Tunisian Armed Forces:
- Order of battle
- Overview
- Defence economics
- State of military forces
- Country threat report
- Major external deployments
- Order of Battle
|
Total force strength |
Land Forces: 27 000 Air Force: 3 500 Navy: 4 500 National Guard: 7 000 Gendarmerie: 2 000 |
| Army | |
|
Main Battle Tanks |
24: M-60A1 52: M-60A3 54: SK-105 Kuerassier |
|
Reconnaissance |
20: Alvis Saladin 10: AML-60 18: AML -90 18: EE-9 Cascavel |
| APC/MRAP/APV |
4: ACMAT Bastion 100: BMC Kirpi 10: Dingo-1 18: EE-11 Urutu 70: Ejder Yalcin 110: Fiat 6614 80: HMMWV Up-Armoured 120: M113A1/A2 9: Pitbull VX 10: Typhoon 13: VAB Mk-3 (For Police) |
| Armoured Recovery Vehicle |
6: M-88A1 3: SB-20 Greif |
| Towed artillery/gun |
26: M-30 107 mm 45: M101A1/A2 105 mm 12: M114A1 155 mm 48: M198 155 mm |
| Self-propelled artillery |
10: M108 105mm 18: M109 155 mm |
| Mortar |
90: 81 mm 64: 107 mm 18: 120 mm |
| Anti-tank/ATGW/ATK |
180: BGM-71 TOW 35: M901 ITV TOW 120: MILAN ?: SS-11 180: AGM-114K HELLFIRE (For OH-58D combat helicopters) |
| Anti-aircraft/air defence gun |
90: M-55 20 mm 10: Type-55 (M-1939)/Type-65 37 mm |
| Air defence system/SAM |
46: M-48 Chaparral launchers 60: RBS-70 |
| Self-Propelled anti-aircraft system | 16: M-42 Duster |
| Recoilless rifle | 300: LRAC |
| Structure |
3: Mechanised brigades (1 armed regiment, 2 mechanised infantry regiments, 1 artillery regiment.) 1: Desert brigade (3 regiments) 1: Anti-aircraft artillery brigade 3: Artillery regiments 1: Engineer regiment 1: Independent armoured reconnaissance regiment 4: Para-commando battalions |
| Air Force | |
| Combat aircraft |
12: F-5E Tiger II 3: F-5F Tiger II 8: MB326KT |
| Trainer/COIN aircraft |
9: L-59T 2: MB326LT 6: MB326B 8: SF260CT 12: SF260WT |
| Transport aircraft |
5: C-130B Hercules 1: C-130H Hercules 2: C-130J-30 Hercules 2: L-410UVP-E20 3: L-410UVP-E20G 3: S208A |
| Multi-role/Attack helicopter |
3: Bell 429 18: OH-58D Kiowa Warrior 5: SA341 Gazelle 2: SA342L1 Gazelle 4: SA316B Alouette III 4: SE3160 Alouette III 8: SE3130 Alouette II 1: Sikorsky S-61R/CH-3E 14: Sikorsky S-61R/HH-3E 1: UH-1V |
| Transport helicopter |
6: AS350B Écureuil 16: Bell 205 6: Bell 205A-1 1: Bell AB212 15: UH-1H 2: UH-1N Iroquois 1: UH-60M Black Hawk (Another 12+ are on order for 2019/2020) |
| Border Surveillance | 12: MX-7 |
| UAV |
Jbelassa UAV NASNAS MK1 short range Super Nasnas short range 7: ScanEagle |
| Navy | |
| Patrol/Strike boat |
3: Bizerte class (FRA P-48) 4: Damen MSOPV 1400 6: Hamilcar class (ex-German Type-143B) 1: Istiklal patrol boat (Esterel 32 m type) 6: Joumhouria class patrol boats (P270TN type) 1: Kerkouane class (P212 type) 3: La Galite class missile FAC (French Combattante III) 6: P270 3: Utique class (Chinese Haizhui II) 2: Vosper 103 Tazarka class FAC 2: 13.5 metre patrol boats (US donation) 12: 7.6 metre patrol boats (US donation) |
| Amphibious/Transport/Supply |
1: Khaireddine (ex-US Wilkes) 2: Tabarka (ex-US White Sumac) |
| National Guard |
4: Carabinieri Classe 700 2: P300 type patrol craft 6: P350TN patrol boats 1: Ras el Blais Class patrol boat (ex-Kondor) 5: Sbeitla class inshore patrol craft 10: launchers and boats |
- Overview
Head of State and Government: Beji Caid El Sebsi
Prime Minister: Youssef Chahed
Defence Minister: Abdelkrim Zbidi
Chief of Staff: Brigadier General Ismail Fathalli
Chief of Staff of the Air Force: Brigadier General Mohamed Hajjem
Chief of Staff of the Navy: Vice-Admiral Abderraouf Atallah
Member of: UN, Arab League, OAPEC, OAU, IAEA, ICAO, IMCTC, AU, LAS, AfDB, G15, IAEA, Seabeds Committee and others.
