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A military source told the Syrian al-Masdar News Blog, on September 20, that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is building a new helicopter base near the village of Jubb Ramlah in the northern Hama countryside. According the source, the new base will support upcoming operations of the army in northeast Lattakia and southwest Idlib.
The Syrian pro-opposition SMART news agency confirmed the al-Masdar report saying that the SAA is even building an air traffic control (ATC) tower, which suggests that the new base may be also used to operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Leith Abou Infidel, the founder of al-Masdar News, doubted that the base is being built to support upcoming attacks of the SAA, because northeast Lattakia and southwest Idlib are now part of the new Russian-Turkish demilitarized zone.
Syrian military has begun building helicopter fields near the Al-Ghaab Plain. A source in Damascus says its for the upcoming offensive in Al-Ghaab & NE Latakia, but I question the former because if Jisr Al-Shughour has a buffer zone around it, Al-Ghaab will be too dangerous
— Leith Abou Infidel (@leithfadel) September 20, 2018
In fact, many local observers believe that the new helicopter base maybe intended to assist Syrian and Russian troops who will serve inside and around the demilitarized zone under the Russian-Turkish agreement.
