Israeli-Syrian Air and SAM Strength Analysis

The relative balance of Israeli and Syria air combat capabilities has long been a key factor shaping both the level of deterrence in the Arab-Israel conflict and the outcome of any conflict. It is easy to address this balance in purely quantitative terms, and such comparisons are part of a broader comparison of the Israeli-Syrian military balance entitled THE ISRAELI AND SYRIAN CONVENTIONAL MILITARY BALANCE: An Overview,  which is available on the CSIS Web site at http://www.csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/081125_arab-israeli-syrian_conv_mil_bal.pdf.

It is far more difficult to make qualitative comparisons, either through static or dynamic analysis. The Burke Chair has developed a draft analysis of Israeli-Syrian air and air defense capabilities that addresses these issues through a first order operational analysis level to project air force and air defense warfighting capabilities. The paper is written by Abdullah Toukan and Anthony H. Cordesman, is entitled Israeli-Syrian Air and SAM Strength Analysis: Working Estimates of Force Numbers and Location and is now available on the CSIS Web site.