Libyan Army

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Libyan Army


caption= Libyan EE-9 Cascavel on parade
dates=
country= Flag|Libya
allegiance=
branch= Army
type=
role=
size= 50,000 regular soldiers, 43,000 militia
command_structure=
garrison=
garrison_label=
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors=
colors_label=
march=
mascot=
equipment=
equipment_label=
battles=
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=
commander1=
commander1_label=
commander2=
commander2_label=
commander3=
commander3_label=
notable_commanders=
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_label=
identification_symbol_2=
identification_symbol_2_label=
aircraft_attack=
aircraft_bomber=
aircraft_electronic=
aircraft_fighter=
aircraft_interceptor=
aircraft_patrol=
aircraft_recon=
aircraft_trainer=
aircraft_transport=

The current strength of the Libyan Ground Forces is 50,000 with an additional 43,000 troops as part of the Libyan Peoples Militia Paramilitary Group. The Libyan Army is organized into 10 Tank Battalions, 10 Mechanized Infantry Battalions, 18 Infantry Battalions, 6 Commando Battalions, 22 Artillery Battalions, 4 SSM Brigade and 7 Air Defense Artillery Battalions. [Middle East Military Balance, (2005), [http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/balance/Libya.pdf"Libyan Military"] , "Libya", Accessed April 24 2007]

Though the Libyan army has a large amount of fighting equipment at its disposal, the vast majority was bought from the Soviet Union in the 70s and 80s and is largely obsolete. A high percentage remains in storage and a large amount of equipment has also been sold to various African countries.

No major purchases of equipment have been made in recent years largely due to the decline of the economy and military sanctions experienced throughout the nineties. This and various other internal factors has seriously decayed the strength of the whole of the Libyan Military over the years and it has lagged behind its major neighbors in terms of its military capabilities and real war fighting capability. It is expected however, with the resurgence of the Libyan Economy and the recent lifting of sanctions that Libya will seek to rectify this and start to replace its ageing equipment and gain some ground it has lost over the years.

From the late seventies to the mid to late eighties the army was involved in 4 major incursions into Chadian Territory. The Libyan Army suffered great losses in these conflicts especially that of the Toyota War of 1987 largely due to poor tactics and western aid to Chad. All of these incursions were eventually repulsed and Libya no longer occupies Chad. This conflict was known as the Chadian-Libyan conflict.

Current Libyan Army Equipment

[Middle East Military Balance, (2005), [http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/balance/Libya.pdf"Libyan Military"] , "Libya", Accessed April 24 2007]
*Tanks
* 200 T-72, (115 in store),
* 100 T-62, (70 in store),
* 500 T-55, (1000+ in store),
*Tracked Vehicles
* 1000 BMP-1
* 30 M-113
* 200 BTR-50
*Wheeled Vehicles
* 70 EE-9 Cascavel
* 100 EE-11
* 50 BRDM-2
* 500 BTR-60
* 67 OT-64
*SP Artillery
* 80 DANA
* 210 Palmaria
* 130 2S1
* 60 2S3 Akatsiya
*Multiple Rocket Launchers
* 600 BM-21 , RM-70,
* 300 Type-63
*Towed Artillery
* 330 M-46
* 190 D-30
* 60 D-74
*Surface to Surface Missiles
* 45 FROG-7
* 80 SCUD-B , ( 417 missiles)
*Anti Tank
* 400 MILAN
* 620+ AT-3, AT-4, AT-5
*Air Defence
* 48 SA-5 Gammon , Launchers
* 400 SA-7 Grail
* 20 SA-8b Gecko
* 55 SA-9 , SA-13
* 24 Crotale
* 20 Tor-M1, to be ordered soon
* 4 S-300PMU-2, systems , to be ordered soon
*Bofors 40mm gun
*Anti Aircraft Artillery
* 90 57mm S-60
* 250 23mm ZSU-23-4
* 100 23mm ZU-23-2
* ? 30mm M53/59 Praga

References and See Also

[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/libya/ Global Security Article on Libya]