Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East Volume 2

After the end of the Second World War, Czechoslovakia became an integral part of the Soviet Bloc which was heralded by the communist coup d'état in February 1948. Eager to fully use its excess arms manufacturing capacities to earn as much hard currency as possible, communist Czechoslovakia became one of the principal arms suppliers to the Middle East during the Cold War.

Following faltering attempts by Syria to purchase small arms and ammunition from Czechoslovakia in the late 1940s, successful orders were placed in the early 1950s enabling the Syrian Arab Army to build an armoured force around a core of ex-German armoured vehicles of Second World War vintage. These orders were to be followed up later with more for weapons of Czechoslovak and Soviet design that would form the backbone of the Syrian army and air force, including modern artillery, armoured vehicles, small arms, ammunition, and aircraft.