The Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF; Arabic: الْقُوَّاتُ الْمُسَلَّحَةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ السُّورِيَّةُ, romanized: al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥah al-ʿArabīyah as-Sūrīyah) are the military forces of the Syrian Arab Republic. They consist of the Syrian Army, Syrian Air Force, Syrian Navy, Syrian Air Defense Force, and paramilitary forces, such as the National Defence Forces. According to the Constitution of Syria, the President of Syria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.[9] Minister of Defense holds the position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Armed Forces.[10]
The military is a conscripted force; males serve in the military at age 18, but they are exempted from service if they do not have a brother who can take care of their parents. Since the Syrian Civil War, the enlisted members of the Syrian military have dropped by over half from a pre-civil war figure of 325,000 to 150,000 soldiers in the army in December 2014 due to casualties, desertions and draft dodging,[11] reaching between 178,000 and 220,000 soldiers in the army,[12] in addition to 80,000 to 100,000 irregular forces. By 2023, the number of active soldiers in the Syrian military increased to 170,000.[13] Also in 2023, the number of active paramilitary and reserve forces in the Syrian military may have decreased by as much as 50,000.[13][14]
^"SYRIA UPDATE: THE FALL OF AL-QUSAYR". Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on 10 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
^"Bashal al-Assad in uniform with rank of Marshal". thewhatandthewhy.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
^ abIISS 2023, p. 354.
^Cite error: The named reference isr1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Gertz, Bill (23 July 1996). "CIA Suspects Chinese Firm of Syria Missile Aid". The Washington Times.[dead link]
^ abcdefghijk"Trade Registers". Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
^"War Gains: Bulgarian Arms Add Fuel to Middle East Conflicts". 21 December 2015.
^"Chinese Air Defense System Spotted in Syria: Russian Media". Islam Times. 1 January 2020.
^"Syrian Arab Republic: Constitution, 2012". refworld. 26 February 2021. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019.
^"عنوان السيرة الذاتية للعماد علي عبد الله أيوب نائب رئيس مجلس الوزراء- وزير الدفاع" (in Arabic). pministry.gov.sy. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
^Cite error: The named reference SCMP2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Daily Star 23 September 2014
^ abJames Hackett, International Institute for Strategic Studies, ed. (2023). The Military Balance 2023. London. ISBN 978-1-003-40022-6. OCLC 1372013483.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"Syria Military Strength". www.globalfirepower.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
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Global Information
Marshal Bashar al-Assad[2]
Gen. Ali Mahmoud Abbas
Gen. Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim
Armenia[6] 
Belarus[6]
Bulgaria[7] 
China[6] 
Iran[8][6] 
North Korea[6] 
Iraq[6] 
Russia[6] 
Venezuela[6] 
Cuba[6]
Laos[6]
Vietnam
Pakistan[6]