Royal Bahraini Army

Last updated

Royal Bahraini Army
الجيش البحريني
Flag of the Royal Bahraini Army.svg
Flag of the Royal Bahraini Army
Founded1969
CountryFlag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain
Allegiance Emblem of Bahrain.svg King of Bahrain
Branch Army
Role Ground warfare
Size20,000 active; 110,000 reserve [1]
Part ofFlag of the Bahrain Defence Force.svg Bahrain Defence Force
Garrison/HQ Manama
Engagements Bahraini uprising of 2011
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
Gulf War
Commanders
Current
commander
Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa
Notable
commanders
Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Khalifa
Munzir ibn Sawa Al-Tamimi

Royal Bahraini Army is the ground force component of the Bahrain Defence Force. The army's current strength is 20,000 personnel and headed by Lieutenant General Khalifa bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa. [2]

Contents

History

Bahraini ground troops took part in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen in the Yemeni civil war. In September 2015, five Bahraini soldiers guarding Yemeni–Saudi Arabian border were killed in unspecified circumstances. [3] Another three died in Yemen afterwards. [4]

Formation

The army consists of 3 brigades and 2 battalions:

Equipment

RBA has a mix of equipment purchases in the 1970s and early 1990s. They are currently modernizing some of the army's equipment. Most purchases in the past have been second hand from the United States or Britain. In the past few years, Bahrain began developing military capabilities, through the purchase of many military equipment from Turkey, Bahrain has bought many Armoured vehicles from Turkey, such as Otokar Arma and Otokar Akrep (Armoured combat vehicle).

State Dept. clears $2.5 billion sale of Patriot missile defense system to Bahrain. The deal would include 60 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, 36 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missiles with canisters, nine M903 launchers, two AN/MPQ-65 radar sets, control stations and other associated equipment. [5]

8 M-ATV light armored vehicles in service [6]

Armoured fighting vehicles

ModelImageOriginQuantityDetails
M1A2 SEPv3 M1A2 SEP V3 Abrams - 200721-A-BT735-349.jpg Flag of the United States.svg  United States ~50 [7]
M60A3 2-70 AR Bright Star 85.jpg ~10080 more in store. [8]
ImageNameClassOriginNumberNotes
Eager Lion 2014 140529-M-HZ646-188 (14149994630).jpg YPR-765 IFV Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 7525 Netherlands-origin YPR-765 ACV delivered in 1996, 42 Belgium-origin AIFV-IFV delivered in 2008.
Blindado M113 (Ejercito brasileno) en.jpg
M113 Armoured personnel carrier Flag of the United States.svg  United States 339A total of 339 M113A2 were delivered
Lynx-Bovington.jpg Lynx Command and reconFlag of the United States.svg  United States 35
PanhardM3.png Panhard M3 Armoured personnel carrier Flag of France.svg  France 110Ordered in 1977, most of them modified, including some ambulance, CP, AEV, ARV, and 81mm mortar carrier versions
Saxon Armoured Vehicle MOD 45143139.jpg Saxon Armoured personnel carrier Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 10Purchased in the 1980s
Panhard AML-90 img 2308.jpg AML-90 Armoured car Flag of France.svg  France 22Ordered in 1977
Otokar Arma Armoured personnel carrier Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 73In service from 2010
Otokar ZPT Armoured patrol vehicle Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 133In service 2012/13
Otokar Akrep Infantry mobility vehicle Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 21In service 2005
Otokar Cobra in Kabul.jpg Otokar Cobra Infantry mobility vehicle Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 15In service 2008
Hamer VS 1.jpg
Humvee Infantry mobility vehicle Flag of the United States.svg  United States 200+2 types: BGM-71 TOW missile (44) and Browning M2HB
Kornet-EM MAKS-2011 01.jpg Kornet-D Anti-tank guided missile [9] Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 10+The Kornet-EM is based on the chassis of the Tigr 4x4 light armored vehicle with two retractable launcher units, each with four missiles ready to fire. In road position, the launcher units are stowed inside the vehicle.
2016-2018 Toyota Land Cruiser (VDJ200R) VX wagon (2018-09-03) 01.jpg Toyota Land Cruiser Utility vehicle Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 200+Locally modified - VDJ78R Troop Carrier
MP MilCOTS.jpg Chevrolet Silverado Multi-purpose vehicle Flag of the United States.svg  United States 50+
Interceptor Light armoured vehicle Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 06 on order of these light-protected vehicles, it is likely that a series contract of minimum of 50 more vehicles would be further awarded [10]
Nimer-1 MRAP Flag of Oman.svg  Oman 6In service since 2005

