Armed Forces of Lebanon

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SdL flag.png Armed Forces of Lebanon
القوات المسلحة اللبنانية
The coat of arms of the Lebanese armed forces
guide
Commander in Chief : Joseph Khalil Aoun
Defense Minister: Yaqub Sarraf
Headquarters: Yarzeh, Beirut
Military strength
Active soldiers: approx. 72,000
Conscription: No (abolished in 2007)
Eligibility for military service: 18–30 years
household
Military budget: $ 1,275,000,000 (2013)
history
Founding: August 1, 1945

The armed forces of Lebanon ( French name Forces armés libanaises , Arabic القوات المسلحة اللبنانية, DMG al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥa al-Lubnānīya ) consist of the three armed forces army , air force and navy with a total strength of approx. 72,000 soldiers. During the Syrian occupation of Lebanon (see History of Lebanon ), its armed forces were marginalized. When they were rebuilt, they were therefore reassembled following a change in the conscription regulation . Since 2008, Jean Kahwagi has been in command of the Lebanese Armed Forces, followed by Joseph Khalil Aoun in 2017 . The exact size of the military budget is not published, but the US side initially estimated an average of 550 million US dollars per year for the period after the end of the Civil War.

history

The Légion d'Orient from 1916

The origins of the Lebanese army lie in the " Légion d'Orient ", Lebanese voluntary associations that fought on the side of France , Syria and Armenian associations against the Ottoman-Turkish troops and the German army allied with them during the First World War . They were formed on November 15, 1916 after the government in Constantinople had placed the autonomous province of "Mont Liban" under military rule, and mass executions of opposition members had taken place in Beirut (on today's "Place des Martyrs"). The troop strength of the "Legion" was 4,500 men.

The Troupes Spéciales du Levant 1930–1945

After various intermediate stages, the "Legion" was transformed into the so-called "Troupes Spéciales du Levant" by the French Ministry of Defense on March 20, 1930. In the early thirties, General Charles de Gaulle worked for several years as a military instructor and lecturer in Beirut. Logically, after the liberation of Lebanon by the Allies from the sphere of influence of the Vichy regime in 1941, more than 22,000 volunteers reported to the "Troupes", which were then deployed mainly in the Mediterranean theater of war. The "Troupes" distinguished themselves in particular during the Battle of Bir Hakeim in 1942 and in 1944 during the invasion of Normandy as relief forces in the Battle of Monte Cassino . The units in command was the future President Fuad Schihab , a descendant of the famous emirs of Lebanon at the beginning of the 19th century. During the campaign, Schihab was able to establish useful contacts for him during his tenure as President 1958-1964 both to Charles de Gaulle and to the then Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces in the Mediterranean, General Dwight D. Eisenhower .

The Lebanese Army 1945–1975

First flag of the Lebanese Army

After the French general Georges Catroux had announced the independence of Lebanon on November 26, 1941, the French mandate was unilaterally dissolved by the Lebanese government on November 8, 1943. On August 1, 1945, the last of the French troops withdrew and the "Lebanese Army" was officially formed under the command of General Fuad Schihab , who remained in office until his election as President in 1958. In 1958, during the Nassist Revolt , in which the army remained neutral and which was eventually crushed by US Marine Corps intervention under the Eisenhower Doctrine , and after President Camille Chamoun's term of office , Schihab took over for a short time Office of the Prime Minister, which is possible according to the constitution for the organization of new elections. In 1948 there was a military confrontation between the Lebanese army and Israeli troops during the war of independence . After that, pro-western Lebanon behaved neutrally, especially in the wars of 1956, 1967, and 1973. Due to the denominational proportion, all command posts of the army had to be filled equally, which structurally weakened the army due to the higher number of Muslim recruits. In addition, the government's strategy was not to unnecessarily provoke its neighbors Syria and Israel with a strong military presence. The commander in chief of the Lebanese army, like the president, is always a Maronite Christian.

In the civil war 1975–1990

During the first phase of the civil war , the army was divided into Christian and Muslim parts. The Muslim parts were z. B. led by officers Ahmed al-Khatib and Aziz al-Ahdab . In the south, where a Christian exclave had arisen, an army section was formed under the command of General Saad Haddad . This soon leaned against Israel , especially after the invasions of 1978 and 1982, and from it later emerged the " South Lebanese Army " (SLA). In addition, between 15,000 and 25,000 Syrian soldiers operated on Lebanese territory from 1976 to 2005, which further reduced the importance of the country's armed forces. After the 1982 invasion, an attempt was made, sanctioned by the US and the West, to rebuild the army, and it was equipped with old US war material from the Vietnam era, such as M113 armored personnel carriers and older generation US military helicopters. General Ibrahim Tannous became the commander of the newly formed Lebanese army and, from 1984, Michel Aoun . After Amine Gemayel's term of office ended in 1988, Aoun became interim prime minister, but began a so-called "war of liberation" against all militias operating in Lebanon. He also opposed the 1989 Taif Agreement , in which Lebanese parliamentarians in the Saudi Arabian Taif, with the support of the USA and Saudi Arabia, laid the foundations for the later pro-Syrian regime in Lebanon from 1990 onwards. Aoun was extremely popular at the time because he promised law and order to the Lebanese, who had been suffering from civil war for 15 years. In 1989-90 there was a spontaneous mass movement of young people and students who were inspired by the peaceful revolutions in Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, shortly before the start of the Second Gulf War , Aoun was deposed by Syrian troops on October 13, 1990, which marked the official end of the Lebanese civil war.

