Libyan Navy

The Libyan Navy exists as a divided institution, mirroring the country's split administration. Forces aligned with the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity operate under a Chief of Naval Staff headquartered at Abu Sitta naval base in Tripoli, while units in Cyrenaica answer to the House of Representatives and the Libyan National Army command at Tobruk, which maintains its own naval staff post. Efforts at reunification through the 5+5 Joint Military Commission have not produced a single chain of command. The Coast Guard and Ports Security Authority is subordinated to the navy and maintains its own headquarters in Tripoli.

The only surviving major combatant is the Koni-class (Project 1159TR) frigate Al Hani, F-212, which returned to Abu Sitta in October 2025 after a refit in Malta that had begun in 2013. The Soviet-era Nanuchka II missile corvettes, the Natya-class minesweepers and the Foxtrot-class submarine arm are non-operational, and Libya has had no submarine capability for decades. Remaining surface units are small: Combattante-type fast attack craft in degraded condition, the offshore patrol vessel Al Karama, formerly of the Irish Naval Service and acquired in 2019, and two Ibn Ouf-class (PS-700 type) landing ships. Patrol craft form the bulk of the usable inventory, dominated by Italian-supplied types, principally Bigliani-class boats donated in 2009 and refurbished in Italy before handover at Tripoli naval base, and Corrubia-class craft transferred in 2018. Numerous rigid-hulled inflatable boats support inshore interception.

Beyond Tripoli, facilities are used at Khoms, which hosts a naval training centre and coast guard training command, Misrata, Sirte, Benghazi, Derna and Tobruk. A Naval Special Forces element exists within the service.

Primary missions are coastal patrol, port security, protection of hydrocarbon export terminals and, above all, interception of migrant vessels within the Libyan search and rescue region. The latter task is funded and equipped largely by Italy and the European Union, an arrangement that has drawn sustained criticism from United Nations bodies and non-governmental organisations over the treatment of intercepted migrants and over incidents in which Libyan crews have fired near rescue ships. Germany withdrew from coast guard training on human rights grounds.

Recapitalisation depends entirely on foreign donation and refurbishment. A memorandum signed during the Italian prime minister's visit to Tripoli in January 2025 covers the transfer of five vessels, beginning with a 300-class boat. The Corrubia-class patrol boat Al-Kifah, a 27-metre composite-hulled craft capable of more than 40 knots, was handed back at Valletta on 22 June 2026 after an extended overhaul in Malta. Turkey supplies training under the 2019 defence memorandum, and Turkish warships including the corvette TCG Kınalıada called at Tripoli and Benghazi in August 2025.