillery regiment.

Structure in 2012[edit]

According to Joseph Holliday, as of February 2013 the order of battle (at full strength) was:^[52]

• 3 Corps (Falaq): 50,000 men in 3–4 divisions
• 14 Divisions (Firqa): 5,000–15,000 men in 5–6 brigades/regiments each
• More than 40 Brigades (Liwa): 2,500–3,500 men in 5–6 battalions (1–3 armored/mechanized + artillery/ADA/engineers) each
  • Mechanized:
    • 105 IFVs in 3 mechanized battalions
    • 41 Tanks in 1 armored battalion
    • 3,500 soldiers
  • Armored:
    • 105 Tanks in 3 armored battalions
    • 31 IFVs in 1 mechanized battalion
    • 2,500 soldiers
• More than 20 Regiments (Fawj): 1,500 men
  • Light Infantry: 1,500 soldiers in 3 infantry battalions
  • Artillery: 45 howitzers and 1,500 soldiers in 3 artillery battalions
• Battalion (Katiba): 300–500 men in 4–5 companies
• Company (Sariya): 60–80 men

Units reporting to the Chief of Staff[edit]

• Republican Guard
  • Lionesses of Defense Armored Battalion (as of 2015)
  • 100th Artillery Regiment (equipped with 122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30) howitzers and BM-21 'Grad' rocket launchers, is able to repel any attack by enemy forces in the city and its suburbs.)
  • 101st and 102nd Infantry 'Security' Regiments (whose task is to provide security to the President, government ministers, senior government officials and the Army headquarters and other government institutions)
  • 102nd Commando Regiment^[53]
  • 103rd Commando Brigade
    • Marine Regiment (Fouj Al-Mughawayr Al-Bahar). Established in February 2016, during the Latakia offensive (2015–2016).^[54]
  • 104th Airborne Brigade
  • 105th Mechanized Brigade
  • 106th Mechanized Brigade
  • 124th Special Forces Brigade
  • 800th Regiment^[55]
  • 30th Division^[56]
  • Popular Security and Support Forces^[57]
• 4th Armoured Division
  • 40th Armored Brigade
  • 41st Armored Brigade
  • 42nd Armored Brigade
  • 138th Mechanized Brigade
  • 154th Artillery Regiment
  • 555th Special Forces (Airborne) Regiment
  • Protective Lions (Commandos), formed in May 2014.^[58]
• Special Forces Command^[59]

Note: 'Special Forces' in the Syrian Arab Army denotes specialized 'light' infantry (airborne, air assault) and are 'elite' only in relation to the conventional mechanized, armored units of the SAA. Special Forces units include the: 41st, 45th, 46th, 47th, 53rd and 54th independent special forces regiments. Special Forces were heavily used from the early stage of the Syrian Civil War and as a result suffered heavy casualties, possibly up to three regiments (41st, 46th, 54th) may have been destroyed during the Syrian Civil War, the surviving three regiments were merged to other formations such as the Republican Guard, Tiger Forces and 4th Corps.^[60]

• 14th Special Forces Division
  • 36th, 554th and 556th Special Forces Regiments
• 15th Special Forces Division
  • 35th and 127 Special Forces Regiments
  • 404th Armored Regiment

Special Forces units formed during the Syrian Civil War

• Tiger Forces Division
  • Cheetah Forces Brigade
    • Cheetah Forces Team 3
    • Cheetah Forces Team 6
  • Panther Forces Brigade
• Desert Hawks Brigade (Liwa Suqur al-Sahara). Formed in 2013, disbanded in 2017.

1st Corps[edit]

• 5th Mechanized Division
  • 112th, 132nd and 15th Mechanized Brigades
  • 12th Armored Brigade
  • 175th Artillery Regiment
• 6th Armoured Division (Syria)
• 7th Mechanized Division
  • 68th, 121st and 88th Mechanized Brigades
  • 78th Armored Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment
• 8th Armoured Division (Syria)
• 9th Armored Division
  • 33rd, 34th and 43rd Armored Brigades
  • 52nd Mechanized Brigade. The 52nd Armored Brigade was reported in Der'aa in southern Syria in May 2013.^[61]
  • 90th Brigade^[62]
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment

In addition the 1st Corps included the 61st and 90th independent Infantry Brigades.