Since 1990

The strength of the Lebanese army during the civil war had ranged from 18,000 to 34,000 men. After 1990, the army under the command of the pro-Syrian general Émile Lahoud (actually an admiral and former commander in chief of the Lebanese fleet) was significantly expanded in order to take control of the parts of the country previously controlled by various militias (except for the one occupied by Israel until 2000 South Lebanon , where Hezbollah continued to wage guerrilla warfare against the occupying power). After the withdrawal of the Syrian troops in 2005, the local army also took control of parts of the country previously dominated by the Syrians.

During the Lebanon War in 2006 , the Lebanese armed forces initially acted defensively and limited themselves to sporadic air defense . At the beginning of August 2006, the Lebanese army was then occasionally involved in ground fighting with the Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon . 49 Lebanese soldiers died. After the end of the war, around 15,000 soldiers were relocated to the south of the country in order to stop civil unrest there and secure the border.

On May 20, 2007, more than 60 people were killed in heavy fighting between the Lebanese armed forces and fighters of the Palestinian Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli .

On 29 August 2008 took over Jean Kahwaji in succession of the President elected Michel Sleiman command of the armed forces of Lebanon. His term of office was provisionally extended twice. On March 8, 2017, Joseph Khalil Aoun was appointed Commander in Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces to succeed Jean Kahwagi.

assignment

The Lebanese armed forces have an unusually large number of civilian competencies that are to be gradually ceded to the police. Her tasks include:

  • maintaining the stability of the country and, if necessary, restoring it
  • Border Guard
  • Rescue operations
  • Protection of the country's ports
  • Fire fighting
  • Combating drug crime

Israel is the only state officially designated as an "enemy" by the Lebanese government.

Armed forces

army

Coat of arms of the Lebanese Army

With 57,000 men, the army represents almost the entire Lebanese military. It is divided into the five regional commandos Beirut, Lebanon Mountains, Bekaa, Northern Lebanon and Southern Lebanon. Due to its small size, the army of Lebanon has no divisions . The combat troops consist of

  • five mechanized brigades
  • six infantry brigades
  • two tank regiments (one with Soviet, one with US tanks)
  • two artillery regiments
  • a "Ranger" regiment ("Fawj Al-Maghawir")
  • a paratrooper regiment ("Fawj Al-Moujawqal")
  • a marine regiment ("Fawj Maghawir al-Bahr")
  • an anti-sabotage regiment ("Al-Moukafaha") and a reaction force ("Al-Quwa Al-Daribades") of the military intelligence service
  • five intervention regiments ("Tadakhul")
  • the President's bodyguard, " Republican Guard Brigade ".

The logistic units include

Each brigade consists of five to six battalions , each of which is around 500 strong.

The army is almost exclusively equipped with the armaments left behind by the occupiers of Lebanon, including almost 1200 troop transports of the M113 type and around 80 VAB , 110 American M48A5s and 200 Soviet-Syrian T-55s . There are around 60 Panhard AML and 25 Alvis Saladin on scout vehicles . There are also around 285 heavy off-road vehicles of the HMMWV type . 16 AIFV-B-C25 from Belgian stocks have also been in use since 2012 . In 2017, 32 M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles of American production were also ordered.

There are various artillery pieces in the inventory of the armed forces, most of which originate from the Cold War . None of them are self-driving. Among the approximately 160 howitzers , the American 155-millimeter gun M-198 and the Soviet M-30 , each with 32 pieces, are the most widespread types. There are also around 370 smaller mortars , mostly French makes, for infantry support. 25 BM-21 multiple rocket launchers complete the Lebanese artillery.

RPG armored rifles are mainly used as anti-tank weapons, 124 TOW anti-tank guided weapons , 40 launch systems for ENTAC missiles and 16 MILANs are available for anti-tank defense .

Anti-aircraft missiles are limited to around 20 portable launchers for the 9K32 Strela-2 . The anti-aircraft gun arsenal includes ten M42 Duster anti-aircraft tanks (in storage) and around 75 Soviet SU- 23s mounted on M113 tracked vehicles.

Air Force

The Lebanese air force with about 2,000 soldiers has four combat aircraft of the type Hawker Hunter and over 24 former American Huey 's , currently the Lebanese Air Force across the country serve as a general purpose helicopters. Seven Alouette 2/3 and five Gazelle helicopters are also used.

