The Syrian Air Drive (SYAF), formally the Syrian Arab Air Drive, operates three Ilyushin IL-76T (NATO: Candid) heavy elevate transport plane: YK-ATA, YK-ATB, and YK-ATD (proven prime to backside). A fourth plane (YK-ATC) has not been operational for nearly 30 years.
These are older photographs – all three plane are in want of depot-level upkeep, improve, and overhaul. This
is completed at on the Ilyushin facility in Ramenskoye, Russia. Based mostly on publicly obtainable flight monitoring info, YK-ATD was overhauled in 2016, YK-ATB in 2018, and YK-ATA in 2019.
I believe that YK-ATD is in dire want of main upkeep – it has not flown since November 24, 2022, after which just for a brief home flight. It seems to have turn out to be what we within the U.S. Air Drive consult with as a “hangar queen.”
Don’t let the colourful livery of SYRIANAIR (Syrian Airways) idiot you – I’ve flown on each SYRIANAIR and with the SYAF – they’re completely different. One is a second-tier Center East airline with nice passenger service, and the opposite is a third-rate air pressure transport operation that anxious me. I’ve flown on SYAF Antonov AN-24 (NATO: Coke), Tupolev TU-134 (NATO: Crusty), and Yakovlev YAK-40 (NATO: Codling) plane – the situation of the YAK-40 and AN-24 was far under U.S. Air Drive requirements.
The three IL-76 plane are literally assigned to the 585th Transport Squadron of the Syrian Air Drive twenty ninth Air Transport Brigade, based mostly at Damascus Worldwide Airport.
The army ramp on the airport is southwest of the civilian terminal. I’ve been on the twenty ninth Brigade ramp a number of instances to catch attaché flights on the extraordinarily uncommon events when the Syrians included American officers in official attaché journeys.
These transports have been inbuilt 1980 (YK-ATA and YK-ATB) and 1981 (YK-ATD) – I keep in mind them within the unique IL-76MD (army) configuration, full with tail weapons. Within the early 2000s, all have been transformed to their present IL-76T configuration.
Over the previous few years, the Syrian IL-76’s made virtually every day resupply flights to the regime-controlled enclave of al-Qamishly in northeast Syria, and virtually every day flights to Mehrabad airport in Tehran, Iran. From time to time, one of many plane would fly to/from Moscow.
That sample has modified a bit.
I’ve observed an enormous improve of SYAF IL-76 flights between Damascus Worldwide Airport (learn that as twenty ninth Air Brigade) and Benghazi/Beninah Worldwide Airport (coincidentally additionally an air base at which SYAF fighter pilots have been assigned to help Mu’amar al-Qadhafi within the Nineteen Seventies). It’s within the space of Libya managed by Area Marshal Khalifah Haftar’s Libyan Nationwide Military (LNA).
Syrian media reported that Haftar’s armed forces have airlifted aid provides to victims of the February 6 earthquakes which have devastated a part of northern Syria. A few of that assist was delivered by LNA plane to the Russian-leased Humaymim air base south of Latakia.
Trying over publicly obtainable flight data for the previous three months, an attention-grabbing worldwide flight sample emerges.
YK-ATA has flown 13 round-trip flights between Damascus, Syria and Benghazi, Libya, which appears to be its main route. It did fly to Moscow 3 times, Beirut as soon as, and as soon as to, for no matter purpose, Oral in northwestern Kazakhstan.
YK-ATB flew seven round-trip flights between Damascus, Syria and Benghazi, Libya. It additionally flew to Tehran/Mehrabad airport, utilizing a ramp devoted solely to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), 4 instances. Moreover, it was used no less than six instances for the routine home flight from Damascus to al-Qamishly.
Within the final 90 days for the Syrian Air Drive, there have been no less than:
• 20 spherical journey flights to Benghazi, Libya (most earlier than the earthquake)
• 4 spherical journey flights to Tehran/Mehrabad, Iran
• 3 spherical journey flights to Moscow/Vnukovo, Russia
• 1 spherical journey flight to Beirut, Lebanon
• 1 spherical journey flight to Oral, Kazakhstan
I’m puzzled by the variety of flights to Libya, particularly to the realm managed by Khalifah Haftar. If anybody has any perception into the connection between Syrian President Bashar al-Asad and Khalifah Haftar, please inform me.
I’ll observe that after the earthquakes that created catastrophic harm in northern Syria, all return flights from Benghazi to Syria stopped first in Latakia, and in no less than one case in Aleppo, each areas which have suffered catastrophic earthquake harm. I’ve to imagine that these plane have been transporting aid provides from Benghazi.
My query: What have been the Syrian IL-76 plane transferring between Damascus and Benghazi earlier than the earthquake?