2nd Corps[edit]

• 1st Armored Division
  • 76th, 91st and 153rd Armored Brigades
  • 58th Mechanized Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment
• 10th Mechanized Division
  • 85th, 62nd and 18th Mechanized brigades
  • 56th Armored Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment

3rd Corps[edit]

• 3rd Armored Division
  • 47th, 65th and 81st Armored Brigade
  • 21st Mechanized Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment (both 67th and 123rd Artillery Regiments listed with the division in 2011 by Cooper 2015.)^[63]
• 11th Armored Division – involved in Abu al-Duhur and Second Siege of Wadi Deif
  • 60th, 67th and an unspecified Armored Brigade
  • 87th Mechanized Brigade
  • (an unspecified) Artillery Regiment (89th Artillery Regt listed with the division by Cooper 2015.)^[63]

On February 24, 2016, abna24.com reported that 'Last Spring, the Syrian Arab Army's 87th Brigade of 11th Tank Division began their massive retreat across the Idlib Governorate, conceding the provincial capital and the strategic cities of Ariha and Jisr Al-Shughour to Jaysh Al-Fateh (the Army of Conquest) en route to their embarrassing exit from this province in northern Syria.'^[64]

Other divisions in the north and northeast included the 17th Division (HQ Dayr az-Zawyr)and the 18th Armoured Division (HQ Aleppo), nominally independent but supervised by the 3rd Corps.^[65]

4th Corps[edit]

Two new corps have been established since the civil war began in 2011. The '4th Corps', '4th Assault Corps',^[66] or '4th Volunteer Assault Corps',^[67] , also called the Fourth Legion - Assault ^[68]is a new formation of the Syrian Army, organized with Russian help since 2015. The original plan for the 4th Corps was to reorganize the weakened regular army units as well as irregular pro-government militias,^[69] including some National Defence Forces (NDF) units,^[70] in the governorates of Latakia as well as Tartus, and on the al-Ghab Plain. These forces would be trained, organized and armed by the Russian Armed Forces, so that they could become 'special' ground forces which would retake northernwestern Syria with Russian air support.^[71]

When the 4th Corps was subsequently organized in summer and fall 2015, forces of widely different origins were included: Among these were the 103rd Republican Guard Brigade which would serve as HQ for the new corps,^[67] along with troops drawn from the 3rd and 4th Divisions, as well as Ba'ath Party, NDF, and Alawite militias.^[66][67] The Alawite fighters were organized into 12 units which fought under the joint command of Russian, Syrian, and Iranian officers.^[72][69] The remained was grouped into four 'volunteer brigades',^[67] while several smaller Russian units were assigned to it in a support role.^[66] Directly paid by the Republican Guard and the government,^[69] the 4th Corps was described by Carnegie Middle East Center's expert Kheder Khaddour a formation that 'blends army and militia forces'.^[72]

Although the 4th Corps' initial operations such as during the 2015–16 Latakia offensive and Northwestern Syria offensive (October–November 2015)^[67][66][73] were relatively successful, the inclusion of more militias into the corps remained elusive. This was probably due to the fact that Iran remained unwilling to allow Syrian units under its control to be integrated to a primarily Russian-led formation, while many militias generally resisted any attempts to reduce their autonomy by including them in the 4th Corps.^[70][66] As result, the 4th Corps remained mostly limited to Latakia, where it continues to be active. As its performance during the 2016 Latakia offensive was lacking, however, its overall commander Maj. Gen. Shuqi Yusuf was dismissed in July 2016.^[67][66][74] Overall, the 4th Corps did not 'live up to Moscow's expectations' and its Syrian commanders 'demonstrated poor performance', despite the fact that the corps had actually succeeded in reforming the included militias into a 'disciplined, organized military force'.^[66]

Gregory Waters wrote via Twitter in November 2017 that '.the 6th Division [was] one of two divisions created under the Russian-built 4th Corps back in 2015. The 4th Corps project largely failed & the 6th & 2nd Divisions have remained in Latakia since.'^[75]

5th Corps[edit]

