Military of Uruguay

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The armed forces of Uruguay are constitutionally subordinate to the president through the Minister of Defense. By offering early retirement incentives, the government has trimmed the armed forces to about 14,500 for the army, 6,000 for the navy, and 3,000 for the air force. As of February 2003, Uruguay has more than 2,500 soldiers deployed in 12 UN peacekeeping missions. The largest groups are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti. Also there is a contingent in the MFO in the Sinai, where 85 troops are stationed.

1 Organisation
2 Army
3 Navy
4 Air Force
5 Statistics
6 External links

[edit] Organisation

The armed forces of Uruguay are organised into:

The Uruguayan Army (Ejército Nacional)
The Uruguayan Navy (Armada Nacional), including Naval Aviation, Coast Guard (Prefectura Nacional Naval), and Marines
The Uruguayan Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya)

[edit] Army

The Army consists of some 15,000 personnel organised into four divisions. It is equipped with 15 T-55 Tiran tanks, 17 M24 Chaffee and 22 M41A1 Walker Bulldog light tanks, 15 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, 90 OT-64, 55 Thyssen-Henschel Condor, and 15 M113A1 APCs, and 15 EE-9 Cascavel and 16 EE-3 Jararaca armored cars.

[edit] Navy

The Navy consists of some 2,900 personnel and is organised into four commands. It consists of 3 frigates, 3 patrol crafts, 3 minesweepers and some other smaller craft. The Navy also includes a Marine Corps (Cuerpo de Fusileros Navales) consisting of four brigades (company sized).

The Naval Academy (Escuela Naval) is located in Carrasco, a suburb of Montevideo. Instruction consists of a 5-year course of study culminating in a cruise on the instructional tall ship Capitán Miranda, which lasts several weeks and takes graduates to various ports around the world.

At Laguna del Sauce, the Uruguayan Navy operates a small naval air station and an Order of Battle that includes T-34C Mentors, S-2 Trackers, Westland Wessex, Beech King Air 200, and BAe Jetstream. As at November 2006. only one navy Westland Wessex remains operational.