Armed Forces of Malta

	Maltese ; Armed Forces Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) ; Forzi Armati ta 'Malta
guide
Commander in Chief :	President of the Republic of Malta
Military Commander:	Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi
Military strength
Active soldiers:	2.140
Conscription:	No
Resilient population:	approx. 185,418 (men and women, ages 16–49; 2010)
Eligibility for military service:	18th
household
Military budget:	$ 60 million (2002)
Share of expenses from tax revenue:	1.7% (2002)
history

The Maltese Armed Forces ( Maltese Forzi Armati ta 'Malta ) are the military of the Republic of Malta .

history

During the French occupation of the island, Maltese volunteer organizations supported the British troops in the fight against the French occupiers. After the Peace of Amiens (1802) the island was left with the Kingdom of Sardinia , but remained under British occupation. In accordance with the provisions of the peace treaty, military units were set up, most of which were recruited from men and officers of Maltese origin. Even after the islands are finally taken over, the British government continues to raise Maltese troops for longer periods of time to protect the island. In other parts of the British Empire they were rarely used. However, because of feared and actual domestic political problems and disputes that arose from the different legal status of British and Maltese associations, these were just as regularly dissolved again.

One of these associations existing in 1974, the 1st Regiment Royal Malta Artillery, was renamed the 1st Regiment, AFM, when the island gained full independence in 1974 and formed the basis of the Maltese armed forces. It retained its role as an artillery unit. The 2nd regiment was restructured as a pioneer support association.

There were only a small number of Maltese soldiers in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, and there were no independent Maltese units. These associations therefore had to be rebuilt, but due to the size of the island and its economic power, they remained manageable for the time being.

Another Maltese association was the King's Own Malta Regiment , which existed with interruptions since 1801 and was awarded two Battle Honors (1880, representing the Maltese Chasseurs, and continued for the role in World War II 1940-1942). Shortly after the granting of self-government, it came under the Malta Territorial Force in 1951 and joined the Malta Land Force in 1970. With the entry into force of the troop stationing agreement of March 26, 1972, the regiment was dissolved. The British troops were allowed to remain on the island until 1979, but Malta assured that no member state of the Warsaw Pact would make military installations available.

Boat P30 . The former condor-class mine sweeper and clearing ship was used by the AFM from 1992 to 2006

As agreed, the last British military units withdrew from Malta on March 31, 1979. In the period that followed, Malta's foreign and security policy was closely based on the Soviet Union , but also on China and Libya . A defense agreement was signed with Libya on March 18, 1980. However, the cooperation ended on August 27 of the same year when there was a conflict between Malta and Libya over the rights for oil exploration in the adjacent sea area. In the same year the 1st regiment was reclassified and consisted of infantry elements as well as the maritime and flying components of the AFM. Another reclassification followed in 1992, which essentially led to the current structure. After the collapse of East Germany Malta acquired from the Federal Republic of Germany held by the People's Navy three mine-detection and Räumschiffe the Condor class and a border patrol boat UK 23rd The three larger ships were used as patrol boats, but are now out of service. In the 1990s, used helicopters were given to the island state by the Federal Republic. A large part of the vehicles used was left to the AFM by the troops stationed in Malta; in 2009 this involved equipment worth 4 million euros.

Security policy

Due to the size of the island state and the comparatively low economic power, the Armed Forces of Malta are only small in size. The defense budget in 2002 was about 60 million US dollars , that is 1.7% of the gross national product. Since gaining independence, Malta has traditionally tried to guarantee state sovereignty by integrating it into multinational security structures, but without joining a military alliance. A treaty with Italy has existed since March 11, 1983 , in which it guarantees the protection of Maltese neutrality . On the basis of this treaty, Italian troops are permanently stationed on Malta and are led by the Italian Military Mission . The base of the Italian troops is in the Silver City barracks in Pembroke . From the beginning of the 1990s, the fight against international terrorism and against international human smuggling in the Mediterranean region played an increasingly important role for the AFM due to the island's location. Another core task that has traditionally grown is the implementation of search and rescue operations at sea. The Republic of Malta is involved in the security policy of the European Union as far as it can. The European Union is also providing financial support to Malta's efforts and providing 110 million euros for military purposes. Malta procured four new patrol boats . Maltese officers regularly take part in advanced training courses run by foreign armed forces. B. on the UN Staff Officers Course at the command academy of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg .

The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces is the President of the Republic, currently George Vella . The armed forces are led militarily by the Chief of Staff , currently Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi .

There is no conscription in Malta, the armed forces consist of voluntary regular and professional soldiers . The minimum age for joining the AFM is 18 years.

The AFM trace their tradition back to the Royal Malta Artillery , an association of the British Army , which consisted of Maltese and was also mainly stationed on the island. The sign of the maintenance of tradition is the cap badge, which was adopted by the Royal Malta Artillery, but without the crown, which was replaced by a Maltese cross, and the motto "Tutela Bellicæ Virtutis".

Strength and structure

Structure of the AFM

The armed forces of the Republic of Malta are roughly the size of a brigade and currently comprise around 2,140 soldiers. They are divided into a command staff (HQ AFM), three battalions , which, however, according to British tradition are referred to as regiments , a naval squadron (Maritime Squadron) and the Malta Air Wing.

Headquarters, AFM

The HQ AFM is the command staff of the Maltese Armed Forces. It is divided into the following departments:

Deployment and training (Operations & Training Branch)
Administration & Personnel Branch
Logistics (Logistics Branch)
European Union Security Defense Policy Branch
Public Information Cell
Intelligence Cell
Legal Department (Legal Office)
Audit & Inspectorate Branch

1st Regiment, AFM

The 1st Regiment (1st Regiment) is the infantry unit of the Maltese armed forces. It emerged directly from the Royal Malta Artillery and currently comprises three operational companies , a support company and a staff company .

The headquarters company (HQ Company) manages the association's operations and support companies.

The A Company is responsible for the security of Malta Airport and is stationed at Luqa Airport.

The B Company (B Company) is used for internal security tasks and guards, among other things, government authorities. She is stationed in Hal Far .

The C-Company (C (Special Duties) Company) provides the AFM's Quick Reaction Force . It is used under national leadership, but also in the context of operations of the European Union for special tasks. At the same time, it is also a training unit for the other AFM companies. She is also stationed in Hal Far.

The Air Defense & Support Company provides air defense capability for the island. It is equipped with the 40 mm L70 anti-aircraft gun from Bofors and the Fla-MG ZPU-4 14.5 mm Soviet design. It also provides the artillery component of the armed forces and is equipped with 81 mm mortars, RPG-7 anti- tank rifles and heavy .50 machine guns from Browning.

The regiment continues the tradition of the Royal Malta Artillery and carries out the Battle Honor awarded for the campaign in Egypt in 1882 .

3rd Regiment, AFM

The 3rd Regiment (3rd Regiment, AFM) is the support organization of the Maltese Armed Forces. It consists of three units.

The Engineer Squadron is responsible for the pioneer technical support .

The Ammunition and Explosives Company is responsible for all ammunition seizure matters. The company also includes a sub-unit for explosive ordnance disposal (Explosive Ordnance Disposal section).

The Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Squadron is responsible for repairing equipment and vehicles.

4th Regiment, AFM

The 4th Regiment (4th Regiment, AFM) summarizes the other components of the AFM. In addition to the headquarters company (HQ Company), it has been part of it since the reclassification on October 30, 2006

the music corps (AFM band)
the Revenue Security Corps
a leadership support company (C3I Company).

Air Wing, AFM

P32 in the port of Mġarr , Gozo . The boat was built in 1971 for the People's Navy of the GDR . It came to Malta from Germany in 1992.

The Air Wing is responsible for securing the Maltese airspace. Its tasks also include sea patrols, search and rescue (SAR) and support services for the government and other authorities. To do this, he has a mixture of helicopters and airplanes. The Air Wing has three King Air 200 aircraft in its fleet, which have been converted by the German company Aerodata . The aircraft are equipped with a thermal imaging camera and radar RDR-1700B from Telephonics Corporation and are used for sea surveillance.

Maritime Squadron

The Maritime Squadron is responsible for the coast guard , customs and fisheries protection . It is also used for search and rescue tasks. She has several boats for this. The Search and Rescue Training Center is located in Fort Pembroke.

The Maritime Squadron also includes the Rapid Deployment Team (RDT), which is the AFM's maritime reaction force and is intended to defend against terrorist actions at sea. The team based in Floriana uses a militarized speedboat .

Ranks and Rank Badges

The ranks of the AFM are basically the same as in the British Army , but due to their small size, not all ranks are available in the individual rank groups. The highest rank is that of the brigadier .