- Defence economics
Military expenditure (ME) in USD $ Million (2009-2018)
| Year | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| ME | 452 | 469 | 558 | 561 | 615 | 732 | 870 | 925 | 859 | 844 |
Military expenditure (ME) as percentage of GDP (2009-2018)
| Year | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| GDP in USD Billion | 43.45 | 44.05 | 45.81 | 45.04 | 46.25 | 47.59 | 43.16 | 42.06 | 40.26 | 39.86 |
| ME in USD Million | 452 | 469 | 558 | 561 | 615 | 732 | 870 | 925 | 859 | 844 |
| ME% of GDP | 1.04 | 1.06 | 1.22 | 1.25 | 1.33 | 1.54 | 2.02 | 2.2 | 2.13 | 2.12 |
Military expenditure (ME) growth (2009-2018) as a percentage
| Year | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| ME growth | 3.2 | 3.8 | 19 | 0.5 | 9.6 | 19 | 18.9 | 6.3 | -7.1 | -1.75 |
- State of military forces
Tunisia’s military is somewhat under-equipped and faces challenges due to equipment that is outdated and, in some cases, obsolete. As such the country relies heavily on donations of surplus military equipment, specifically from the USA, France and Italy. During 2014 the USA announced it would provide $60 million worth of equipment to the country in the fight against Islamist militants, this includes night vision technology, helmets, shields along with naval patrol boats.
Despite the equipment limitations the Tunisian military has proven effective in managing domestic terrorism in the country. Islamic fundamentalism is a threat in Tunisia and armed groups have targeted military outposts and transport convoys. Terrorism is still a problem for the country with attacks by the Islamic fundamentalists occurring yearly. 2015 was marked by terrorism with 60 tourists and 13 members of the national guard being killed by Islamic fundamentalists. The extremists are now targeting oil company pipelines and infrastructure in Tunisia.
The army has played a vital role in securing the country’s borders, particularly with its bigger neighbour Libya where there is ongoing conflict. The Tunisian navy has also actively patrolled the Mediterranean conducting search and rescue operations and dealing with the flow of illegal migrants. There were 957 newly registered asylum seekers and refugees since the beginning of 2019. In addition to this, migrant boats are consistently capsizing and leading to migrant death off Tunisia.
- Country threat report
| Threat Type | Overview |
| External | Tunisia is currently facing no external security threat. |
| Internal | Tunisia is currently facing internal security threats presented by the rise of Islamic extremism in the country which has led to the emergence of radical militant groups. |
| Regional | Tunisia faces terrorist threats as a result of the instability present in Libya to the East. |
| Political | Tunisia is considered to be politically stable since having elections in September 2019. This comes after it was the country in which the 2011 Arab spring begun. |
| Economic | Tunisia is in the process of liberalising its economy which is resulting in consistent economic growth. Tunisia’s economic growth has largely depended on oil, phosphates, agri-food products, car parts manufacturing, and tourism.
The last annual rate of CPI published in Tunisia was on November of 2018 and it was 7.4%.
In terms of the human development index (HDI) of Tunisia, which is the index used by the United Nations to measure the progress of a country, was 0.735 points in 2017, leaving it in 96th place in the table of 189 countries published. |
- Current major external deployments
| Operation | Country | Personnel/Assests |
| MUNUSCO | Democratic Republic of Congo |
Troops: 2 Police: 39 Experts: 17 |
| UNAMID | Darfur | Police: 67 |
| MINUSMA | Mali |
Air force: 75 QRF Troops: 750 Military Police: 120 1 C-130J-30 Super Hercules |
Contact:
Ministry of National Defence
Boulevard Bab M’Nara
1030 Tunis
Tunisia
Tel +216 71 560244
Updated on 10 October 2019
