Military of the United Arab Emirates
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The armed forces of the United Arab Emirates, officially called the Union Defence Force, consists of 65,000 troops, and is headquartered in Abu Dhabi. It is the federal military force and is primarily responsible for the defense of all seven emirates.
The Trucial Oman Scouts, long the symbol of public order on the coast and commanded by British officers, were turned over to the United Arab Emirates as its defense forces in 1971.
Most UAE troops are citizens of other Arab countries and Pakistan. Officers, however, are almost all UAE nationals. Most are graduates of the United Kingdom's Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, with others having attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and St. Cyr, the military academy of France.
The UAE air force has about 3,500 personnel. The air force agreed in 1999 to purchase 80 advanced U.S. F-16 multirole fighter aircraft. Other equipment includes the Mirage 2000s, British Hawk aircraft, and French helicopters. The air defense has a Hawk missile program for which the United States is providing training. The UAE has taken delivery of two of five Triad I-Hawk batteries.
The UAE navy is growing, with more than 2,000 personnel and 12 well-equipped coastal patrol boats and 8 missile craft.
The UAE sent forces to assist Kuwait during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. It dispatched an infantry battalion to the United Nations force in Somalia in 1993, it sent the 35th Mechanized Infantry Battalion to Kosovo, and sent a regiment to Kuwait during the Iraq War. In addition, it helps protect the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. It is a leading partner in the campaign against terrorism, providing assistance in the military, diplomatic, and financial arenas. The UAE military provides humanitarian assistance to Iraq. UAE peacekeepers deployment in Afghanistan started in 2007.
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[edit] Military expansion (1991-2005)
The UAE went on an expansion drive in 1995, which began with the 1992-93 acquisition of 436 Leclerc Tanks and 415 BMP-3 Armored Vehicles. It had learned from the Iranian experiences with having a single supplier for its military and has diversified its arms purchases, purchasing weaponry mainly from Russia, the US, the UK, Ukraine, France and Germany. It has also taken care to invest in the systems it has purchased and standardize them according to NATO/GCC Specifications.
The equipment expansion was also followed by a Quantitative Manpower Expansion and Emiratisation program for the Armed forces. Presently (2005) almost all pilots in the UAE Airforce are UAE Nationals, with the restriction of non-nationals to certain positions in the instruction and maintenance divisions of the airforce. More nationals are being trained to fill these ranks, with programs such as the Technical Trainee Project underway to try to fill the technical jobs in the country.
There has also been a Qualitative shift in the Personnel in the Armed services, with expert instruction being brought in from around the world, refinement of local military training institutions and the increase in standards across the armed forces.
[edit] Military industry
The UAE has begun to produce a greater amount of military equipment in a bid to reduce foreign dependence and help with national Industrialisation. The Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding company - ADSB ([1]) produce a range of ships and are a prime contractor in the Baynunah Program, a program to design develop and produce 5-6 corvettes customized for operation in the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. It has also produced and is producing ammunition, military transport vehicles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
In 2007 the first small arm ever produced in UAE, the Caracal pistol, was introduced at IDEX. it became the official sidearm of the UAE armed forces and security forces. The National Guard of Bahrain adopted it shortly thereafter. Jordan ordered an unspecified number of pistol in April, 2008 during SOFEX, the Special Forces Exhibition held in Jordan.
A joint venture agreement was signed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 2007 between Tawazun Holding LLC, an investment company established by the Offset Program Bureau (OPB), Al Jaber Trading Establishment, part of Al Jaber Group, and Rheinmetall Munitions Systems, to set up the Al Burkan munition factory at the Zayed Military City in Abu Dhabi.
[edit] Military Branches
[edit] Union Defence Force
- United Arab Emirates Army
- United Arab Emirates Navy
- United Arab Emirates Air Force
- United Arab Emirates Air Defence Force
- Various paramilitary forces
- Federal Police Force
[edit] Emirates
Three Emirates maintain their Defense forces called Regional Commands. , Sharjah's, the smallest, was merged into the UDF in 1986.
- Abu Dhabi Defense Force
- Dubai Defense Force - Central Military Command
- Ras al Khaymah Defense Force
[edit] Military manpower
- Military Age
- 18 years
- Military availability
- Males age 15-49, including non-nationals
- Number fit for military service
- Males age 15-49
- Number reaching military age annually
- Males
[edit] Military expenditures
- 1999: $2,100,000,000 (4.8% of Gross Domestic Product)
- 2000: $1,600,000,000 (3.1% of Gross Domestic Product)
[edit] Army Equipment
MBT
Leclerc - 388
APC
AIFV - 133
IFV
BMP-3 - 598
[edit] Aircraft
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service[1] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon |  United States |
fighter | F-16E/F Desert Falcon | 80 | |
| Dassault Mirage 2000-9 |  France |
fighter | Mirage 2000-9 | 68 | 32 aircraft upgraded |
| Pilatus PC-7 |  Switzerland |
trainer | PC-7 | 30 | |
| Aermacchi MB-339 |  Italy |
trainer | MB-339A | 5 | |
| British Aerospace Hawk |  United Kingdom |
trainer | Hawk Mk 61/63/102 | 46 | |
| Grob G 115 Acro |  Germany |
trainer | G 115 Acro | 12 | |
| Boeing AH-64 Apache | United States |
attack helicopter | AH-64A Apache | 30 | |
| Boeing CH-47 Chinook | United States |
transport helicopter | CH-47C/D Chinook | 12 | Acquired from Libya |
| IAR SA 330 Puma | France |
transport helicopter | SA 330/IAR 300 Puma | 25 | Acquired from Romania |
| Eurocopter AS 550 Fennec | France |
observation helicopter | AS 550C3 | 12 | |
| Eurocopter AS 350 Ecureuil | France |
trainer helicopter | AS 350 Ecureuil | 14 | |
| Eurocopter AS 332 Super Puma | France |
naval helicopter | AS 332 Super Puma | 2 | |
| Bell 214 Huey Plus | United States |
utility helicopter | Bell 214B Huey Plus | 4 | |
| Lockheed C-130 Hercules | United States |
tactical transport | C-130H/C-130H-30 Hercules | 6 | |
| CASA CN-235 |  Spain |
transport | CN-235 | 11 | |
| Cessna 208B Grand Caravan | United States |
utility | Grand Caravan | 7 | |
| Augusta-Bell AB-412 | Italy |
transport helicopter | AB-412HP/SP | 6 | |
| Eurocopter AS565 Panther | France |
naval helicopter | AS 565SB Panther | 16 | |
| Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin | France |
VIP helicopter | AS 365N3 Dauphin | 1 |
[edit] References and links
- Airforces Monthly January 2008
- Official government.ae page
- This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2003 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.
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