Syria’s Ministry of Defense has announced plans for a new university designed to place military education on a more academic and technically specialized foundation as the country works to rebuild its armed forces.

The National University for Defense Sciences was created by presidential decree on July 5, 2026. It will function as an independent public institution with full legal status and administrative and financial autonomy.

At a press conference on Monday, Defense Ministry officials said the university will bring Syria’s military colleges and technical institutes under a unified academic system. Its programs will blend traditional officer training with engineering, applied sciences, management, and strategic studies.

The university will encompass the Higher Military Academy, which includes the National Defense College, the Higher War College, and the Command and Staff College. It will also oversee separate air, naval, and land warfare colleges; a Faculty of Humanities and Administrative Sciences; the Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology; and several military technical institutes.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa also issued a separate decree establishing the Syrian University for Security Sciences, which will focus on academic and professional training for security personnel.

Major General Murhaf Abu Qasra, Syria’s defense minister, said the new defense university was the product of months of research into Arab and regional models of military education. The goal, he explained, is to reorganize military training and expand its academic scope.

Major General Salim Idris, a member of the ministry’s advisory board, said the university will admit Syrian high-school graduates from both scientific and literary tracks. Admission requirements and minimum grades will be announced through a formal placement process coordinated with the Ministry of Higher Education.

Applicants will also undergo medical examinations tailored to the college they hope to enter.

Students will receive a salary during their studies, along with healthcare, housing, and meals. Graduates of the officer-training colleges will earn recognized academic degrees in addition to their military commissions, while non-commissioned officers enrolled in technical institutes will receive accredited vocational diplomas.

According to Idris, the new model aims to produce officers capable not only of operating modern military equipment, but of understanding, maintaining, and eventually developing it.

“Modern warfare relies on science, technology, advanced weapons, and sophisticated systems,” he said, arguing that older military curricula no longer reflect the demands placed on today’s armed forces.

Mohammad Wael al-Khaled, head of the Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology, said the air college will train aviation engineers, while the naval college will offer programs in mechanical, electrical, and ocean engineering.

The land warfare college will include programs in computer, communications, industrial, mechanical, and electrical engineering. The Faculty of Humanities and Administrative Sciences will offer degrees in defense management, business administration, international relations, and languages.

The Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology will cover information technology, telecommunications, electronic systems, mechatronics, materials science, and aeronautical engineering. Military technical institutes will train assistant engineers and other specialized personnel needed to operate and maintain equipment.

Students will begin with a common first-year curriculum in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and languages before moving into specialized programs in their second year.

The creation of the university marks a major restructuring of Syrian military education, which has traditionally relied on separate academies and conventional field training. Officials say the integrated system is meant to address the growing importance of drones, electronic warfare, encrypted communications, precision weapons, artificial intelligence, and networked military systems.

The inclusion of administrative and humanities programs also reflects the expanding responsibilities of officers in areas such as strategic planning, logistics, international cooperation, resource management, and civil-military relations.

Much will depend, however, on how the institution implements its stated standards. Its effectiveness will hinge on the quality of its faculty, the transparency of admissions, the credibility of its degrees, and its ability to prioritize professional competence over political or personal loyalty.

The first admissions criteria and academic schedules have yet to be announced.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.