Syria rearms, moves troops closer to Golan Heights border
Pastor Dale Morgan
Syria rearms, moves troops closer to Golan Heights border*
By Ze'ev Schiff
The Syrian armed forces are being strengthened in an unprecedented way
in recent memory with the help of generous funding from Iran. The
Syrians are bolstering their forces in all areas except the air force,
which has been believed to be weak for some time. The main emphasis of
the efforts has been missiles and long-range rockets to compensate for
the weak air force.
The Syrian navy, after years of neglect, is also being reinforced with
an Iranian version of a Chinese anti-ship missile, similar to the one
used by Hezbollah during the second Lebanon war to strike the Israeli
destroyer INS Hanit.
In addition to the overall strengthening of the armed forces in Syria,
there has been a redeployment of forces along the front lines. It
appears that the Syrians have moved forces closer to the border with
Israel on the Golan Heights.
The Yom Kippur War on the Syrian front began with a raid by
helicopter-borne Syrian commandos on the Hermon listening post, which
was occupied by them. The position was not taken by Israeli forces until
the end of the war in a very costly battle involving Golani and
Paratrooper Brigade troops.
Syria's rebuilding of its military strength has also included test
launches of ballistic missiles. Lately, the Syrians test-fired a Scud-D
surface-to-surface missile, the latest version of a Soviet-era missile.
The Scud-D has a 400-kilometer range and covers most of the territory of
Israel.
More than a year ago the Syrians held a missile test but suffered a
failure when one of them diverted from its trajectory and fell inside
Turkish territory. The debris also fell in populated areas but no losses
were reported. Turkey filed an official complaint with Syria, and
Damascus apologized for the unusual accident.
In the Scud-D test, two missiles were fired, and the test is believed to
have been successful. It is not known what type of warhead the missiles
were armed with.
In addition to the larger Scud-type missiles, Syria is in possession of
two smaller rockets, and both have been supplied to Hezbollah. One
rocket is a 220mm rocket armed with a cluster-bomb warhead, and the
other is a 305mm caliber rocket. The range of these rockets is estimated
to be several dozen kilometers.
The missiles and rockets are part of an effort to compensate for the
obvious weakness of the Syrian air force. This way Syrians could strike
Israeli cities and also carry out accurate attacks against military
targets inside the country.
The newest and most surprising aspect of the Syrian effort is taking
place in its naval forces. In recent years the Syrian navy had been
neglected, starting with the decommissioning of its submarines. Later,
most of its missile boats came into disrepair or were not upgraded. The
Syrian navy made do with the task of coastal defense, using Russian-made
surface-to-sea missiles, some with long-range capability, in the area of
the port of Tartus.
However, it appears that the Syrians have chosen to adopt some of the
Lebanon war's lessons, and with Iranian help they have renewed emphasis
on their navy. The Hezbollah success against the Israeli navy came with
the use of upgraded Chinese-made C-802 missiles. Hezbollah launched
these missiles against the destroyer INS Hanit, probably with the direct
support of Iranian officers. A missile struck the ship, killed four crew
members and caused serious damage.