The Tiyas Military Airbase, also known as the T-4 Air base, is a

Syrian Arab Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War * ...

(SyAAF) base located in the

Homs Governorate Homs Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حمص / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its area differs in various sources, from to . It is thus geographical ...

, north of

Tiyas Tiyas ( ar, التياس, also known as al-Safa ar, الصفا) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, east of Homs. It is situated in the Syrian Desert, and the closest localities are Tadmur (Palmyra) to the ...

, and west of the ancient city of

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

, Syria. The Tiyas Military Airbase is the largest airbase in Syria.

History

During the 1970s and 1980s, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

was given access to the Tiyas Air Base for the periodic deployment of naval aircraft.

Civil war

The airbase was used by the Syrian Arab Air Force and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Quds Force The Quds Force ( fa, نیروی قدس, niru-ye qods, Jerusalem Force) is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War ...

for military operations against

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

and opposition forces during the Syrian Civil War. In December 2016, the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

(ISIL) attacked the airbase a day after overrunning pro-government forces in nearby Palmyra. ISIL claimed to have destroyed four Syrian military aircraft during their attack on the airbase. The

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

launched an attack on the airbase on 10 February 2018, destroying the main observation tower, according to the

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , image = Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Logo.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = The logo of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , type = NGO , founded_date = , founder ...

. The base was struck again on 9 April 2018 by multiple missiles, it was not immediately clear who was behind the attack however U.S officials denied launching any air attack on Syria. It was reported that the April 2018 attack on the base destroyed a hangar used to shelter drones and an Iranian supplied anti-aircraft

Tor missile system The Tor (russian: Тор; en, torus) is an all-weather, low- to medium-altitude, short-range surface-to-air missile system designed for destroying airplanes, helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and short-range ballistic thre ...

, before it could be set up and become fully operational. T-4 air base has been used by Iran-backed Shia militias to launch drone strikes against U.S. bases in northern Syria during summer 2021. Israeli warplanes attacked the airbase with the missiles again on 8 October 2021 around 9:30 pm. Six Syrian soldiers were injured according to Syrian media. Israel claims that the airbase is still used by Iranian forces.

Aircraft

* 1 Squadron MiG-25PD/PU/RB * 5 Squadron MiG-25PD/PU/RB * 819 Squadron Su-24MK * 827 Squadron Su-22M-4

References

External links

*https://www.world-airport-codes.com/syria/tiyas-air-base-74815.html {{Airports in Syria Syrian Air Force bases Military installations of Syria Soviet Naval Aviation bases Soviet Union–Syria relations

History

Civil war

Aircraft

See also

References

External links