Royal Jordanian Army: Difference between revisions

 

====Equipment of Jordanian Armed Forces, June 1967====

*{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Bren light machine gun]]

*{{flagicon|United States}} [[M1 Carbine]]

*{{flagicon|United States}} [[M2 Browning|Browning M-2HB]] .50 cal. machine gun

*297 × {{flagicon|United States}} [[M48 Patton|Patton M-48]](197)/M-48A-1(100) 90mm Main Battle Tanks

*49–160 × {{flagicon|United States}} [[M47 Patton|Patton M-47]] 90mm MBTs

*250 × {{flagicon|United States}} [[M113 armored personnel carrier|M-113]] [[armored personnel carrier]]s

*350 × {{flagicon|United States}} [[M40 recoilless rifle|M-40A1-C1 106mm]] recoilless rifle

*20 × {{flagicon|United States}} [[M44 self propelled howitzer|M-44 155mm]] self-propelled howitzers

*36 × M-52 105mm SPHs

*25 × {{flagicon|United States}} [[M115 howitzer|M-115 203mm towed guns]]

*16–18 × {{flagicon|United States}} [[155 mm Gun M1|M-59 Long Tom 155mm]] towed guns

*[[Brandt 120mm]] Heavy Mortar

*{{flagicon|United States}} [[M42 Duster|M-42 Bofors]] twin 40mm SP-AAGs

*{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Land Rover series|Land Rover]] 4WD

*{{flagicon|United States}} [[M88 Recovery Vehicle|M-88 Recovery tank]]

*5 × {{flagicon|United States}} [[Lockheed F-104 Starfighter]] (2 A, 3 B)

*4–6 × {{flagicon|United States}} [[Douglas C-47]] Dakota

*2 × {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)|Westland WS-55 Srs-4 Whirlwind]]

*3 × {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Westland Scout]] AH MK-1

After the 1967 war, the army was rearmed. In 1968, the army defended Jordan against Israeli troops that had invaded Jordanian territory in pursuit of Palestinian guerrillas – the [[Battle of Karameh]]. Palestinians claim a victory just for resisting Israeli troops; the Jordanians say that they forced the Israelis back; the Israelis say that they pulled back after hitting the Palestinians at which time they were bombed by the Jordanians.

 

 

September 1970 is known as [[Black September in Jordan|Black September]] in Arab history. In September 1970, King Hussein moved to quash an attempt by armed Palestinian insurgents to overthrow his monarchy. The violence resulted in civilian casualties on both sides. Armed conflict lasted until July 1971 ending only when remaining Palestinian insurgents were surrounded in the Ajloun-Jarash mountains, finally surrendered to the Jordan army and were expelled from the country.'<ref name="Kenneth Pollack 2002, p.355"/> In October 1970, the Ba'athist regime in neighboring Syria had attempted to intervene in support of the Palestinians by sending an armoured column into the north of Jordan. Jordanian ground and air forces were able to halt this advance and a combination of international political pressure and discord within the Syrian military led to a Syrian retreat.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Keegan|page=684|title=World Armies|year=1979|isbn=0-333-17236-1}}</ref>

Due to the critical position of Jordan (sandwiched between Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Israel), Jordan maintains a strong defensive army, with four regional commands, the Northern command, the Central Command, the Eastern Command and the Southern Command. As of August 2004, the army was reported to be 88,000 strong, and the Northern Command is reported to consist of (2 mech, 1 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 AD brigade), the Southern Command (1 armd, 1 infantry brigade), the Central Command (1 mech, 1 lt. inf, 1 arty, 1 AD brigade), the Eastern Command (2 mech, 1 arty, 1 AD brigade), and a strategic reserve (1 Royal armoured division with 3 armd, 1 arty, 1 AD brigades).<ref name="gloria-center" /><ref>IISS Military Balance 2004–2005, p.127-128</ref> An armoured division has become the core element of a strategic reserve.<ref name="orbat.com"/><ref name="ihracat">{{cite web|url=http://ihracat.ssm.gov.tr/TR/Documents/sofex2008/Mart%202008_%20Turkiye%20Urdun%20SSI%20Bilgi%20Notu.PDF |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-05-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122151459/http://ihracat.ssm.gov.tr/TR/Documents/sofex2008/Mart%202008_%20Turkiye%20Urdun%20SSI%20Bilgi%20Notu.PDF |archive-date=2009-11-22}}</ref> Each command is controlled by its Field General, but all of the commands are under the King of Jordan's control.

 

 

==Structure==

{{Location map many | Jordan

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| caption = {{center|'''Jordanian Army – Major combat units – 2018'''<br />large pin – Command, small pin – Brigade}}