Direct proof of use
GlobalSecurity.org identifies Syrian S-60 guns as used during the Syrian Civil War by both the army and rebel groups, and says they were mostly used against ground targets rather than in their original anti-aircraft role. That source supports the parent row's Syrian government and opposition side attribution.
Oryx adds visual-list evidence for additional Syrian Civil War operators and possession contexts. Its Islamic State equipment list records 18 captured 57 mm AZP S-60 guns inside Syria by November 2014, its YPG inventory lists small quantities of 57 mm AZP S-60 guns mounted on pickup trucks, and its Battle of Conoco Fields loss list identifies a destroyed 57 mm AZP S-60 on a Ural-4320 truck under Wagner / Syrian government forces.
Sources: GlobalSecurity S-60, Oryx Islamic State Syria Captures, Oryx YPG Armour, Oryx Conoco Fields Losses
Timeline
By November 2014, Islamic State captured-equipment documentation inside Syria included multiple AZP S-60 guns. In 2016, Armament Research Services described the wider Syria-Iraq pattern of mounting S-60 guns on truck chassis for fire support, explaining why the heavy towed gun usually required trucks rather than light pickup chassis.
Later visual inventories show the weapon still appearing in different Syrian theaters and force structures. Oryx's YPG inventory, published in 2021, listed small quantities of pickup-mounted S-60s, and its Conoco Fields loss list, published in 2023 from photo or video evidence, recorded a destroyed Ural-mounted S-60 associated with Wagner / Syrian government forces.
Sources: Oryx Islamic State Syria Captures, ARES S-60 T-55 Chassis, Oryx YPG Armour, Oryx Conoco Fields Losses
Battlefield role
The S-60 entered the war as a legacy anti-aircraft gun, but the cited Syrian Civil War sources describe its visible battlefield role mainly as direct or supporting fire against ground targets. Armament Research Services notes that the 57 mm projectile, high elevation, and ability to penetrate walls or light armored vehicles made the system useful in open terrain and urban fighting.
The same ARES analysis notes that the gun's recoil and firing-position weight made pickup mounting impractical in most cases, so the most common self-propelled variants observed in Syria and Iraq were mounted on truck chassis. That matches the Oryx evidence for a Ural-4320-mounted S-60 at Conoco Fields and the broader truck-mounted role described in the parent weapon record.
Sources: ARES S-60 T-55 Chassis, Oryx Conoco Fields Losses
Side attribution
The strongest source-backed side package is multi-party use or possession rather than a single operator. GlobalSecurity supports Syrian army and rebel use; Oryx supports Islamic State captured S-60s inside Syria; Oryx's YPG inventory supports SDF/YPG possession and pickup-mounted use; and the Conoco Fields evidence ties a truck-mounted S-60 to Wagner / Syrian government forces.
The available public sources do not provide a complete firing chronology, confirmed quantities for every faction, or a consistent distinction between stored, captured, deployed, and fired guns. The record therefore treats Islamic State evidence as captured conflict materiel, while the Syrian army, rebel, YPG/SDF, and Conoco Fields entries support fielded or battlefield-use context.
Sources: GlobalSecurity S-60, Oryx Islamic State Syria Captures, Oryx YPG Armour, Oryx Conoco Fields Losses
