Qatari Emiri Land Force The Qatar Emiri Land Force is the largest
land service branch of the Qatar Armed Forces. Initially outfitted with British weaponry, Qatar shifted much of its procurement to France during the 1980s in response to French efforts to develop closer relations. The tank battalion was equipped with French-built
AMX-30 main battle tanks, before later being replaced by German
Leopard 2A7's. Other armored vehicles include French
AMX-10P APCs and the French
VAB, adopted as the standard wheeled combat vehicle. The artillery unit has a few French 155 mm self-propelled howitzers. The principal antitank weapons are French
MILAN and
HOT wire-guided missiles. Qatar had also illicitly acquired a few
Stinger shoulder-fired SAMs, possibly from Afghan rebel groups, at a time when the United States was trying to maintain tight controls on Stingers in the Middle East. When Qatar refused to turn over the missiles, the United States Senate in 1988 imposed a ban on the sale of all weapons to Qatar. The ban was repealed in late 1990 when Qatar satisfactorily accounted for its disposition of the Stingers. celebrations on the
Doha Corniche. Qatari tank battalion fought in the Gulf war in 1991, their AMX-30s took part in the
battle of Khafji. Qatari contingent, composed mostly of Pakistani recruits, acquitted itself well during the war. Qatar signed a contract with the German defence company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) for the delivery of 24 artillery systems
PzH 2000 and 62 LEOPARD 2 main battle tanks. The US DSCA announces that Qatar wants to join its neighbor the UAE, and field 2 medium-range
THAAD batteries of its own. Their request is worth up to $6.5 billion, and includes up to 12 THAAD Launchers, 150 THAAD missiles, 2 THAAD Fire Control and Communications units, 2 AN/TPY-2 THAAD Radars, and 1 Early Warning Radar (EWR). The USA would also sell them the required trucks, generators, electrical power units, trailers, communications equipment, fire unit test & maintenance equipment, system integration and checkout, repair and return, training, and other support.
Major Army Units examples •
Royal Guard Brigade • 1st Infantry Battalion • 2nd Infantry Battalion • 3rd Infantry Battalion • Qatari Army • Special Forces Support Group Company • 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion • 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion • 3d Mechanized Infantry Battalion • 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion (Reserve) • Artillery Battalion • Artillery Battery • Artillery Battery • Artillery Battery • Artillery Battery • Anti-aircraft Battery • Armored Brigade • Mortar Company • Tank Battalion • Mechanized Infantry Battalion • Anti-tank Battalion
Qatari Emiri Navy The Qatari Emiri Navy (QEN), also called the Qatari Emiri Naval Forces (QENF), is the naval branch of the armed forces of the State of Qatar.
Qatar Emiri Air Force The
Qatar Emiri Air Force was formed in 1974, three years after achieving independence from Great Britain in 1971. Initially equipped with ex-RAF
Hawker Hunters, the air force soon began expansion with six Dassault/Dornier
Alpha Jets in 1979. Fourteen
Dassault Mirage F1 were delivered between 1980 and 1984. After the
Gulf War, Qatar's air force infrastructure was upgraded by France for $200 million, leading to the order of nine single seat
Mirage 2000-5DEA multi-role combat aircraft and three two seat
Mirage 2000-5DDA combat trainers in August 1994. Deliveries started in December 1997, and involved the buy back of the remaining 11 Mirage F1s by France that were later sold on to Spain. The current commander of the Qatar Emiri Air Force is Brigadier General Mubarak Mohammed Al Kumait Al Khayarin. British pilots in Oman remain on duty with the air force, and French specialists are employed in a maintenance capacity. Nevertheless, an increasing number of young Qataris have been trained as pilots and technicians. The past decade saw Qatar increase its air force with 96 planes from three different countries: the
F-15 from the US, France's
Rafale, and the
Eurofighter Typhoon from the UK. Its units include: • No. 1 Fighter Wing • No. 7 Air Superiority Squadron –
Dassault Mirage 2000 • 9 single-seat Mirage 2000-5EDA • 3 2000-5DDA trainers • No. 11 Close Support Squadron –
Dassault/
Dornier Alpha Jet • No. 2 Rotary Wing • No. 6 Close Support Squadron –
Eurocopter SA342 • No. 8 Anti-Surface Vessel Squadron –
Westland Sea King Commando Mk 3 • No. 9 Multi-Role Squadron –
Westland Sea King Commando Mk 2 •
Qatar Amiri Flight –
C-17 Globemaster III ==Rank structure==