Fifth Attack Troop Corps, also called the Fifth Legion ^[76], is an all-volunteer force, part of Syrian Army involved in the Syrian Civil War fighting against the Syrian opposition, Al-Qaeda in Syria, and ISIS.^[77] The task of the corps is 'eliminating terrorism' and was formed 'in response to the rapid development of events, to support the successes of armed forces and to meet people's wishes to put an end to terrorist acts in the Syrian Arab Republic,' according to the statement announced on 22 November 2016 by the General Command of the Armed Forces of Syria.^[78] The Fifth Corps of Volunteers will recruit from over age 18 from across the country 'not already eligible for military service or deserters'.^[79][80][81]

According to Abdullah Soleiman Ali in al-Safir paper, formation of 'Fifth Attack Troop Corps' is the apex point of cooperation among members of Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition.^[82] 5th Corps soldiers are trained, equipped and advised by Russian military personnel since their intervention in 2015.^[83] Most main battle tanks of the 5th Assault Corps are modernized Soviet tanks, including the T-62M and T-72B3.^[83]

The 5th Corps unit, The Ba'ath Legion, was formed from Ba'ath Brigades volunteers.^[84] According to the Russian International Affairs Council, the Qalamoun Shield Forces also joined the Fifth Corps, though no other sources confirmed this.^[85]

In February 2018, 20 members^[86] of the ISIS Hunters (a 5th Corps subunit)^[87] died in a US airstrike.^[88][89]

Military equipment in April 2011 (including storage)[edit]

The vast majority of Syrian military equipment was Soviet manufactured.^[90]

• ≈ 9,300 Armoured fighting vehicles (including in storage):
  • ≈ 5,065 Main battle tanks
  • ≈ 4,500 Infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers
• ≈ 6,400 Towed artillery pieces:
  • 1,900+ Guns/howitzers
  • ≈ 1,500 Anti-aircraft guns
• ≈ 850 Self-propelled artillery pieces:
  • ≈ 450 Self-propelled howitzers
  • ≈ 400 Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns
• 2,190+ Anti-tank guided weapon launchers
• 500 Multiple launch rocket systems
  • 84 Tactical ballistic missile launchers
• 4,235+ Surface-to-air missile launchers:
  • 4,000+ MANPADS
  • 235 Self-propelled air-defense systems

Uniforms and rank insignia (1987)[edit]

Uniforms and personnel equipment[edit]

Service uniforms for Syrian officers generally follow the British Army style, although army combat clothing follows the Soviet model.^[91] Each uniform has two coats: a long one for dress and a short jacket for informal wear. Army officer uniforms are khaki in summer, olive in winter. Certain Army (paratroops and special forces) and Air Defense Force personnel may wear camouflage uniforms. Among the camouflage are Red Lizard, and Syrian Leaf pattern; a locally-made copy of the ERDL. Officers have a variety of headgear, including a service cap, garrison cap, and beret (linen in summer and wool in winter). The color of the beret varies according to the officer's unit. The most common beret color is black, for infantry, Engineering, Signals and supporting arms personnel, followed by Green, for Armored, Mechanized and Artillery personnel, Red for the Republican Guard and Military Police, and Maroon for the Special Forces.

In 2011, the standard issue combat helmets were the olive Chinese QGF-02, and the Soviet SSh-68 for the reserve forces.^[58][92] Both of them can be equipped with the 'Syrian Leaf' camouflage helmet covers. The Republican Guard and Special Forces were the only units equipped with TAT-BA-7 bullet-proof vests.^[58] With the late 2015 arrival of Russian military advisors, many army units were equipped with new Russian 6B45 ballistic bullet-proof vests and Kevlar 6B7 helmets.^[58]

Ranks[edit]

Commissioned officers' rank insignia are identical for the army and air force. These are gold on a bright green or black shoulder board for the army and gold on a bright blue board for the air force. Officer ranks are standard, although the highest is the equivalent of Colonel General, a rank held in 1986 only by the commander in chief and the minister of defense. Navy officer rank insignia are gold stripes worn on the lower sleeve. The highest-ranking officer in Syria's navy is the equivalent of lieutenant general. Army and air force rank for warrant officers is indicated by gold stars on an olive green shield worn on the upper left arm. Lower noncommissioned ranks are indicated by upright and inverted chevrons worn on the upper left arm.^[91]

Awards[edit]

Although some twenty-five orders and medals are authorized, generally only senior officers and warrant officers wear medal ribbons. The following are some important Syrian awards: Order of Umayyad, Medal of Military Honor, the War Medal, Medal for Courage, Yarmuk Medal, Wounded in Action Medal, and Medal of March 8, 1963.^[91]

Anniversary[edit]

August 1 is nationally considered Army Day. In 2013, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited soldiers in Darayya. He gave the army a message saying he was sure of victory over the rebels.^[93]

Notes[edit]

This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/.

