page_title: Tunisian Armed Forces
section_title: Navy equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Tunisian Armed Forces / Navy equipment
caption_attribution_description: English: Fast Attack Craft of the type 143 Albatros class. 510 "Giscon" of the Tunisian Navy formerly S70 "Kormoran" of the German Navy. Deutsch: Schnellboot des Types 143 Albatros. 510 "Giscon" der Tunisischen Marine, früher S70 "Kormoran" der Deutschen Marine.
context_page_description: The Tunisian Armed Forces consist of the Tunisian Army, Air Force and Navy.
  As of 2019, Tunisia had armed forces with 35,800 active-duty personnel, of which 22,000 were conscripts. Paramilitary forces consisted of a 12,000-member national guard. Tunisia participates in United Nations peacekeeping efforts in the DROC and Côte d'Ivoire. Previous United Nations peacekeeping deployments for the Tunisian armed forces have included Cambodia, Namibia, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia/Eritrea, and the 1960s mission in the Congo, ONUC.
  The former minister of defence was Rachid Sabbagh.
context_section_description: Established in 1959, the Marine nationale tunisienne (Tunisian National Navy) initially received French assistance, including advisory personnel and several small patrol vessels. On 22 October 1973, the U.S. Edsall-class destroyer escort USS Thomas J. Gary (DE-326) was decommissioned in ceremonies at the Quai d'Honneur, Bizerte. Moments later, the ship was commissioned by the Tunisian Navy as the President Bourgiba. In the mid-1980s the force included President Bourguiba, two United States-built coastal minesweepers, and a variety of fast-attack and patrol craft. The most important additions to the fleet in the 1980s were three La Combattante III class fast attack craft armed with Exocet surface-to-surface missiles. Apart from these vessels, however, most of the fleet's units were old and capable of little more than coastal patrol duties.
  During the 1960s and 1970s the navy was primarily involved in combating the smuggling of contraband, the illegal entry of un-
  desirable aliens, and unauthorized emigration as well as other coastal security activities. In these matters the overall effort was shared with agencies of the Ministry of Interior, especially the customs agents and immigration personnel of the Surete Nationale.
  President Bourgiba suffered a major fire on 16 April 1992 and later left operational service.
  Today the Tunisian Navy reportedly has bases at Bizerte, Kelibia, La Goulette, and Sfax. Formerly reported in service were six Kondor-II class minsweepers of 635 tons, equipped with 3 twin 25mm Guns. However none were listed in service by the IISS Military Balance 2013. Also formerly in use were MBDA MM-40 Exocet and Nord SS-12M surface-to-surface missiles.
  Fast attack craft and gunboats include:
  3 La Combattante III class fast attack craft La Galite class in Tunisian service (with 8xMM-40 SSMs, 1x76mm Gun, 2x40mm Guns, 4x30mm Guns)
  6 Type-143 Lurssen Albatros class (2x76mm Gun, Mine Laying Capability) P506 Hannon is possibly out of service after the delivery of third   MSOPV-1400 named Hannon 
  3 P-48 Bizerte class with 4x37mm Guns. Eight SS-12M SSMs were removed as obsolete.
  3-5 Modified Hazhui\Shanghai-II class (128 ft,30 knots, 4x37mm Guns, 4x25mm Guns)
caption: Giscon (510), a fast attack craft of the Tunisian Navy, photographed 21 October 2008
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