Damascus, July 13 (SANA) Syrian officials announced during a press conference, Monday the launch of the National University for Defense Sciences, a specialized institution for higher military education that will comprise four main colleges and one institute.
Maj. Gen. Salim Idris, a member of the Ministry of Defense’s Advisory Board, said the university is dedicated to advanced military sciences and will include the three war colleges, the College of Humanities and Administrative Sciences, and the Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology.
He explained that the colleges will graduate military engineers and university-educated officers to serve in the Syrian Arab Armed Forces according to operational requirements, while military technical institutes will prepare non-commissioned officers at intermediate and technical diploma levels for service in army units and departments.
Idris said the Higher Military Academy will serve as the country’s highest military education institution, adding that strategic studies offered by the National University for Defense Sciences are designed to prepare military and civilian leaders for senior command and strategic positions.
He noted that the Higher Military Academy includes the National Defense College, which prepares senior leaders for the armed forces and state institutions; the Higher War College, which trains military commanders to lead operations; and the Command and Staff College, which prepares officers for leadership positions across various military formations.
For his part, Mohammad al-Khaled, head of the Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology and a member of the university proposal committee, said the Air Force College will graduate engineers specializing in various aviation disciplines, while the Naval Warfare College will prepare engineers in naval specializations.
He added that the Military Academy will offer a broad range of disciplines, including computer science, communications, industrial, mechanical, electrical and mechatronics engineering, cartography, signal engineering and physical education.
Al-Khaled said the College of Humanities and Administrative Sciences will offer programs in defense management, business administration, international relations, history, geography, languages and other fields.
He explained that the military technical institutes will graduate assistant engineers comparable to graduates of technical institutes under the Ministry of Higher Education.
The launch follows President Ahmad al-Sharaa‘s Decree No. 147 of 2026 which stipulates establishing the National University for Defense Sciences as a specialized educational and training institution in military sciences.
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