Royal Bahrain Naval Force

Royal Bahrain Naval Force
RBNF sailors conduct a boarding exercise in the port of Manama in May 2008.
Active	? - Present
Country	Bahrain
Branch	Naval Force
Size	1770 (Navy and Coastguard)
Part of	Ministry of Defense Bahrain Defense Force
Nickname	RBNF
Engagements	Invasion of Kuwait Gulf War
Commanders
Commander of Navy	Yusuf al-Maluallah
Insignia
Coat of Arms

The Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) (previously known as Bahrain Defense Force, Naval Branch), is the maritime branch of the Bahrain Defense Force. The Commander of the Navy is Lieutenant Commander Yusuf al-Maluallah. The navy consists of 11 combat vessels, 22 patrol craft and over 700 personnel. The Fleet is based at Mina Sulman Naval Base and has a flight wing which can operate off the corvettes, consisting of two MBB BO-105 helicopters.

Fleet

Type/Class	Quantity	Origin	In service	Details
OHP-Class Frigate (RBNS Sabha)	1	United States	1981 - Present	4 Harpoon SSMs, 1 MBB BO-105 shipboard helicopter, and SM-1MR SAMs.
Victory class corvette	2	Germany	1987–1988	4 MM40 Exocets, and 1 MBB BO-105 shipboard helicopter.
Al Riffa Lürssen TNC-45	4	Germany	1984–1989	4 MM40 Exocets.
Al Riffa Lürssen FPB 38	2	Germany
Al Jarim Swift FPB-20	2	United States
Wasp-11	2
Wasp-20	2
Wasp-30	1
VT-Halmatic 20	4	Qatar
VT-Halmatic 160	6	Qatar
Fairey Marine Swordsman	4	United Kingdom
LCU-1486	4	United States
Fairey Marine LCU	1	United Kingdom

Bases

RBNS Sabha in April 2008.

• Mina Salman Naval Base is a facility currently shared with the United States Navy and is used as a ship and submarine logistic support base for the entire US Fifth Fleet. It was opened in the 1980s as cargo facility and is now solely used as a naval port.
• Manama Naval Base is another key US Navy installation and formerly home to HMS Juffair. It is not used by RBNF.
• RBNF also operates a shipyard that is shared with several other neighbouring countries.

See also

• Bahrain
• Bahrain Defense Force
• NSA Bahrain

External links

• Haze Gray Bahrain Navy
• INSS Bahrain Navy