The Belize Defence Force (BDF) is the military of Belize, and is responsible for protecting the sovereignty of Belize. The BDF, along with the National Forensic Science Service, the National Coast Guard, and the Immigration Department, is a department of the Ministry of National Security, which is headed by Carlos Perdomo; the BDF itself is commanded by Brigadier General Dario Tapia. In 2005, the Belizean government spent $1.2 million on the military, constituting 1.87% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).[1]
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The military of Belize dates back to 1817, when the Prince Regent Royal Honduras Militia, a volunteer organization, was founded; this militia became the Belize Volunteer Guard of the British Territorial Army. The BDF was founded in 1978 following the disbanding of the Belize Volunteer Guard and the Police Special Force the year before.[2]
After Belize achieved independence in 1981 the United Kingdom maintained a deterrent force in the country to protect it from invasion by Guatemala (see Guatemalan claim to Belizean territory). The main British force left in 1994, three years after Guatemala recognised Belizean independence, but the United Kingdom maintains a training presence via the British Army Training and Support Unit Belize (BATSUB) and 25 Flight Army Air Corps.[2] The BDF Maritime Wing became part of the Belizean Coastguard in November 2005.[3]
The BDF consists of:
The Belize National Police is a quasi-military unit in Belize.
Aircraft Inventory as of January 26, 2009
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Versions | In service[4] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counter-insurgency | ||||||
| Britten-Norman Defender | United Kingdom | Counter-insugency | BN-2B-21 | 2 | In service since 1983 | |
| Trainers | ||||||
| Slingsby T-67 Firefly | United Kingdom | Trainer | T67M-260 | 1 | In service since 1996 | |
| Transports | ||||||
| Britten-Norman Islander | United Kingdom | Utility transport | BN-2A | 1 | ||
| Cessna 182J | United States | Utility transport | 182J | 1 | In service since 1996 | |
| Obsolete Aircraft | ||||||
| Dornier Do 27 | Germany | Utility transport | Do.27 | 0 | 1 in service from 1987 to 1990 | |
| Beechcraft King Air | United States | Utility transport | A90 | 0 | 1 in service from 2004 to 2006 | |
| Ayres Thrush | United States | Trainer | S-2R | 0 | 3 were in service | |
| Bell UH-1 Iroquois | United States | Utility helicopter | UH-1 | 0 | 1 was in service | |
| Cessna 208 Caravan | United States | Utility transport | 208 | 0 | 1 was in service | |
| Cessna O-2 Skymaster | United States | Observation aircraft | 337\O-2 | 0 | 1 was in service | |
Personnel: year 2008, 152
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.
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