Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States would require a tiny portion of its
military might to paralyze Syria’s Air Force, a report said.

The Institute for the Study of War asserted that the U.S. military would
require no more than 24 aircraft and three surface vessels to degrade the
regime of President Bashar Assad. In a report, the institute, funded by
Congress, said the U.S. military campaign would not require the entry of
American aircraft into Syrian air space.

Congress has been studying the report as part of U.S. military options
in Syria. A leading member, Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the
Senate Armed Forces Committee, has used the institute study to dismiss
assertions by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which in July said any military
campaign against Syria would require hundreds of aircraft.

“No one is seriously talking about striking Assad’s naval forces as part
of a limited campaign,” McCain said on July 31. “And no one seriously thinks
that degrading Assad’s air power would require hundreds of American military
assets. The whole thing is completely misleading to the Congress and the
American people, and it is shameful.”

“A limited strike resulting in the degradation of SAF [Syrian Air Force] infrastructure could be accomplished with no U.S. military personnel entering Syrian air space or territory at a relatively small cost,” the report, titled “Required Sorties and Weapons to Degrade Syrian Air Force Excluding Integrated Air Defense System,” said.

Naval analyst Christopher Harmer asserted that the U.S. military could quickly degrade the Syrian Air Force. Harmer, a retired naval officer, cited U.S. precision-grade missiles, which could be fired outside the Syrian air defense envelope. The PGMs could include the U.S.-origin Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile and Joint Stand Off Weapon.

“Because U.S. PGMs have a greater range than the Syrian IADS [integrated
air defense system], it is not necessary to attack the IADS in order to
degrade SAF ability to operate,” the report, dated July 31, said.

“A limited strike with the intent of degrading the SAF ability to conduct its three
primary missions can bypass the Syrian IADS and focus directly on SAF
infrastructure and aircraft. Small follow on strikes would ensure that the
SAF did not ‘regenerate’ degraded capability.”

The report said the Syrian Air Force has been conducting three missions
in the offensive against Sunni rebels. They were identified as delivering
weapons supplies from Iran and Russia, resupplying the Syrian Army and
bombing rebel strongholds.

The U.S. military requirements does not envision the establishment of a

no-fly zone over Syria or the destruction of all air force facilities and
aircraft. The air force maintains 27 bases and was said to deploy “at most”
100 mission-capable fixed-wing aircraft.

“With such a small inventory, SAF does not have enough aircraft to
require use of all its air bases,” the report said. “Additionally, SAF is
suffering from defections and deterioration of its manpower, and probably
does not have adequate support personnel — radar operators, tower/air
traffic control, maintenance personnel, fuelers, etc. — to man the
secondary air bases.”

The report said the Syrian Air Force has also undergone a manpower
shortage, which could hamper repairs on runways, control towers, radars and
fuel depot. Harmer said a a strike conducted every seven to 10 days would
prevent the rebuilding of damaged infrastructure.

“The entire strike scenario can be conducted without any U.S. aircraft
entering Syrian air space,” the report said. “All weapons launches can take
place from international airspace over the Mediterranean, or over Turkish,
Israeli, Jordanian or Saudi air space.”

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