Syrian Order of battle Yom Kippur
Organised along Soviet lines the highly motivated and well disciplined Syrians again prepared for war against Israel to take back the territory lost in the six day war. The Syrian front was the most crucial to the success of the operation against Israel. The Syrian operation was to recapture the Golan heights, reach the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee. The first four days of the operation lead to the largest armour clash since ww2. The non flexible highly centralised command structure really affected the performance of the Syrian army with division commanders directly reporting to the president leading to a total breakdown by day three. Once momentum was lost and the Israelis stabilised then counterattacked, punching to within striking distance of Damascus before the ceasefire.
5th and 7th Divisions each had two infantry brigades, one mechanized brigade and one armored brigade, as well as an Artillery Group and Division units.
9th Division did not have a mechanized brigade.
- Two armored divisions— the 1st and the 3rd, with T-62 tanks, each with two tank brigades, a mechanized brigade, an Artillery Group and Division units
- Two independent armored brigades— the 51st and the 47th, and an independent mechanized brigade— the 62nd • 1500 tanks • 1000 artillery gun barrels •
- Seven commando and paratrooper battalions
- Rifaat al-Assad Force— assigned to secure the regime that included two tank battalions and elite infantry forces
- “FROG” SS rocket. launchers
- Thirty-six SAM batteries, half of them SA-6
- 30 SA4 anti aircraft batteries
Air Force
178 MiG-21 fighter jets
SU 7
114 other fighter jets
forty-five helicopters Mi-8