Officers

Rank group	Staff officers				Subaltern officers
Land Forces
Shoulder pieces
Naval forces
Shoulder pieces
Rank	Brigadier	Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	major	Captain	Lieutenant	Second lieutenant
Rank (Bundeswehr)	Brigadier General / Flotilla Admiral	Colonel / sea captain	Lieutenant Colonel / Frigate Captain	Major / Corvette Captain	Captain / lieutenant captain	First lieutenant / first lieutenant at sea	Lieutenant / lieutenant at sea
NATO rank code	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1

NCOs and men

Rank group	NCOs					Teams
Land Forces
Arm badge								no badge
Rank	Senior Sergeant Major	Warrant Officer Class 1	Warrant Officer Class 2	Staff sergeant	sergeant	Bombardier	Lance Bombardier	Gunner
Rank (Bundeswehr)	Sergeant Major		Staff Sergeant	Sergeant Major	Sergeant / Oberfeldwebel	Corporal / Oberstabsgefreiter	Obergefreiter / Hauptgefreiter	Private
Naval forces
Arm badge								no badge
Rank	Warrant Officer Class 1		Warrant Officer Class 2	Staff sergeant	sergeant	Bombardier	Lance Bombardier	Gunner
Rank (Bundeswehr)	Chief of Staff		Staff Captain	Chief Boatswain	Boatswain / Oberbootsmann	Corporal / Oberstabsgefreiter	Obergefreiter / Hauptgefreiter	Private
NATO rank code	OR-9		OR-8	OR-7	OR-6	OR-4	OR-3	OR-2

equipment

The AFM use weapons, equipment, vehicles, aircraft and boats from different countries. While modern types of personal equipment and armament have been procured in recent years, the armed forces are dependent on financial support or the purchase of used equipment when procuring large equipment. Much of the equipment and armament of units that are not used for the core tasks of the Maltese armed forces, however, was procured several decades ago.

Various camouflage uniforms are used as combat uniforms, which are also used by the British and US armed forces. The French SPECTRA helmet and the Italian SEPT-2 PLUS are used as combat helmets, and the British S10 NBC as a respirator. The uniforms used for representative duties and day-to-day duty conform to British designs and are also procured in Great Britain.

Infantry weapons


Type	Art	Manufacturer	annotation
Beretta 92	gun	Italy Italy	Beretta 92FS
Heckler & Koch MP5	Submachine gun	Germany Germany	MP5 K, MP5 A4 and MP5 A5
Awtomat Kalashnikova 47	Assault rifle	Russia Russia / Romania / People's Republic of ChinaRomania China People's Republic	different variations
Accuracy International	Sniper rifle	United Kingdom United Kingdom	AWC PM (L96A1) and AWSM (L115A1)
Fabrique Nationale MAG	Machine gun	Belgium Belgium
Pulemyot Kalashnikova	Machine gun	Russia Russia
Browning .50 Cal	Heavy machine gun	United States United States

Land vehicles

Ordnance QF 25 pounder. This weapon is used by the AFM as a salute gun.


Type	Art	Manufacturer
Land Rover Defender	Off-road vehicle	United Kingdom United Kingdom
Iveco VM 90	Multipurpose vehicle	Italy Italy
Iveco	Trucks	Italy Italy
Fiat Ducato	ambulance	Italy Italy

Aircraft

Status: end of 2019

Aircraft	origin	use	version	active	Remarks
Planes
Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander	United Kingdom United Kingdom	Transport / maritime patrol	BN-2B-26	1
Beechcraft King Air	United States United States	Transport / maritime patrol	King Air B200	3
helicopter
AgustaWestland AW139	Italy Italy	Multipurpose helicopter		3
Aérospatiale Alouette III	France France	Multipurpose and training helicopters	SA.316B	3	former machines of the Libyan Air Force

Sea vessels

Ship class	origin	Ships	Remarks
Diciotti	Italy Italy	P61	Ocean patrol boat (OPV)
Emer	Ireland Ireland	P62	Ocean patrol boat (OPV), ex- Irish LÉ Aoife (P22)
Protector	United States United States	P51 P52	Ocean patrol boat (OPV) based on the Damen Stan Patrol 2600
P21	Australia Australia	P21 P22 P23 P24	Coastal Patrol Vessel (IPV)
Supervittoria 800	Italy Italy	Melita I Melita II	Search and Rescue (SAR)
Boomeranger	Finland Finland	P02 P03 P04	Harbor protection boat
Defender	United States United States	P05 P06	Harbor protection boat