"Power of the Tiger" against a horde of jackals
Information reports from the Syrian front often mention the Tiger Forces division, with the obligatory addition of “elite” and “special purpose.” This formation played an important role in liberating Syria from hordes of terrorists, acting at the very forefront of offensive operations in close contact with Russian MTR and Aerospace Forces groups.
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In this article we will try to talk about how the “Tiger Forces” were formed, where they showed themselves, and why the Russian military group relied on the “tigers” in the war against the Nusrach and ISIS.
In fact, the Tiger Force division is not numerically comparable to a division, but is a battalion tactical group (BTG) of up to 1000 people.
The Tigers are indeed an elite part of the Syrian army, which has been actively involved in offensive battles against the militant groups ISIS and Al-Nusra since 2013. Unlike many other government units, the “tigers” did not flee from the battlefield and during the war they were not defeated in any sector, emerging victorious from the most difficult and fierce battles.
It is believed that the “Tiger Forces” are a military formation of a new type, created on the ruins of the old Syrian Arab Army, which was repeatedly beaten, and at the time of the appearance of the Russian Aerospace Forces in October 2015, demoralized and practically lost its combat effectiveness.
The Tiger Forces were formed in the fall of 2013 by Colonel Suheil al-Hassan based on a directive from the military-political leadership of Syria. According to anonymous sources of information, the creation of the new division was financed by Bashar al-Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf. The core of the newly created formation consisted of Alawite officers loyal to the government from the 4th and 11th tank divisions of the Syrian army.
Suheil al-Hassan is the undisputed leader of the Tigers, as could be seen firsthand during the recent meeting of Presidents Putin and Assad with the heroes of the Syrian war at the Khmeimim air base.
Currently, Suheil al-Hassan has been promoted to the rank of major general. He is 46 years old, born in the seaside town of Jableh, an Alawite by religion, and has a family - a wife and son. A career military man, he graduated from the Air Force Academy of the Syrian Arab Republic, served in a detachment of the Special Operations Forces of the Syrian Air Force, as well as in an air reconnaissance and surveillance group.
He discovered extraordinary leadership talent and personal courage during successful military operations in 2013 in the provinces of Latakia and Hama, thanks to which he attracted the attention of the Syrian military-political leadership. In the fall of 2013, he was tasked with forming an assault detachment to conduct offensive operations.
The “tiger” detachment did not have time to get used to the situation and fight coherence, so they entered the battle almost as soon as they were formed. Already in January 2014, the “tigers” performed well in the battles for Aleppo, liberating the international airport and the Sheikh Najar industrial zone from militants. In the summer of 2014, Colonel Suheil’s detachment crushed the Nusrachi in the province of Hama, and in the fall of the same year, the “tigers” first met ISIS groups in battle and fought with them in the area of the Shaer gas fields until May 2015.
One of the most high-profile victories of the Tiger Forces was the unblocking of the Kuweiris airbase in northwestern Syria on November 16, 2016. For almost three years, a small garrison of 600 Syrian soldiers held the airbase, repelling one after another attack by ISIS militants. When the Tigers managed to release Kuveiris, less than half of the garrison’s defenders survived.
From June to December 2016, the Tiger Forces detachment took an active part in the liberation of the city of Aleppo. Air support from the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Air Force made the ground work of Colonel Suheil's forward assault detachment even more effective, but to the credit of the Tigers, it should be mentioned that they had to solve problems during the “humanitarian pauses”, when the number of airstrikes was sharply reduced. It is the Tigers who are credited with liberating Aleppo, block by block.
During the four years of command of the formation, Colonel Suheil showed leadership talent, earned unquestioned authority among his soldiers and allies, and became a national hero. During the war, Colonel Suheil became a seasoned diplomat, establishing contacts with the heads of tribes and clans in the territories where his assault force operated. Thanks to this, his fighters received material assistance and combat assistance from the local population in the fight against a common enemy.
The exact structure of the Tiger Force assault BTG has not been disclosed. It is known that the detachment consists of several groups. These are the “Cheetahs” of Colonel Shadi Ismael, who performed well in the battles for Aleppo International Airport and in the eastern regions of Aleppo province, as well as the “Panthers” under the command of Ali Shaheen.
The Tigers are armed with standard weapons of the Syrian army. However, the formation, which has proven its high combat effectiveness in practice, received priority in the supply of modern and modernized Russian-made weapons. In the summer of 2016, during the attack on Aleppo, the Tigers used T-90 tanks. In the footage of military correspondents from battlefields, Suheil’s soldiers with AK-74M assault rifles, equipped with 1P87 collimator sights, which are included in the “Ratnik” combat equipment, began to appear more and more often. In addition, on the desert plains of Deir Hafer in Aleppo province, the “tigers” moved on Russian Lynx armored vehicles. In terms of artillery and air support, the Tigers are also given priority.
