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 ARMED FORCES OF THE
THE EVOLUTION OF THE
• MODERN MILITARY HISTORY SERIES •
M O D E R N M I L I TA R Y H I S T O R Y

While today the military of the United Arab Emirates

is described admiringly as a 'little Sparta', just 60
years ago the only security forces in the Emirates
were the armed retainers of the Ruling Sheikhs and
a small British-led, locally-raised Arab force. Using

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

a combination of direct oversight by rulers, investment in its nationals,
engagement of expatriates and the purchase of cutting edge military
hardware, the UAE Armed Forces has become, arguably, the most capable
Arab military. In the last decade, it has also gained considerable experience
through its military operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
This book traces the little-known and fascinating history of the country’s
military. It provides unparalleled detail on the constituent forces that evolved
into the UAE Armed Forces in 1976, and how the unified force has evolved since
then. It provides essential background information on the country, the enduring
roles of the military and the history of each military service, plus details on the
political and command structure governing the military, and its manpower
and materiel characteristics. The book concludes with an explanation of how
the UAE has been able to develop a highly capable military in such a relatively
short period of time.

Dr Athol Yates teaches civil security, security technology, internal security, disaster management,
public policy and research methods at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi. His research focuses on
the modernisation of the UAE’s security structure and organisations including the public policy,
higher national security architecture, UAE police services and the UAE Armed Forces.
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ATHOL YATES
The Evolution of the Armed Forces
of the United Arab Emirates

Athol Yates

Helion & Company Limited

Helion & Company Limited
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Text © Athol Yates

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their
permission for the use of copyright material. The author and publisher apologize
for any errors or omissions in this work and would be grateful if notified of any
corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

ISBN 978-1-912866-00-7

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Modern Military History
Series Editors
Alaric Searle, Reader in Military History, University of Salford, UK
Professor Mark Connelly, University of Kent, UK

This series is dedicated to making available, at a reasonable price, quality academic military
history, based on innovative and thorough scholarly research. While the main emphasis is
on the publication of single-authored monographs, there will be scope for edited collections
which focus primarily on new perspectives and evidence, as well as occasional translations of
important foreign-language studies. Modern Military History will be framed in an ‘inclusive’
fashion, so that it encompasses armies, navies and air forces. While the traditional core
concerns of military history – such as tactics, combat experience, technology, strategy and
officer education – remain important fields of consideration, the encouragement of new angles
and original approaches, whether methodologically, geographically or thematically, form a
significant part of the editors’ agenda.

Titles
No. 1 Genesis, Employment, Aftermath: First World War Tanks and the New Warfare,
1900-1945 edited by Alaric Searle (ISBN 978-1-909982-22-2)

No. 2 Naval Advising and Assistance: History, Challenges, and Analysis edited by Donald
Stoker and Michael T. McMaster (ISBN 978-1-911512-82-0)

No. 3 Expeditionary Police Advising and Militarization: Building Security in A Fractured World
edited by Donald Stoker and Edward B. Westermann (ISBN 978-1-911512-86-8)

No. 4 Kursk 1943: The Greatest Battle of the Second World War by Roman Toppel
(ISBN 978-1-912390-03-8)

No. 5 Air Force Advising and Assistance edited by Edward B. Westermann and Donald Stoker
(ISBN 978-1-912390-60-1)

No. 6 The Evolution of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates by Athol Yates
(ISBN 978-1-912866-00-7)
Contents

List of Tables viii

List of Figures ix
Abbreviations x
Terminology xiii
Foreword xvi

Part I How Environment has Shaped the Military 19

1 Physical Environment 21
Geography 21
The topographical zones 27
Political geography 29
Oil and natural resources 36
Looking forward 38
2 People and Culture 41
Demographics 42
Expatriates 47
Nationals 49
Religion 59
Looking forward 66
3 Political Control 69
The traditional Emirati system of government 71
Modern Emirate-level Government 80
Federal Government 88
Maintaining ruler control as forces grew 98
Looking forward 100

Part II Defining Characteristics of Emirati Armed Forces 101

4 Missions 103
Core mission 1: Defending territorial integrity and sovereignty 105
Core mission 2: Protecting the rulers and their families 120

v
vi The Evolution of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates

Core mission 3: Bolstering internal security 121

Core mission 4: Nation building 123
Core mission 5: Supporting foreign policy 126
Looking forward 130
5 Equipping 132
Substantial defence expenditure 133
Preference for advanced systems 137
Multi-country sourcing of weaponry 139
Looking forward 146
6 Manpower 148
Manpower challenges 148
Solutions to the manpower challenge 157
Looking forward 168