1. ^Syria News 1 August 2013, President Bashar Al-Assad visits soldiers to mark Army Day and pledge victory. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2015-10-12 – via YouTube.
2. ^IISS 2019, p. 368.
3. ^'The World Factbook'. cia.gov. Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
4. ^'CIA World Factbook'. CIA. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
5. ^Pollack 2002, p. 447.
6. ^Morris, Benny (2008), 1948: A History of the First Arab–Israeli War, p. 251. Yale University Press. ISBN978-0-300-15112-1.
7. ^Pollack 2002, p. 448.
8. ^Pollack 2002, p. 457–458.
9. ^Pollack 2002, p. 458.
10. ^Pollack 2002, p. 459–460.
11. ^Pollack 2002, p. 464.
12. ^Hanna Batatu (1999). Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics. Princeton University Press. p. 228. ISBN978-0-691-00254-5. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
13. ^Samuel M. Katz, Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars, Osprey Publishing Men-at-Arms 194, 1988, 13.
14. ^Pollack 2002, p. 476–478.
15. ^An order of battle of the Syrian Army in October 1973 can be found in Colonel Trevor Dupuy, Elusive Victory: The Arab–Israeli Wars 1947–74, MacDonald and Jane's, London, 1978
16. ^Patrick Seale, Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East (London: I.B. Tauris & Co, 1988), p.327, via Holliday 2013, 12.
17. ^Nikolaos van Dam, The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society under Asad and the Ba'th Party, (New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2011), p.114, via Holliday 2013, 12.
18. ^van Dam, 2011, p.104, via Holliday 2013.
19. ^ ^ab'Syria's Praetorian Guards: A Primer'. Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. Vol. 2 No. 7 (5 August 2000). Archived from the original on 2012-07-04. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
20. ^ ^ab'Is the Syrian Army Falling Apart?'. matthewaid.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
21. ^Cooper 2015, p. 13.
22. ^Norman Schwarzkopf, It Doesn't Take A Hero, Bantam Books, 1993, 467–69.
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References[edit]

• Richard M. Bennett, The Syrian Military: A Primer, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, August/September 2001.
• Cooper, Tom (2015). Syrian Conflagration: The Civil War 2011-2013. Middle East@War Volume 1. Helion & Co. ISBN978-1-910294-10-9.[1]
• Joseph Holliday, 'The Assad Regime: From Counterinsurgency to Civil War,' Institute for the Study of War, March 2013. The best concise description and analysis of the Syrian Army and its involvement in the current Syrian Civil War until Cooper 2015.
• International Institute for Strategic Studies (2019). The Military Balance 2019. London: Routledge. doi:10.1080/04597222.2018.1561033. ISSN1479-9022.
• Pollack, Kenneth M. (2002). Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948–91. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press. Reviewed in Brooks, Risa A. 'Making Military Might: Why Do States Fail and Succeed? A Review Essay.' International Security 28, no. 2 (Fall 2003): 149-191.

Further reading[edit]

• Department of the Army, Area Handbook for Syria, Washington, For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1965, 'Department of the Army pamphlet no. 550-47.' Revision of the 1958 edition.
• Pesach Melovany, Out of the North an Evil shall break forth, Tel-Aviv: Contento de Semrik, 2014.
• Hicham Bou Nassif, 'Second Class: the Grievances of Sunni Officers in the Syrian Armed Forces'
• History of the Syrian Arab Army: Prussianization of the Arab Army, the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918, and the cult of nationalization of Arabs in the Levant after World War I, Infantry Magazine, Nov-Dec 2005.
• General Mustafa Tlas (ed.), History of the Syrian Arab Army/Al-Tareekh Al-Jaish Al-Arabi Al-Soori, Volume 1: 1901–1948, Center for Military Studies. Damascus, 2000. Volume 1 is 568 pages long and covers the Arab Revolt, the short-lived monarchy under King Feisal bin Hussein, the French Mandate, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and finally Syrian independence in 1949.

External links[edit]