Royal Bahraini Army is the ground force component of the

Bahrain Defence Force The Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) is the military force of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Bahrain Defence Force is under direct command and leadership of a commander-in-chief who holds the rank of field marshal. The Government has a Minister of Def ...

. The army's current strength is 15,000 personnel and headed by Lieutenant General Khalifa bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa.

History

Bahraini ground troops took part in the

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Saudi may refer to: * Saudi Arabia * Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia * Saudi culture, the culture of Saudi Arabia * House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is c ...

in the

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In September 2015, five Bahraini soldiers guarding Yemeni–Saudi Arabian border were killed in unspecified circumstances. Another three died in Yemen afterwards.

Formation

The army consists of 3 brigades and 2 battalions: * 1 Armoured Brigade ** 2 armoured battalions ** 1 recon battalion * 1 Mechanized Infantry Brigade ** 2 mechanized infantry battalions ** 1 infantry battalion * 1 Artillery Brigade ** 6 artillery batteries * 1 air defence battalion * 1 special forces battalion

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 Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. 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 Arma is a 6x6 and 8x8 amphibious wheeled armoured combat vehicle family designed and developed by Otokar. The vehicle is a modular multi-wheel configurable with a monocoque steel hull. Development Otokar developed the vehicle to target the Turki ...

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.

Armoured vehicles

Air Defense Systems

Artillery

Anti-tank Weapons

Weapons

Additional equipment on order by the army include: Retired equipment were made in the 1950s and 1960s:

References

Sources

Bahrain

{{Bahrain security forces Military of Bahrain

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

Military units and formations established in 1977 Bahrain Defence Force 1977 establishments in Bahrain