Part III History of the Emirates Armed Forces 171

7 British-Controlled Armed Forces 173
The Trucial Oman Levies (1951-56) and Trucial Oman Scouts
(1956-71) 175
Regular British forces 193
British military involvement after 1971 200
8 Ruler-Controlled Armed Forces 201
Abu Dhabi Defence Force (1965-76) 202
Ras Al Khaimah Mobile Force (1968-76) 213
Dubai Defence Force (1970-76) 214
Sharjah National Guard (1972-76) 218
Central Military Command (1976-97) 220
Umm Al Quwain National Guard (1976-2006) 224
Re-established armed forces of Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah
(1984-1990s) 225
Looking forward 226
9 Federally Controlled Armed Forces 227
Union Defence Force/Federal Armed Force (1971-76) 228
The 1976 unification of Emirati armed forces 231
The 1978 integration and its aftermath 236
UAE Armed Forces (1976-present) 241
Land Forces 243
Air Force and Air Defence 249
Navy 259
Presidential Guard 270
Joint Aviation Command 277
Coastal, border and infrastructure protection forces 279
 Contents vii

Chemical Defence Command 284

National Service and Reserve Authority 286
10 Conclusion 291
The most capable Arab armed force? 291
The UAE’s route to military effectiveness 302
The future 309

Appendices 311
I Militarily Influential Rulers 311
II General Headquarters Structure 316
III Rank Structure 318
IV Emirati Armed Forces Nomenclature 320
V Emirates Armed Forces Leaders (1951-76) 322
VI Leaders of the UAE Armed Forces (1976-2020) 326
VII Foreign Deployments of Emirati Armed Forces 329
VIII British Armed Forces Policy and Military Command in the Trucial
States (1951-71) 333

Bibliography 343
Index 367
List of Tables

1 Armed forces of the Emirates xiii

2 Key characteristics of the Emirates 30
3 Proven oil reserves by Emirate, 2015 37
4 Population breakdown in the Emirates, 1969 43
5 The population of the Emirates, 1969-2020 45
6 UAE population by Emirate and nationality, 2005 46
7 Labour force participation by Emirate and nationality, 2005 47
8 Estimates of the tribal composition of the Emirates, 1994 55
9 Facilities used by foreign forces in the UAE, 2001-20 119
10 Activities undertaken by Emirati armed forces in support of foreign policy,
1965-2020 128
11 UAE military expenditure figures, 1997-2014 134
12 Arms imports to the UAE by weapons category in US$ million,
1971-2018 136
13 Countries supplying arms to the UAE in US$ million, 1971-2016 140
14 Reported manpower figures for Emirati armed forces, 1965-2016 149
15 The UAE’s military burden 154
16 Emirati officer cadets passing out from the Royal Military Academy
Sandhurst 161
17 ADDF personnel, March 1974 162
18 Force elements of the UAE Armed Forces following the 1976 unification 234
19 Rank structure of the UAE Armed Forces and its British/US equivalents 319
20 Nomenclature of Emirati land forces 320
21 Nomenclature of Emirati air forces 321
22 Nomenclature of Emirati naval forces 321
23 Leaders of the armed forces of the Emirates, 1951-76 322
24 Leaders of the UAE Armed Forces, 1976-2020 326
25 Foreign deployments of Emirati armed forces 329

viii
List of Figures

1 The evolution of armed forces and major combat formations in the

Emirates, 1951-2020. xiv
2 The Arabian Peninsula and region. 22
3 The four topographical zones of the Emirates. 25
4 Key UAE military facilities marked on Google Maps. 26
5 The UAE’s internal boundaries. 34
6 The major oil fields of the UAE. 38
7 Nationals as a proportion of total population. 46
8 Tribes of senior Emiratis in defence and security organisations in
Abu Dhabi. 58
9 Model of traditional government, Abu Dhabi in the early 1950s. 74
10 Model of modern Emirate-level government, since the 1970s. 82
11 The Federal Government structure. 89
12 Political control of the UAE Armed Forces, 2020. 97
13 Settled and ongoing territorial disputes with neighbouring countries. 106
14 Types of activities undertaken by Emirati armed forces in support
of foreign policy along the soft-hard power spectrum. 127
15 Arms imports to the Emirates in US $ millions, 1968-2019. 135
16 Organisation of the Trucial Oman Scouts, 1969. 187
17 Organisation of the Abu Dhabi Defence Force, early 1969. 207
18 Organisation of the Abu Dhabi Defence Force, April 1974. 211
19 Organisation of the Dubai Defence Force, mid-1974. 217
20 Organisation of the Federal Armed Force, January 1975. 230
21 Organisation of the UAE Armed Forces, December 1976. 236
22 Organisation of the UAE Armed Forces, 1982. 238
23 Key elements of the UAE Armed Forces, mid-2020. 243
24 General Headquarters staff structure of the UAE Armed Forces, 1977. 317
25 The policy and military command of British armed forces in the Trucial
States, 1951-71. 334

ix
Abbreviations

2IC second-in-command
AA anti-aircraft
ADDF Abu Dhabi Defence Force
AFAD Air Force and Air Defence
ALIS Autonomic Logistics Information System
APC armoured personnel carrier
AQAP Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
ARAMCO Arabian American Oil Company
Armd armoured
Arty artillery
AWQAF General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments
Bde brigade
BFG British Forces Gulf
Bn battalion
Bty battery
CDS Chief of Defence Staff
CICPA Critical Infrastructure and Coastal Protection Authority
C-in-C Commander-in-Chief
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CIWS close-in weapon system
CMC Central Military Command
CNIA Critical National Infrastructure Authority
CO Commanding Officer
CoS Chief of Staff
CPC Crown Prince’s Court
est. established
FAC fast attack craft
FAF Federal Armed Force
FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office
FMS Foreign Military Sale
FO Foreign Office
GCC Gulf Cooperation Council

