The Kuwait Naval Force (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: القوة البحرية الكويتية

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

: ''Al-Quwwat Al-Bahriyah Al-Kuwaitiyah''), is the sea-based component of the Kuwait Armed Forces. 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. During the

Invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, codenamed Project 17, began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the Kuwait, State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country fo ...

and Operation Desert Storm, Kuwait's navy was almost completely destroyed. At the start of the invasion, the Iraqi Navy 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. Tradin ...

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 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

Commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

Marine Units

Part of the present fleet

List of Missile Fast Patrol Boats (MFPB)

List of Patrol Fighting Vessels

List of Amphibious Vessels and Landing Craft

List of 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 the Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) facilities in the Mussafah industrial area (UAE) all delivered except one 64 m landing craft to be delivered in 2017. EDGE has announced the signing of a major AED 9 billion (USD 2.45 billion) defence contract with the Kuwait Ministry of Defence for the supply of 8 FALAJ-3 62-metre missile boats. This contract marks the largest naval shipbuilding export in the region and ranks among the highest-value naval export deals globally.https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2025/06/edge-signs-record-breaking-2-45-billion-naval-contract-with-kuwait-ministry-of-defence/

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