Armed Forces of Jordan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
JordanJordan Jordan's
Armed Forces Jordanian Armed Forces
القوّات المسلّحة الاردنيّة
guide
Commander in Chief : Abdullah II bin al-Hussein
Military Commander: Mashal Mohammad Al-Zaben
Headquarters: Amman
Military strength
Active soldiers: 110,700 (estimate for 2013)
Conscription: exposed
Eligibility for military service: 18 years
household
Military budget: $ 1.36 billion (2012)
history
Founding: 1921
Jordanian soldiers at a military parade, June 2007
AH-1 attack helicopter, 1985
F-5E Tiger II
The Royal Tank Museum in Amman

The armed forces of Jordan ( English Jordanian Armed Forces ; Arabic القوّات المسلّحة الاردنيّة, DMG al-quwwāt al-musallaḥa al-urdunniyya ) have been entrusted with the internal role of securing rule since they were founded in 1921. In addition, they fought in multiple wars and skirmishes against both Israeli and Arab troops. Until 1956, a large proportion of the officers were British . The armed forces were built on the British model as a professional army .

history

As the predecessor organization of the armed forces, the Arab Legion took part in the Allied occupation of Syria and the suppression of the Raschid Ali al-Gailani uprising in World War II as a force with mixed Arab-British officer corps and Arab teams . This was followed by the Palestine War , in which the Hashimite dynasty was able to annex large parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem through the fighting power of the Legion . In 1951 the first attempts to build an air force within the Legion's organizational framework were made. An armored force was also built up . In 1956 the British officers were removed from the army by the king and mostly expelled from the country.

In 1957 there was an attempted coup by Nassist officers . The coup plans were betrayed, however, and King Hussein was able to muster 2,000 soldiers and irregulars from the Beni Sakhr tribe in Amman. In 1959 the Vice Chief of Staff Sadek asch-Shara'a was sentenced to death for planning an overthrow , but was pardoned to life imprisonment .

Jordanian troops fought on a larger and smaller scale in several wars on the side of other Arab states against Israel. While in 1948 the Legion was still the most feared force by the Israelis, its military capabilities have declined compared to Israel and its neighboring countries. The military role to the outside world has dwindled, also due to demographic and economic facts and developments. The armed forces primarily serve the internal security of the kingdom. The air force in particular is particularly professionalized and decided battles with Syrian armored forces in 1970 in favor of the Jordanians. In Black September, the Jordanian armed forces successfully crushed the resistance of the PLO. Since then there has been a reconciliation between the Palestinian majority and the royal family. The Jordanian Navy only operates speedboats . They were not officially formed from the Coast Guard until 1991. There is a lively cooperation with the US armed forces , during which several maneuvers were held, including Eager Lion 12 , which was the largest maneuver in Jordan.

In 1996, Jordan was elevated to the official status of an important ally outside of NATO by the then US President Bill Clinton and thus received access to selected armaments programs as well as military and financial grants from the USA. During the Syrian Civil War , the Jordanian Air Force supports the USA in bombing positions of the terrorist organization " Islamic State ".

Armed forces

Ground forces

The army is divided into four regional commands (north, east, south and center), and there is also the Royal Armored Division as a central reserve and a special task force. In total, the Jordanian army has 90,000 soldiers and 60,000 reservists.

The following units are subordinate to the individual commands:

The Jordanian Army has, among other things

Tanks and vehicles

artillery

Anti-tank weapons

Air defense

Air Force

The Royal Jordanian Air Force , founded in 1955, has 40 Northrop F-5 Tiger II aircraft and 60 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft . The Jordanian Air Force has been rated by the Israeli military several times as the Arab Air Force with the highest level of training.

Naval forces

Royal Jordanian Navy naval war flag

The Royal Jordanian Navy ( Arabic القوة البحرية الاردنية; English Royal Jordanian Navy ) has 500 members and operates from the port of Aqaba .

The Jordanian naval forces were in 1951 in Aqaba as Royal Coast Guard in size of an infantry - Company set up. In 1952 that was headquarters to the Dead Sea moved and remained there until 1967. In 1974 was Coast Guard with four medium sized patrol boats of Bertram class and with equipment for divers and frogmen equipped.

The naval forces remained an integral part of the Jordanian land forces. In 1988, its staff numbered 300 men stationed in Aqaba and operated five patrol boats supplied by the United States , which were armed only with light machine guns. The Navy is helping to secure the port and working with customs and immigration authorities to ensure that laws and regulations are enforced. At the end of 1987, three vehicles with a displacement of 95 tons were ordered in Great Britain , which after commissioning would comprise a crew of sixteen and be equipped with 20 mm and 30 mm cannons. The Israeli naval forces in adjacent Eilat were similarly made up of small, lightly armed patrol boats.

In 1991, three Hawk-class ocean patrol boats entered service and on November 13, the Coast Guard was officially renamed the Royal Jordanian Navy .

units

  • Patrol boat group
  • Combat swimmer group
  • 77th Marine Reconnaissance Battalion
  • Naval Special Boat Unit
  • Counter-terrorism unit CTB-71
  • Naval Security Company Akaba
  • Dead Sea Marine Security Company
  • Technical support group
  • Maritime training center

Patrol boats

  • 3 × Al-Hussein class (Hawk class) (2 × 30mm, 1 × 20mm, 2 × 12.7mm machine guns)
  • 2 × Al-Hashim class (1 × 12.7 mm MG)
  • 8 × Abdullah class (2 × 12.5mm MG)
  • 4 × Faysal class (Bertram class) (1 × 12.7 mm MG)
  • 4 × Faysal class (Commander) (2 × 12.7 mm MG)
  • 4 × AMP-137
  • 2 × Falcon-class (1 × 7.62mm MG)

Economic role

In 1999, King Abdullah II founded an initiative to set up its own arms and military services industry with state funding. The main target group are other Arab states and the USA. In 2004, the Kingdom's defense spending accounted for 8.6% of GDP .

Web links

Commons : Armed Forces of Jordan  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Kenneth Pollack: Arabs at War, Lincoln. 2004; Pp. 267-292.
  2. ^ A b Alexander Bligh (2001): The Jordanian Army: Between Domestic and External Challenges, Middle East Review of International Affairs. Vol 5, No 2.
  3. ^ Yoav Alon: The Making of Jordan - Tribes, Colonialism and the Modern State, London, 2007 p. 152
  4. ↑ Kamal Salibi: The Modern History of Jordan. 2nd edition, London 1998, pp. 202-204.
  5. ↑ Ansgar Graw: Obama attacks IS with Arab alliance. In: welt.de . September 23, 2014, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Jordan: Germany does not only supply armored personnel carriers . In: Zeit Online. December 11, 2016, accessed March 4, 2017 .
  7. ↑ http://www.eabr.org/e/press_center/news-region/index.php?id_4=4082&subject_id_4=105&from_4=135
  8. ↑ Annemarie Baylouny: Militarizing Welfare: Neo-liberalism and Jordanian policy , MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL, Volume 62, No. 2, 2008, doi: 10.3751 / 62.2.15
  9. ^ CIA World Fact Book , accessed April 29, 2011