Syrian Arab Armed Forces

The Syrian Arab Armed Forces also known as the SAAF used to be the Syrian Armed Forces under the Ba'athist rule.

The Syrian Arab Armed Forces was made of the Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Air Defense Force, Syrian Arab Navy.

According to the 2012 Constitution of Syria, the President of Syria was the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.^[11] The Minister of Defence held the position of Deputy Commander-in-chief of the Army and Armed Forces.^[12]

The Syrian Arab Air Force used conscription, meaning men had to join the military at age 18. However, they did not have to serve if they were the only son who could care for their parents.

After the Syrian Civil War began, the size of the Syrian military became much smaller. It went from about 325,000 soldiers before the war to only 150,000 by December 2014. This was because of deaths, soldiers leaving the army, and people avoiding the draft.^[13]Later, the number of soldiers in the army grew to between 178,000 and 220,000, with an extra 80,000 to 100,000 irregular fighters (fighters not officially part of the army).^[14]

By 2023, the number of active soldiers in the Syrian army was about 170,000. However, the number of paramilitary and reserve fighters may have gone down by up to 50,000.^[14]

In 2024, the Syrian Arab Armed Forces collapsed after the fall of the Assad government and the escape of Bashar al-Assad.^[15]After that, the group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham became the de facto rulers of Syria. They started to make big changes to Syria’s military and its goals. On 21 December 2024, reports said that Murhaf Abu Qasra became the new defense minister for the interim government.