Syrian Arab Armed Forces

The Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF; Arabic: القوات المسلحة العربية السورية, romanized: al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥah al-ʿArabīyah as-Sūrīyah) were the combined armed forces of Syria from 1963 to 2024. They served during the rule of the Ba'ath Party in Syria.

The SAAF consisted 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. The Minister of Defence held the position of Deputy Commander-in-chief of the Army and Armed Forces.

The SAAF utilized conscription; males served in the military at age 18, but they were exempted from service if they did not have a brother who can take care of their parents. After the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian military enlisted strength 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, reaching between 178,000 and 220,000 soldiers in the army, in addition to 80,000 to 100,000 irregular forces. By 2023, the number of active Syrian soldiers had increased to 170,000, but the number of active paramilitary and reserve forces may have decreased by as much as 50,000.

The Syrian Arab Armed Forces collapsed in 2024 with the fall of the Assad regime and flight of Bashar al-Assad. The new de-facto rulers of Syria, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, are making preparations to drastically reorganise Syria's military forces and ambitions. On 21 December 2024 it was reported that Murhaf Abu Qasra had been appointed the new defence minister for the interim government.