Air Defense Systems

PhotoNameOriginTypeNumberDetails
MIM-104 Patriot.JPG MIM-104 Patriot Flag of the United States.svg United States Surface-to-air missiles 1Raytheon awarded contract to supply Patriot missiles defense systems. [11]
Launched FIM-92A Stinger missile.jpg FIM-92A Flag of the United States.svg  United States Man-portable air-defense system 14-16Delivered 1988 along with 70 missiles
RBS70.jpg RBS 70 Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Short range air defense 14Delivered 1980–81 along with 161 missiles
Sisu XA-180 iTO-90.jpg Crotale Flag of France.svg  France Surface-to-air missile 7
Hawk mobile.jpg MIM-23 Hawk Flag of the United States.svg  United States Surface-to-air missile 8
Avenger missile.jpg AN/TWQ-1 Avenger Flag of the United States.svg  United States Surface-to-air missile 10+Self-propelled surface-to-air missile system mounted on a HMMWV
35mmFlab.png Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland Autocannon 15GDF-005 units
Irish Army Bofors Gun getting ready (4746227784).jpg Bofors 40 mm Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Autocannon 12

Artillery

PhotoNameOriginTypeNumberDetails
203mm Self-Propelled Howitzer M110A2.JPG M110A2 howitzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States Self-propelled howitzer 3813 as M110A2 from Netherlands delivered in 1994, [12] 25 as M110A2 from US delivered in 1996. [13]
U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf War (1991) 001.jpg M198 howitzer Flag of the United States.svg  United States Howitzer 18
Light Gun E. T..JPG L-118 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Field gun 8
81mm EIMOS Integrated Mortar SystemFlag of Spain.svg  Spain Mortar 6 [14]
M270 MRLS (18963219839).jpg M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System Flag of the United States.svg  United States Multiple launch rocket system 9 MGM-140 ATACMS
SR-5 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Multiple launch rocket system 8+ [15] [16]

Anti-tank Weapons

PhotoNameOriginTypeNumberDetails
Wombat Recoilless Weapon.JPG 120 mm BAT recoilless rifle Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Anti tank rifle 10+
Hires 090509-A-4842R-001a.jpg BGM-71C Flag of the United States.svg  United States Anti-tank missileUnknownA total of 2,724 missiles delivered since 1983
Army-fgm148.jpg FGM-148 Javelin Flag of the United States.svg  United States Anti-tank missile60180+ missiles
Kornet-EM MAKS-2011 01.jpg Kornet-EM Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Unknown [17]

Weapons

Type/ClassQuantityOriginDetails
Heckler & Koch G3 West Germany
FN FAL Belgium
M16A2 rifle  ?United States
M4 carbine  ?United States
Barrett M82 anti-materiel rifle ?United States
Heckler & Koch MP5  ?West Germany
Browning Hi-Power Belgium
SIG Sauer P226 Germany
FN MAG Belgium
M2 Browning Belgium

Additional equipment on order by the army include:

Type/ClassQuantityOriginDetails
Logistics Vehicle System heavy tactical vehicle system100+United StatesTransport of armored vehicles and tanks
M939 Truck 6x6 trucks100+ United States
MAN Truck & Bus military transport200+ United States
Toyota Coaster troops transport100+ Japan

Retired equipment were made in the 1950s and 1960s:

Type/ClassQuantityOriginDetails
Ferret Armoured Fighting Vehicle10UK
Alvis Saladin 10UK

See also

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References

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  2. "2023 Bahrain Military Strength" . Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  3. UAE, Bahrain lose 50 troops on black day for Yemen coalition. Dawn News. 5 September 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  4. "Bahrain says three soldiers in Yemen coalition killed". Dunya News.
  5. "State Dept. Clears $2.5 billion sale of Patriot missile defense system to Bahrain". 6 May 2019.
  6. https://dsm.forecastinternational.com/wordpress/2019/04/16/bahrain-operating-m-atvs/ [ bare URL ]
  7. Matthieu (20 March 2024). "US approves sale of 50 next-gen M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks to Bahrain | Defense News March 2024 Global Security army industry | Defense Security global news industry army year 2024 | Archive News year". Army Recognition. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  8. International Institute for Strategic Studies (15 February 2023). The Military Balance 2023 (1st ed.). Routledge. ISBN   978-1032508955.
  9. "Bahrain to purchase Russian-made mobile Kornet-EM anti-tank missiles 1408143".
  10. "Pakistan to sell six Interceptor Vehicles to Bahrain".
  11. GDC (11 March 2020). "Raytheon to supply Patriot Missile Defense System to Bahrain". Global Defense Corp. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  12. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. "Transfers and licensed production of major conventional weapons" . Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  13. Defense Security Cooperation Agency. "Excess Defense Articles". Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  14. "Janes | Latest defence and security news". Janes.com.
  15. GDC (10 July 2021). "NORINCO Delivers SR-5 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems To Bahrain". Global Defense Corp. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  16. "NORINCO Delivers First Batch Of SR5 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems To Bahrain". www.defenseworld.net. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  17. "Bahrain to purchase Russian-made mobile Kornet-EM anti-tank missiles 1408143".

Sources