Royal Bahrain Naval Force

The Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) is the maritime component of the Bahrain Defence Force, with vessels carrying the prefix RBNS. Headquarters and the principal operating base are at Mina Salman, on the northeastern side of Bahrain Island adjacent to Manama. The facility is co-located with United States Naval Support Activity Bahrain, host to the US Fifth Fleet and to the headquarters of the Combined Maritime Forces, a proximity that shapes much of the RBNF's training, logistics and interoperability arrangements. The force is small in personnel terms and commanded by a rear admiral reporting through the Bahrain Defence Force general command.

The largest surface units are Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigates transferred from the United States. RBNS Sabha, the former USS Jack Williams, arrived in 1997 and long served as flagship. A second hull, RBNS Khalid bin Ali, the former USS Robert G. Bradley, reached Bahrain in January 2024 and was commissioned the following month. Both carry the Mk 13 launcher, 76 mm gun and Phalanx CIWS of the original configuration; a Foreign Military Sale upgrade package covering combat system and sensor refresh has been pursued for the pair.

Below the frigates the fleet is built around German-designed Lürssen hulls delivered in the 1980s. The Al Manama class comprises two FPB 62 missile corvettes, RBNS Al Manama and RBNS Al Muharraq, armed with Exocet MM40 and fitted with a helicopter deck. Four TNC 45 fast attack craft — Ahmed Al Fateh, Al Jaberi, Abdul Rahman Al Fadel and Sabha — and two FPB 38 patrol boats, Al Riffa and Hawar, complete the Lürssen line. Offshore patrol capability rests on RBNS Al Zubara, a River-class vessel acquired from the Royal Navy. Five Cyclone-class patrol ships transferred from the US Navy were commissioned in 2022 as Al Gurairiyah, Al Sakhir, Al Farooq, Jenan and Damsah. Smaller units include Swiftships patrol craft, Mark V special operations craft, US-supplied 35-metre fast patrol boats, response boats, and Al Hamra-class landing craft and LCUs for logistics and amphibious lift. A small rotary-wing element supports surface operations.

Tasking centres on territorial water and exclusive economic zone patrol in a congested and shallow operating area bounded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran, including protection of offshore hydrocarbon infrastructure and the Hawar Islands, counter-smuggling, and fisheries enforcement. Boundary friction with Qatar has historically generated interception incidents. The RBNF contributes to the Combined Maritime Forces and has repeatedly held command of Combined Task Force 152, the Arabian Gulf security task force, whose leadership rotates among Gulf Cooperation Council navies and partners. Bahrain has no domestic warship construction industry; acquisition proceeds through American and European transfers and new-build orders, with ship repair handled locally and regionally. Coastal security duties are shared with the Coast Guard, an independent force under the Ministry of Interior.