Bahraini Army
The Bahraini army in the 1990s was organized into one brigade, consisting of two mechanized infantry battalions, one tank battalion, one special forces battalion, an armored car squadron, and two artillery and two mortar batteries. Its principal armored weapons were M-60A3 main battle tanks purchased from the United States in the late 1980s. Deliveries are awaited on an order for eighty United States M-113 APCs, supplementing a mixed accumulation of older armored vehicles. The army's artillery pieces consist of a few towed 105mm and 155mm howitzers. Its principal antitank weapon is the BGM-71 AI-TOW wire-guided missile.
By 2010 the Bahraini army was composed of 8,500 personnel, divided into three infantry battalions, three armor battalions, and one artillery group, which could solely and effectively defend it national sovereignty, if invaded, for up to 48 hours. While many world armes focus on offensive capabilities, Bahrain is more of a defensive army, and all of its personnel are located in the capital, Manama. Although a fairly small force, with mediocre training, with the exception being joint training with GCC states, it is still able to possess a significant amount of equipment including reconnaissance vehicles, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, howitzers, surface to air missiles, and a small array of handheld infantry weapons.
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