Syrian Arab Navy (Ba'athist Syria)

During the Yom Kippur War on 6–7 October 1973, the Syrian Arab Navy engaged for the first time in naval battle with Israeli ships in the Latakia area. It was the first battle in history in which both sides used sea-to-sea missile boats in combat.^[5]

The Israeli Navy had five missile boats launched from the port of Haifa towards the main positions of the Syrian fleet off the coast of Latakia. At first, the Israeli fleet encountered a small reconnaissance boat, and immediately sank it. Then the ships reached a naval minesweeper, which they attacked and immediately downed.^[6]

When the Israeli fleet advanced, it found the main forces of the Syrian fleet, the strongest and most modern militarily, which consisted of three missile boats (two Komar-class missile boats along with an Osa I-class missile boat, a K-123 torpedo boat and a T43-class minesweeper).^[7]

The Syrian boats launched their missiles from a long range that the Israeli ships could not launch from. However, the Israeli fleet had an anti-missile system that could mislead its radars and keep them away from their targets. In real combat however, they succeeded completely and all the missiles missed the target. As a result of the battle, all five Syrian ships participating in it were sunk, the Israelis did not suffer any losses.^[8]

On 29 August 1989, a Syrian missile boat sank the Maltese tanker Sunshield, which attempted to enter the prohibited zone.^[9]

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.^[10] But the government denied that the city was bombed by sea.^[11]

In general, the Syrian Arab Navy did not have any modern equipment or weapons until 2006 (except for the OSA I and II anti-ship missile boats), in addition to its modest numbers of recruits compared to the 150-kilometre long Syrian coast. But since 2006, Russia and Iran began providing Syria with advanced weapons, providing it with heavy, short-range land-sea missiles, which are less expensive and more effective in battles than expensive torpedoes and boats, which are easily endangered during sea battles.^[12]

Among the types of missiles that Iran and Russia supplied to the Syrian Navy are the Styx anti-ship missiles, intended for use in close-range missile engagement with battleships and warships. In recent years, they have also acquired an unknown number of Sepal missiles, and their possession was not known until they appeared in modern combat tests of the Syrian Arab Army in late 2011.^[13]

The Syrian Navy also has a third type of missile, the Russian-made Yakhont missiles, which Syria purchased from Russia in a military deal in late 2011.^[14] These are long-range missiles that have given Syria a strategic military advantage at the Eastern Mediterranean.^[12] As for the fourth type of missiles supplied to the Syrian Navy, it was the C-802 anti-ship missile of Chinese origin, which is believed to have been supplied to Syria by Iran.^[15]

Prior to the fall of Damascus in 2024, the Syrian Navy had hoped to receive two Amur-1650 class submarines from Russia. In 2015 a group of Syrian military officials arrived in Moscow to discuss prospects for bilateral military and technical cooperation, including the pair of submarines.^[16] The Project-677 or Lada-class diesel submarine, whose export version is known as the Amur 1650, features a new anti-sonar coating for its hull, an extended cruising range, and advanced anti-ship and anti-submarine weaponry.

In late 2024, after the fall of the government of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War, the Israeli Navy attacked Syrian ships berthed at the Port of Latakia, sinking six OSA II-class missile boats.^[17][18]

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Syrian Navy[19] v t e
	فريق Fariq		عماد أول‎‎ Eimad 'awal		عماد Eimad		لواء Alliwa'		عميد Amid		عقيد Aqid		مقدم Muqaddam		رائد Ra'id		نقيب Naqib		ملازم أول Mulazim awwal			ملازم Mulazim

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Syrian Navy v t e																																			No insignia
	مساعد أول Musaeid 'awal			مساعد ثاني Musaeid thani			مساعد Musaeid		رقيب أول Raqib 'awal		رقيب ثاني Raqib thani						رقيب Raqīb						عريف Earif						جندي أول Jundiun‎‎ 'awal						جندي Jundiun‎‎

The number of recruits for the Syrian Arab Navy reached 4,000 soldiers and 2,500 reservists since the year 1985, and this number did not change in the census in 2002. The proportion of navy personnel from the total number of recruits Syrian Arab Army was 1.4% in the year 1993.^[20] This rose to 1.9% of the total armed forces personnel in the year 2000.^[21]

The Syrian Arab Navy consisted of the navy, coastal defense and naval aviation forces.

The Syrian Marines followed the forces of naval infantry, consisting of about 1,500 conscripts, whose primary role was to protect the three military naval bases in the country, which are divided into three units, each of which was to protect one of the bases. These Marines had three amphibious assault ships, each of which can carry 100 soldiers and five tanks.

In general, the Syrian Marine Corps did not receive any special or advanced armament and very little training in the use of amphibious ships, and in general its recruits are only ordinary soldiers and do not have any experience in the ways of fighting as Marines. Although the Soviet Union set up part of Exercise Zapad-81 (the largest military training exercise ever in the entire history of the Soviet Union, and included the largest amphibious landing operation in its history as well), the Syrian soldiers did not participate.

The marines did not participate in any real amphibious naval landing during any of the wars Syria was involved in. Instead, they were used as infantry with a direct ground clash in the Yom Kippur War and in the Lebanon Civil War. During the first Gulf War, as part of the Coalition of the Gulf War, Syria sent marines as a component of its 17,000 soldier contribution, which may mean that it considers them highly experienced soldiers.^[16]

The Syrian Coastal Defense Forces were placed under the command of the Syrian Arab Navy since 1984. The coastal defense consists of brigade infantry, each of which was responsible for monitoring a specific coastal sector, and in addition to them, there was a battalion that monitors. In addition to these forces, there are two artillery battalions armed with 18 artillery pieces, 130 mm caliber M-46.^[22] The Syrian coastal defense was also armed with Styx, Sepal, YJ-83 and P-800 Oniks missiles, as well as K-300P Bastion-P coastal defense missile system.^[16][23]