The Syrian Ministry of Defense denied the validity of the reports circulating about the flight of Syrian army warplanes for the first time since the fall of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, stressing that the air force is still not ready to operate.
The Syrian newspaper “Al-Watan” quoted a source in the Ministry of Defense as saying that the information circulating is “incorrect,” stressing the “lack of preparedness of the Air Force” at the current stage.
The denial came after media outlets and social media platforms circulated video clips that they said showed two Syrian MiG-29 fighters flying over Syrian airspace, considering that this constituted the first appearance of Syrian warplanes since the fall of the previous regime.
The controversy over the videos coincided with the continuing repercussions of the Israeli military operation carried out after the fall of Assad, during which Israel announced the destruction of the largest part of Syria’s strategic military capabilities, as part of an operation called “Arrow of Bashan.”
At the time, Israel announced the destruction of Syrian aircraft, helicopters, tanks, warships and air defense systems, in parallel with the incursion of its forces into strategic sites in Mount Hermon and southern Syria, following the announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the collapse of the separation of forces agreement signed in 1974.
According to Israeli reports, the strikes led to the Syrian Air Force and air defense system being almost completely out of service, after most of the strategic “surface-to-air” missiles and squadrons of fighter planes and bombers at several military airports were destroyed.
It is noteworthy that before 2011, the Syrian Air Force included about 450 warplanes, fighters, and bombers, in addition to hundreds of helicopters, training and reconnaissance aircraft, in addition to multiple air defense systems.
