# Royal Bahraini Army

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.

## 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. 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. 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.
8 M-ATV light armored vehicles in service

### Armoured fighting vehicles

| Model | Image | Origin | Quantity | Details |
| M1A2 SEPv3 | | United States | ~50 | |
| M60A3 | | United States | ~100 | 80 more in store. |
| Name | Class | Origin | Number | Notes |
| YPR-765 | IFV | Netherlands | 75 | 25 Netherlands-origin YPR-765 ACV delivered in 1996, 42 Belgium-origin AIFV-IFV delivered in 2008. |
| M113 | Armoured personnel carrier | United States | 339 | A total of 339 M113A2 were delivered |
| Lynx | Command and recon | United States | 35 | |
| Panhard M3 | Armoured personnel carrier | France | 110 | Ordered in 1977, most of them modified, including some ambulance, CP, AEV, ARV, and 81mm mortar carrier versions |
| Saxon | Armoured personnel carrier | United Kingdom | 10 | Purchased in the 1980s |
| AML-90 | Armoured car | France | 22 | Ordered in 1977 |
| Otokar Arma | Armoured personnel carrier | Turkey | 73 | In service from 2010 |
| Otokar ZPT | Armoured patrol vehicle | Turkey | 133 | In service 2012/13 |
| Otokar Akrep | Infantry mobility vehicle | Turkey | 21 | In service 2005 |
| Otokar Cobra | Infantry mobility vehicle | Turkey | 15 | In service 2008 |
| Humvee | Infantry mobility vehicle | United States | 200+ | 2 types: BGM-71 TOW missile (44) and Browning M2HB |
| Kornet-D | Anti-tank guided missile | 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. |
| Toyota Land Cruiser | Utility vehicle | Japan | 200+ | Locally modified - VDJ78R Troop Carrier |
| Chevrolet Silverado | Multi-purpose vehicle | United States | 50+ | |
| Interceptor | Light armoured vehicle | Pakistan | 0 | 6 on order of these light-protected vehicles, it is likely that a series contract of minimum of 50 more vehicles would be further awarded |
| Nimer-1 | MRAP | Oman | 6 | In service since 2005 |

### Air Defense Systems

| Name | Origin | Type | Number | Details |
| MIM-104 Patriot | United States | Surface-to-air missiles | 1 | Raytheon awarded contract to supply Patriot missiles defense systems. |
| FIM-92A | United States | Man-portable air-defense system | 14-16 | Delivered 1988 along with 70 missiles |
| RBS 70 | Sweden | Short range air defense | 14 | Delivered 1980–81 along with 161 missiles |
| Crotale | France | Surface-to-air missile | 7 | |
| MIM-23 Hawk | United States | Surface-to-air missile | 8 | |
| AN/TWQ-1 Avenger | United States | Surface-to-air missile | 10+ | Self-propelled surface-to-air missile system mounted on a HMMWV |
| Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon | Switzerland | Autocannon | 15 | GDF-005 units |
| Bofors 40 mm | Sweden | Autocannon | 12 | |

### Artillery

| Name | Origin | Type | Number | Details |
| M110A2 howitzer | United States | Self-propelled howitzer | 38 | 13 as M110A2 from Netherlands delivered in 1994, 25 as M110A2 from US delivered in 1996. |
| M198 howitzer | United States | Howitzer | 18 | |
| L-118 | United Kingdom | Field gun | 8 | |
| 81mm EIMOS Integrated Mortar System | Spain | Mortar | 6 | |
| M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System | United States | Multiple launch rocket system | 9 | MGM-140 ATACMS |
| SR-5 | China | Multiple launch rocket system | 8+ | |

### Anti-tank Weapons

| Name | Origin | Type | Number | Details |
| 120 mm BAT recoilless rifle | United Kingdom | Anti tank rifle | 10+ | |
| BGM-71C | United States | Anti-tank missile | Unknown | A total of 2,724 missiles delivered since 1983 |
| FGM-148 Javelin | United States | Anti-tank missile | 60 | 180+ missiles |
| Kornet-EM | Russia | | Unknown | |

### Weapons

| Type/Class | Quantity | Origin |
| 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/Class | Quantity | Origin | Details |
| Logistics Vehicle System heavy tactical vehicle system | 100+ | United States | Transport of armored vehicles and tanks |
| M939 Truck 6x6 trucks | 100+ | United States | |
| MAN Truck & Bus military transport | 200+ | United States | |
| Toyota Coaster troops transport | 100+ | Japan | |
Retired equipment were made in the 1950s and 1960s:
| Type/Class | Quantity | Origin | Details |
| Ferret Armoured Fighting Vehicle | 10 | UK | |
| Alvis Saladin | 10 | UK | |