Report by Robin Polderman, screenshots from TikTok
The recent fall of the al-Assad regime in Syria left the country in somewhat of a power vacuum that has benefited some intrepid travelers. The Unit Report was made aware that some videos showing Syrian MiG-23s were floating around the internet, so we decided to take a look and subsequently make a short analysis of what the videos show.
The Syrian Arab Air Force (al-Quwwāt al-Jawwīyah al-ʿArabīyah as-Sūrīyah - القوات الجوية العربية السورية) became one of the largest users of the MiG-23 Flogger, taking delivery of the MiG-23MS, -MF, -ML, -MLD interceptor variants, -BN ground attack version, and -UB two-seater. The type has seen heavy use in the various wars the country has been part of, in particular, the Syrian civil war that started in 2011. Following the fall of the al-Assad regime and the take-over by the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, many military installations of the Syrian Armed Forces seem to have been hastily abandoned by regime soldiers.
On 8 December 2024, the Israeli Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Arrow of Bashan’, which saw the IDF undertake 480 airstrikes in a period of 48 hours against military targets, including many airbases, within Syria. Following the surprising march to victory by HTS, which Israel regards as a terrorist organization, the Jewish state became increasingly worried Syria would descend into anarchy once again with potential attacks against Israel and its population being plotted and executed there. Israel decided to take matters into its own hands to prevent weaponry from landing in the possession of opposition and/or terrorist forces.
Much to our surprise a couple of videos shot by Croatian TikTokker Kristijan Ilicic have emerged, providing us with footage of what is believed to be the airbase at Al-Dumayr (Dmeyr -الضمير), located roughly 10 km (5.5 nm) east of the Syrian capital Damascus.
The base houses (or, more likely; housed) the 67th Fighter Squadron of the SyAAF which operates the MiG-23ML, -MLD, and -UB variants of the Flogger.
One of the videos shows two MiG-23UB two-seat Floggers located in a typical dual Hardened Aircraft Shelter (HAS). Both aircraft seen to be more or less operational and bear the tail numbers 1793 and 1796.
A second video shows MiG-23ML tail number 2750 carrying two B-8M rocket pods containing 20 S-8 80 mm (3.1 in) unguided rockets each. The connected HAS houses another Flogger; tail# 2780 is a MiG-23MLD armed with four FAB-250 free-fall bombs.
Both Floggers look heavily used but seem to be flyable.
Yet another video shows MiG-23MLD number 2784 in pristine condition. The aircraft seems to have been recently overhauled, judging by its immaculate paint job. Some Arab graffiti adorns the nose of the aircraft on both sides, most likely having been applied by the forces that overran the airbase.
The jet is set up for air-to-air combat, being armed with an R-24R and R-24T, as well as a couple of smaller R-60MK infra-red missiles under the fuselage.
A shot of the cockpit of this aircraft reveals what appears to be the jet’s construction number; number '23485' is stenciled on the shell of the KM-1M ejection seat, although we are not too sure about the second digit being a '3'. The cushion of the seat appears to have ‘2784’ painted on it, so the construction number should belong to this particular jet.
What will come next for these difficult-to-maintain aircraft is unclear, but the future does not look too bright. Time will tell if they will ever take to the skies over Syria again!