Syria's Air Defenses a Paper Tiger

Destroying aircraft on the runways alone could have a huge impact on the regime’s ability to field air power.” By his count, the regime had 35 attack helicopters and 100 utility helicopters at the start of the conflict. “Helicopters are notoriously difficult to maintain, so it may be a stretch to assume that even half of that number was flight-ready.” (According to Syria war bloggers “Brown Moses” and James Miller, the rebels might have already destroyed as many as 20 copters throughout the country.) As for fixed-wing aircraft, Holliday said the regime had “no more than 350 combat-capable jets, a huge portion of which are designed for air-air combat, not for attacking ground targets. In fact, the regime has relied largely on its trainer jets to bombard Aleppo.”