It is also known that the Tigers maintain close contact with Russian military advisers.
In general, the formation showed not only combat effectiveness, but also the ability to master and apply new tactics. For example, in the province of Homs, the “tigers” planned and carried out an airborne assault operation, throwing maneuver groups behind enemy lines, which launched an unexpected massive attack on the barmalei from where they had not expected, and then retreating to their original positions without suffering losses. As a result of the daring and secretive operation, the jihadists suffered heavy losses and were forced to abandon their positions.
Among the formations of the Syrian army, the Tigers were the first to successfully repel the attacks of “jihadmobiles” - pickup trucks filled with explosives and driven by suicide bombers. The "Tigers" placed concrete blocks around protected objects to force the suicide driver to slow down, after which the "jihadmobile" was shot from an ATGM.
The creation of the BTG “Tiger Force” occurred at a moment of crisis, when the old Syrian Arab Army was falling apart, torn apart by religious and clan contradictions. Under the onslaught of the hordes of ISIS and Nusrach, the government troops experienced decomposition, mass desertion, soldiers and commanders went over to the side of the enemy (not necessarily into the ranks of ISIS - to the same “correct” militants from the Syrian Free Army). Government troops were rapidly losing combat effectiveness and motivation to fight the enemy.
In order to act more effectively, the Tigers, as a new type of military formation, were given significant freedom in planning and conducting combat operations. In addition to the Tigers, the Desert Falcons group and the Fifth Assault Corps of the Syrian Army were given similar powers.
It is also important to note that the weakness of the Syrian army lies in the still existing religious and ethnic contradictions. The Tigers and the Republican Guard consist predominantly of Alawites. The battle for Syria is a guarantee of their survival. But Syria also has areas inhabited by Kurds and Shiites. Their militia units fought no less staunchly and fiercely, but only within the boundaries of their ancestral territories. Thus, the legitimate Syrian government faces the difficult task of unifying the state and overcoming national-religious strife along with other feudal remnants. After all, if you do not work on the mistakes, Syria will remain vulnerable to external and internal instigators of “friendship of peoples.”
Despite a number of special tasks, the Tiger Forces are nevertheless not special forces. This is a mobile assault unit, which has analogues in the recent Soviet past.
In particular, in the 1970s, during the acute Soviet-Chinese confrontation, two unique Soviet GRU reconnaissance brigades, the 20th and 22nd, were formed on the territory of friendly Mongolia. Despite the continuous numbering characteristic of special forces brigades, reconnaissance brigades were created for completely different purposes and tasks and had a different organizational structure.
It must be said that before the creation of reconnaissance brigades, none of the formations of the Soviet Army had such a structure. Each brigade consisted of four separate reconnaissance battalions, in which the third companies were reconnaissance airborne (deep reconnaissance). The scouts used BRDM-2, BMP-1, and BTR-60PB as mobile armor. Each reconnaissance battalion was reinforced by a tank company - 10 T-62, a mortar battery - 3 82 mm 2B9 "Vasilyok" and 6 120 mm 2B11, later replaced by "Nona" self-propelled guns.
The brigade included a mixed artillery division (howitzers, Grads), an anti-aircraft division (Shilki and Strely), a sapper company, 20 Mi-8 helicopters, support services and even an OSNAZ radio reconnaissance company.
The combat mission of the reconnaissance brigades was supposed to follow the main forces of the advancing troops, performing the role of tactical (military) reconnaissance, and be ready to carry out special tasks of a local nature - to capture and hold objects of strategic importance until the main forces arrive. According to some reports, the task of the 20th brigade included: in the offensive - the capture of Chinese nuclear facilities at the Lop Nor test site in the Gobi, in the defense - repelling aggression and covering the deployment of units of the 29th and 36th combined arms armies of the Western Military District located on the territory of the USSR , and the 39th Combined Arms Army. Air support was provided by the 23rd Air Army, and air cover was provided by the 54th Separate Guards Air Defense Corps.
The brigade's readiness level is increased. The reconnaissance battalions of the brigades constantly went out for exercises, and the reconnaissance officers had more parachute jumps during their service than in the Airborne Forces.
With the warming of Soviet-Chinese relations in 1985, both reconnaissance brigades were withdrawn to the Union, their level of combat readiness was reduced, and in 1988 they were disbanded.
The assault BTG “Tiger Power” is a repetition of what has been accomplished at a new stage of development.
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