 The Defense Company paratroop units were usually deployed from the AN-22 or IL-76 aircraft.At their peak in 1983-84, the force had about 1200 T-72 Tanks, 120 Mil Mi-8 and 75 Mil Mi-24D attack helicopters, and three battalions (around 50 launch trucks) of BM-21 Grad systems.During this period (1973-1984), the whole Syrian Military only had 7 Grad battalions, and 3 of them were with the Defense Companies, illustrating the unit's importance in the Syrian Military hierarchy.