Two years after gaining independence from France in 1946, the first batch of Syrian Air Force pilots graduated from flight schools in the United Kingdom. Ironically, this is the only air force in the world that has remained involved in domestic issues since its inception. Instead of protecting its frontiers, the air force has unleashed terror on its own countrymen.
The Syrian Air Force shaped the country’s political, social and military way of life. It played an important factor in all coups that took place in Syria. Any military commander at the helms of the air force can control Syria. In the past, an air force sergeant would issue a traffic ticket to drivers.
Like any other military wing, this force was supposed to protect Syria and Syrians from foreign aggression but unfortunately it used all its might against its own people. Syrian commanders never played their due roles. Former Syrian President Hafez Assad was the air force commander before becoming the president of the country for life.
Interestingly, the Syrian leaders never trusted their pilots. Many Syrian pilots lost their lives not fighting an outside enemy, but at the hands of their own leaders. Most of them were suspected of being disloyal to the leadership. Perhaps due to this very reason, the Syrian pilots never won any air battle not even the ones against their own people. During the past three years, rebels shot down many air force planes. Building the Syrian Air Force with outdated Russian-made warplanes depleted billions of dollars from the Syrian national income only to be used against its own people.
The Syrian air battles against an outside enemy were fought against Israel. In 1948 they had a limited participation. In 1967 the Syrian Air Force was destroyed at the start of the war. However, in 1973 the Syrian air defense played an important role. In the early 1980s, the Syrians lost 82 planes. The Syrian pilots didn’t lack the will to fight but they were undertrained, under-armed and not trusted by the high command. But, it was not the wars but the so-called Arab Spring that exposed the Syrian Air Force.
Few people would be aware of the fact that the Syrian Air Force throughout its existence has failed to produce one ace pilot. So, what the Syrian Air Force is good at? The answer is easy. The Syrian Air Force is good at killing its own people. We saw live coverage of Syrian rebels shoot down their country’s warplanes and in return we saw the Syrian warplanes attack their own people. These so-called fighters have always remained busy killing their own people and that is why nobody in the Arab World has ever heard of a decorated Syrian pilot. Despite the hollow claims that it is the force to protect Arabs from Israeli air might, the Syrian Air Force has always been humiliated at the hands of Israel.
The current situation of Syria is very bad, as the recently concluded Geneva 2 failed to yield results. The US and Russia are unable to reach any deal on ways to stop the ongoing bloodshed. The humanitarian crisis in Syria is aggravating with each passing day. Instead of providing their starving countrymen with aid, the Syrian forces are bombing them.