For training purposes, four newly produced Robinson R44 Raven II were procured in 2005 , which are stationed at Rayak Air Force Base . There were plans for Russia to hand over ten MiG-29 fighter jets to Lebanon.

marine

The navy consists of around 1,100 men, 395 of them officers, and is just under construction like the other armed forces, so it is currently limited to the tasks of a coast guard .

Their equipment consists of five patrol boats of the Attacker class and seven of the Tracker class for the same purpose, each of British origin. In addition, the equipment consists of two French consists landing crafts the EDIC class , two former patrol boats of Bremer police ( Amchit , ex- Bremen 2 and Nakura , ex- Bremen 9 ) and a former patrol boat of the German navy ( Tabarja , ex-Y838 Bergen ). There are also around 25 smaller boats.

organization

All three branches of the armed forces are commanded by the central command of the Lebanese armed forces in Jarzeh , in the east of Beirut . The commander-in-chief of the armed forces reports de jure to the defense minister . However, several cases have come to light in which the army acted on its own initiative or against the express instructions of the government, for example in May 2008 against Hezbollah or in 2007 against the armed group " Fatah al Islam ".

The Lebanon military is largely made up of conscripts . The military service lasts six months and the mandatory reserve time ends after two years. There are currently 25,000 conscripts serving in the armed forces. The number of 250 generals is very high given the small overall strength. The officer posts are filled according to the proportional representation system prevailing in Lebanon: an estimated 53% of the officers are Muslims and 47% are Christians.

Further development

After the turn of the millennium, the Lebanese government had concluded agreements with the USA, Great Britain, France, Jordan and Egypt on the further development of the armed forces and the training of soldiers. The educational situation was extremely bad. According to US estimates, for example, the stock of ammunition is so limited that, on average, every Lebanese soldier only has up to 20 rounds of ammunition per year for shooting training.

A list of priorities for further armament in the country included twelve transport helicopters, around 30 landing craft, two landing craft that can carry tanks, 120 battle tanks, 120 wheeled transport tanks, anti-aircraft missiles, six attack helicopters and six radar systems for air surveillance. These purchases alone are estimated at around $ 550 million. From 1996 to 2007, however, the country only imported weapons worth around $ 200 million.

In 2006 the military budget was 598 million US dollars (7.6 percent of the total national budget, 2.7 percent of the gross national product), in 2007 it was 742 million dollars (8.2 / 3.3 percent) and in 2008 it was 760 million (8.6 / 3.2 percent). Pay makes up around 80 percent of the military budget and around 35 percent of all salaries of public employees in the country (as of 2008).

Currently, the US is by far the most important supporter of the Lebanese Army. Since 2006, Lebanon has received 12 million rounds of ammunition, almost 300 HMMWVs and more than 200 trucks from the USA, among other things. The United Arab Emirates supplied nine "Gazelle" attack helicopters and one hundred "Milan" anti-tank missiles, and Germany three former police boats.

In early 2009, an arms trade was settled in which Lebanon acquired M60A3 tanks and some Bell AH-1 attack helicopters from Jordan and M109 self-propelled howitzers from the USA.

In 2016, tensions erupted between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia , whose government halted $ 4 billion in aid to the Lebanese army because Foreign Minister Basil failed to condemn the storming of the Saudi embassy in Tehran . Three billion of the sum concerned Saudi guarantees for arms purchases by Lebanon in France .

The Lebanese army is currently one of the smallest and most technically poorly equipped in the region. According to US estimates, it is only able to defend its country to a limited extent and not at all to attack operations, the latter expressly not being Lebanon's political goal.

literature

  • The World Defense Almanac 2006 , Mönch Publishing Group, Bonn 2006 (engl.)
  • Aram Nerguizian: The Lebanese Armed Forces. CSIS, February 2009 Summary and PDF document (English).

Web links

Commons : Armed Forces of Lebanon  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies : The Military Balance 2015, p.338
  2. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/21/syria.marktran (Engl.)
  3. ^ Armed Forces Commanders - Jean Kahwagi ( Memento from December 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Joseph Aoun - Official website of the Lebanese Army (Engl.)
  5. ↑ Kassis: Véhicules Militaires au Liban / Military Vehicles in Lebanon (2012), p. 21st
  6. ^ US Delivers Bradley Fighting Vehicles to the Lebanese Army . US Embassy in Lebanon. January 14, 2017. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2018: “We are here at the Port of Beirut to mark the delivery of eight M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles. These are the very first of a total shipment of 32 Bradleys that will be delivered in the coming months. "
  7. ↑ Lebanese Air Force - Aircraft Inventory ( Memento from September 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ^ Navy: Third German boat for the Lebanese Navy. Marine Press and Information Center, June 3, 2008, accessed July 13, 2011 .
  9. ↑ Ben Hubbard: "Saudis Cut Off Funding for Military Aid to Lebanon" New York Times, February 19, 2016 (Eng.)