Royal Army of Oman

Royal Army of Oman القوات المسلحة السلطانية العُمانية
Founded	1907
Country	Oman
Allegiance	Sultan of Oman
Type	Land force
Role	Land warfare
Size	25,000
Website	website (English)

The Royal Army of Oman is the ground forces component of the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces. It was founded in 1907 as the Muscat Garrison. It has a current strength of 25,000 personnel.

Oman has a military history which dates back to the seventh century, when troops from the Alozd tribe were strong enough to help Abu Bakr, companion of the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century it was lifting force of the second well-known Omani forces Ya'ariba dynasty during the reign of the family, which forced the expulsion of Portuguese from the country in 1650. And Ya'ariba dynasty during the reign of the family dynasty, covered fortified buildings north of the country from Musandam to the south of the province of Dhofar.

The Royal Army of Oman officially traces its origins back to the formation of the Muscat Garrison in 1907. The garrison was expanded and became the Muscat Infantry in 1921. During the 1960s, it fought in the Dhofar Rebellion alongside British units. The Army became an independent service known as the Sultan of Oman Land Forces in 1976. In 1990, Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said renamed the branch the Royal Army of Oman.

In 2008 Oman spent 7.7% of GDP on military expenditures.

Oman has one armored brigade equipped with the Challenger 2 and the M60A1 and M60A3 Patton tanks.

Oman recently received 174 amphibious light armored vehicles and more than 80 armored VBL from France.

Oman has one of the world's largest arsenals of Scud missiles, estimated at more than 30,000 ballistic missiles.

In May 2013 the United States announced a deal with Oman valued at $ 2.1 billion to supply a ground-based air defense system.

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Wikipedia