Bahrain
Bahrain, a long-time British protectorate, gained independence in 1971. The King’s family members are Sunni Muslims, but the country’s population is majority Shi’ite. As a result, the country has long struggled with social upheaval. For example, in 1981 the government thwarted an attempted coup by a Shi’ite group inspired by the Iranian revolution. Similarly, in the 1990s and again in 2011, popular Shia uprisings have threatened the stability of this tiny Gulf kingdom. Bahrain has claimed it is implementing reforms in recent years while simultaneously repressing the population, most recently with the assistance of forces from other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Bahrain is home to a major naval base used by the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
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GDP$28.36 Billion
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Fit for Service669,059
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Military EXHD4.5% of GDP
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Population1,314,089
Units From 24 Countries Join Together for Largest Annual Exercise in the Mideast
More than 7,000 troops from 24 nations are participating in a massive exercise in Jordan, training to combat improvised explosive devices, cyberattacks and other threats. Exercise Eager Lion, which runs from May 7 to 18, is hosted by the Jordanian armed forces in partnership with the U.S. military. It is the largest annual exercise in […]
AECOM Technical Services Awarded $9 Million Provide Engineering Services to GCC Countries
AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California, was awarded a $9,000,000 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates) contract to furnish all necessary labor, materials, supplies, and equipment required for a full range of professional architecture and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the Internet with one received. […]
EaglePicher Awarded $7 Million to Provide Squib-Activated Batteries to Bahrain
EaglePicher, Joplin, Missouri, was awarded a $7,292,175 firm-fixed-price, foreign military sales (Bahrain) contract for procurement of up to 825 squib-activated batteries. Bids were solicited via the Internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 28, 2020. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, […]
Colt Defense Awarded $7 Million to Provide M4 Rifles to Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, Others
Colt Defense LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut, was awarded a $7,453,690 modification (0005) to foreign military sales (Georgia, Lebanon, Iraq, Slovakia, Pakistan and Bahrain) contract W56HZV-15-D-0038 for 8,730 M4/M4A1 rifles. Work will be performed in West Hartford, Connecticut, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2018. Fiscal 2017 other funds in the amount of $7,453,690 […]
Bahrain to Receive Five More Mk V Patrol Boats
Bahrain is set to get another five Mk V patrol boats later this year, according to two notices posted on the US Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website on 11 and 12 April. The first said that US Military Sealift Command is looking to charter a cargo ship to carry four Mk V craft with related […]
Saudi-Led Antiterror Coalition Sharpens Its Focus
A Saudi-led coalition force of 41 countries is now taking shape and has found a focus: protecting member nations against the threat from Islamic State as the militant group’s strongholds in Iraq and Syria disintegrate. The coalition, sometimes referred to as the “Muslim NATO,” is expected to have its first substantive meeting over the next […]
Trump Considers Military Push in Yemen War. US Lawmakers Push Back
Amid reports President Trump is considering more American military help for the Saudi-led fight in Yemen, U.S. lawmakers are urging caution, if not an about-face. Four U.S. senators have offered legislation to limit arms sales to Riyadh over its troubled Yemen campaign. Fifty-five members of the U.S. House called on Trump in a letter to end both U.S. […]
U.S. Increasingly Sees Iran’s Hand in the Arming of Bahraini Militants
The men who built the secret bomb factory had been clever — suspiciously so, Bahraini investigators thought, for a gang known mostly for lobbing molotov cocktails at police. The underground complex had been hewed, foot by foot, beneath the floor of a suburban villa, with no visible traces at street level and only a single […]
Raytheon Awarded $27 Million to Provide Hawk Missile Support to Egypt, Bahrain, Turkey, Others
Raytheon Co., Andover, Massachusetts, was awarded a $26,661,098 cost-plus-fixed-fee, foreign military sales (Japan, Egypt, Spain, Singapore, Bahrain, Turkey, Jordan, and United Arab Emirates) contract to provide engineering, product assurance, documentation, configuration management support, and logistics services to resolve problems related to the deployed Homing All the Way Killer (HAWK) missile system to foreign military customers. […]
Rex Tillerson to Lift Human Rights Conditions on Arms Sale to Bahrain
Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has decided to lift all human rights conditions on a major sale of F-16 fighter jets and other arms to Bahrain in an effort to end a rift between the United States and a critical Middle East ally, according to administration and congressional officials involved in the debate. Mr. […]
Should the United States Sell Fighter Jets to the Gulf?
The timing and phasing of recent U.S. arms deals in the Middle East underscore the complicated balance for the United States of addressing the concerns and needs of multiple partners in the region who frequently view each other with suspicion. The White House approved the sale of fighter aircraft to Qatar and Kuwait in late […]
The Saudi-led Coalition Is Not Ready to Fight the Islamic State
President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited Saudi Arabia last week hoping to reassure nervous Gulf allies that American security commitments remain in force in the wake of last year’s Iran nuclear deal. In exchange, the White House was hoping to encourage the Gulf states to play a more active role in the […]
The Camp David Summit: Major or Modest Moves in U.S.-Gulf Ties?
In the run up to Thursday’s summit at Camp David, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had predicted that “we are fleshing out a series of new commitments that will create… a new security understanding” to “take us beyond anything that we have had before.” Yet President Obama had outlined a much more limited objective, […]
The Coalition’s High Wire Act in Syria: Striking ISIS and Avoiding the Regime
When coalition pilots penetrated Syrian airspace early Tuesday morning, it was unclear if they would just strike Islamic State targets or clash with the Syrian regime. Though Syria was warned prior to the attack, it was unclear if Bashir al-Assad would follow through on his threat to consider any operation in Syria as an act of aggression. In fact, […]