United Arab Emirates Navy

History

The origins of the UAE Navy begin with the Abu Dhabi Defence Force (ADDF), which established a Sea Wing in 1967. The initial fleet gave Abu Dhabi a limited brown-water patrolling and protecting capability in the waters of the Persian Gulf and in the littoral region of the Northern Emirates in the Gulf of Oman. This included protection of the UAE's significant offshore oil and gas facilities.

With the formation of the United Arab Emirates on 2 December 1971 and the unification of the UAE Armed Forces on 6 May 1976, the ADDF Sea Wing became the UAE Navy and continued to expand with naval facilities at Abu Dhabi port in 1975 as well as other facilities at the far west of Abu Dhabi Emirate and on the eastern coast of Fujairah at Khor Fakkan.

The Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and especially the 1986 'tanker war' in the Persian Gulf culminated in the 25 November 1986 attack of Abu Dhabi's Abu Al Bukhoosh offshore oil platforms by Iranian aircraft. These incidents led to further expansion of the UAE's Navy assets in this period. The 1990s and 2000s saw further consolidation. In 2001, the UAE Coast Guard, which had been under the control of the UAE Ministry of Interior since 1976, was transferred to the control of the Navy. This change was likely in response to increased concern over the possibility of terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure in the UAE's littoral zone and on its islands in the post-9/11 world, and the effectiveness of the Coast Guard in countering this threat. Another change in the Navy's force structure in the 2000s was the expansion of its amphibious capability and the formation of the UAE Navy Marines (subsequently merged with the UAE Presidential Guard).

Since 2015, the UAE Navy has been operating in the Yemen region in response to the Civil War there.

Equipment

Vessels

Leased

• HSV-2 Swift - Sub-leased or transferred from the UAE's National Marine Dredging Company sometime early in 2015. Used for logistics and related activities as part of the ongoing Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, including reportedly in support of amphibious operations. This ship was directly hit by a Houthi missile attack and severely damaged during operations in October 2016.

Naval bases

The UAE Navy has several naval bases:

• Ghantoot Naval base
• Jabel Ali Naval Base

Future Navy

Until 2014, 12 Ghannatha Phase II-class fast missile landing crafts will be commissioned. The first unit was launched in July 2012. Another 12 were upgraded from Ghannatha Phase I class 4 Falaj 2 class patrol vessel (based on the Italian Diciotti class) are on order, 2 being outfitted with 550 tons - 4 MM-40 Exocets - 6 Mica VL SAM (with an additional 4 to be produced in the future, total 8) One 26 m Offshore Patrol Vessel, one 24 m Amphibious Troop Transport Vessel, and one 24 m Patrol Vessel are under construction for the UAE Navy. On 1 July 2022, the United Arab Emirates Navy signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PT PAL Indonesia to purchase a 163-meter version of the Makassar-class Landing Platform Dock, with construction scheduled to begin in 2024. The First steel-cutting ceremony for the Landing Platform Dock 163M, also known as the Al Maryah Project, took place on 28 February 2024.

References

References

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