The Kuwait Naval Force (

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: القوة البحرية الكويتية

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: ''Al-Quwwat Al-Bahriyah Al-Kuwaitiyah''), is the sea-based component of the

Kuwait Armed Forces The Kuwait Armed Forces ( ar, القوات المسلحة الكويتية, Al-Quwwat Al-Musallahah Al-Kuwaitiyah) are the military forces of the Kuwait, State of Kuwait. They consist of the Kuwait Air Force, the Kuwait Army, the Kuwait Naval For ...

. The headquarters and sole naval base is Mohammed Al-Ahmad Kuwait Naval Base. The Kuwait Naval Force consists of over 2,200 officers and enlisted personnel, excluding about 500

coast guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

personnel. The Coast Guard, a Border Security Directorate of the Kuwait Ministry of Interior.http://www.moi.gov.kw/kcg/ Official Website Sector of the General Department of the Coast Guard, Kuwait Ministry of Interior, (in Arabic)Naval forces: over 2,200 people (excluding 500 in coastguard)
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History

Kuwait's navy was established in 1961 shortly after Britain ended the country's protectorate status following

Operation Vantage Operation Vantage was a British military operation in 1961 to support the newly independent state of Kuwait against territorial claims by its neighbour, Iraq. The UK reacted to a call for protection from Sheikh Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah of Kuw ...

. During the

Invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an operation conducted by Iraq on 2 August 1990, whereby it invaded the neighboring State of Kuwait, consequently resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. The invasion and Ira ...

and

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

, Kuwait's navy was almost completely destroyed. At the start of the invasion, the

Iraqi Navy The Iraqi Naval Forces (Arabic: القوات البحرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed forces of Iraq. Formed in 1937, initially as the ''Iraqi Coastal Defense Force,'' its primary resp ...

captured and sank five Kuwaiti

Lürssen Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Fähr-Lobbendorf. Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Tradi ...

TNC-45 type fast attack craft (missile) and one Lürssen FPB-57 type fast attack craft (missile). Kuwait Naval Forces also lost 20 other ships to Iraq during the war. On 11 November 2008, Kuwait Naval Base was the location of the historic signing of the non-legally binding maritime

Khawr Abd Allah Protocols The Iraqi Naval Forces (Arabic: القوات البحرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed forces of Iraq. Formed in 1937, initially as the ''Iraqi Coastal Defense Force,'' its primary resp ...

otherwise known as the KAA Protocols. The signing of the KAA Protocols by the then respective heads of the Kuwaiti Naval Force and the Iraqi Navy was the first formal and successful maritime bilateral military agreement for the co-ordinated and de-conflicted use of the Khawr Abd Allah waterway since before the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The protocols were developed and mediated by Major David Hammond RM, a British Royal Navy barrister in 2008 and they were subsequently ratified by both the Kuwaiti and Iraqi governments before the 11 November 2008 signing. They were subsequently reported to the US Congress within the December 2008 'Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq' report and the text of which have since become public knowledge following leaks in US diplomatic notes.

Structure and Organization

* Kuwait Naval Warships * Kuwait Marine Corps * Kuwait

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Marine Units

Part of the present fleet

List Missile Fast Patrol Boats (MFPB)

List Patrol Fighting Vessels

List Amphibious Vessels and Landing Craft

List Supply Vessels

Future ships

* 1 DSV (Diving Support Vessel) Landing craft, the procurement programme for the Kuwait Navy included the acquisition of two 64 m landing craft, one 42 m landing craft and five 16 m composite landing craft; all will be built at ADSB’s facilities in the Mussafah industrial area (UAE) all delivered except one 64 m landing craft to be delivered in 2017.

Notes

References

Article on Kuwaiti Military

Um Al Marradim Class description

Summary of Kuwait military power

Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq

External links

Kuwait Navy buys gun system from Rheinmetall

{{Asia topic, Navy of, title=Navies of Asia Military of Kuwait Military units and formations established in 1961