Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The T4 Air Base, also known as Tiyas, was largely destroyed as a result of the March 21 Israeli aerial attack on central Syria, new satellite images show.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said at the time that the attack targeted “remaining strategic military capabilities” of the Assad regime in the T4 and another military airport located near the ancient city of Palmyra in the eastern Homs countryside. Footage released by the military showed only a few of the strikes that hit the two air bases.
The T4 is Syria’s largest air base. It used to host at least four formations of the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF), the inactive 1st and 5th Squadrons which operated MiG-25PD/PU/RB interceptor and reconnaissance fighter jets, as well as the 827th Squadron that operated Su-22M4 fighter bombers and the 819th Squadron that operated the more capable Su-24MK2 fighter bombers.
Satellite images shared by Obretix, a defense observer on the X social network, on March 23 revealed that the T4 received at least 16 hits.
At least 11 of the air base’s hardened aircraft shelters were destroyed or damaged. The runway and its main taxiway also took damage in at least four different points, which rendered them out of service. The remaining strikes targeted ammunition depots in the heart of the base.
Video footage posted to social media revealed earlier that at least one of the SyAAF’s few remaining Su-24MK2 was destroyed by the strikes.
Unverified reports also said that at least one abandoned Pantsir-S1 short-range air defense system of the Syrian Arab Air Defence Force was hit and destroyed in the T4.
In addition to these heavy material losses, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 12 fighters of Syria’s interim government were wounded in both the T4 and Palmyra air bases.
Following the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, the IDF wiped out most of the SyAAF along with other Syrian advanced military capabilities in an extensive series of strikes dubbed Operation Bashan Arrow. The aerial attack accompanied the Israeli invasion of southern Syria, which saw the IDF taking over the buffer zone adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights.
According to a report by the Long War Journal, Israel destroyed more than a hundred warplanes of the SyAAF in the course of Operation Bashan Arrow, including 60 MiG-23MF/ML/MLD, 30 MiG-29SE/SM/SMT, 10 Su-24MK2 and an entire squadron of Su-22M2/4.
Israeli strikes have very much reduced Syria’s air power to a small fleet of Mi-8/17, Mi-24 and Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters based in Istamo Helicopter Base in the coastal governorate of Latakia and Mezzeh Air Base near the capital, Damascus.
Some older MiG-21, MiG-23 and L-39 warplanes who survived Operation Bashan Arrow may be in an operation condition. However, with the interim government refusing to return any former SyAAF officers to service, it is highly unlikely that these warplanes will fly again any time soon.
All in all, the IDF’s recent strikes on the remaining assets of the SyAAF, including costly infrastructure like T4 Air Base, indicate that Israel is determined to prevent Syria from rebuilding its aerial capabilities.
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