x
 Abbreviations xi

GDP gross domestic product

GHQ General Headquarters
GPMG general purpose machine gun
GSO General Staff Officer
HQ headquarters
Inf infantry
IRGC Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
JAC Joint Aviation Command
JSF Joint Strike Fighter
LIC Local Intelligence Committee
LMG light machine gun
MCO Military Contract Officer
MECA Middle East Centre Archive
MMG medium machine gun
MoD Ministry of Defence
MoU Memorandum of Agreement
MV motor vessel
N/A not applicable
NCO Non-Commissioned Officer
OC Officer Commanding
OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
PFLO Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman
PFLOAG Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf
PRG Political Resident Gulf
PRPG Political Resident Persian Gulf
r. ruled
RAF Royal Air Force
RAKMF Ras Al Khaimah Mobile Force
SAM surface-to-air missile
SAOPG Senior Army Officer, Persian Gulf
SAS Special Air Service
SAT systems approach to training
SBS Special Boat Service
SIPRI Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
SNG Sharjah National Guard
SNOPG Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf
SO Staff Officer
Sqn squadron
STOL short takeoff and landing
SWAT special weapons and tactics
TIV Trend Indicator Values
TNA The National Archives
xii The Evolution of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates

TOL Trucial Oman Levies

TOS Trucial Oman Scouts
UAE United Arab Emirates
UAQNG Umm Al Quwain National Guard
UAV unmanned aerial vehicles
UDF Union Defence Force
UK United Kingdom
US United States
VTOL vertical take-off and landing
WAM Emirates News Agency
Terminology

Armed forces of the Emirates versus Emirati armed forces

The term armed forces of the Emirates refers to all armed forces that have existed in
either the Trucial States (pre-1971) or UAE (post-1971) periods, regardless of whether
the force was British-controlled, ruler-controlled or federally-controlled. The term
Emirati Armed Forces refer to militaries controlled by Emirati political leadership (i.e.
ruler-controlled and federally controlled armed forces) but not British-controlled
armed forces. This division is important to the narrative of this book. Table 1 lists the
armed forces of the Emirates divided into these categories.
Figure 1 shows how the armed forces of the Emirates and their major formations
evolved from 1951 to 2020. Part three of the book provides a detailed history of these
forces.

Table 1: Armed forces of the Emirates1

Emirati armed forces

British-controlled armed
Ruler-controlled armed forces Federally controlled forces
armed forces

Abu Dhabi Defence Force (1965-76) Union Defence Force Trucial Oman Levies (1951-56)
Dubai Defence Force (1970-76) (1971-74) Trucial Oman Scouts (1956-71)
Central Military Command (1976-98) Federal Armed Force Royal Air Force (1952-71)
Sharjah National Guard (1972-76) (1974-76) British Army (1955-71)
Sharjah’s re-established armed force UAE Armed Forces Royal Navy (1800s-1971)
(1984-90) (1976-present)
Ras Al Khaimah Mobile Force (1969-76)
Ras Al Khaimah’s re-established armed
force (1984-mid-1990s)
Umm Al Quwain National Guard
(1975-2006)

1 The establishment date of a force/formation is denoted in brackets. Minor formations and

units are detailed in chapters 7 to 9.

xiii
 xiv
The Evolution of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates

Figure 1: The evolution of armed forces and major combat formations in the Emirates, 1951-2020.
 Terminology xv

Nationals, expatriates, and residents

Following common practice in the UAE, the terms nationals, locals, and Emiratis
are interchangeable and used to mean those holding Emirati citizenship. Expatriates
are those who have come from a foreign country to live and work in the Emirates for
an extended period. The term resident is used to mean those who have their primary
residence in the UAE regardless of nationality, that is, both expatriates and nationals.

Force, commands, formations, units and commanders

The term force is used to mean an armed force and has no relationship to the force’s
manpower numbers or the rank of its professional head. For example, the Ras Al
Khaimah Mobile Force in the early 1970s consisted of just several hundred men and
was commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel, while the UAE Armed Forces today have an
establishment strength of over 60,000 and are commanded by a Lieutenant-General.
A command is a collection of formations and units under the control of a single
officer, who reports directly to a general headquarters. A command typically has
several thousand personnel and covers either a geographic area or a function.
A formation comprises numbers of aircraft, ships or units under a single commander,
and is capable of undertaking significant combat operations. Examples include divi-
sions (land forces), brigades (land forces), wings (air force) and flotillas (navy).
A unit is a small organisation which is usually is made up of personnel from a single
arm of service. Examples are battalions (land forces), squadrons (air force) and divi-
sions (navy).
In this book, if the word group is added to a formation/unit, it indicates that the
formation has additional elements attached to it. For example, a brigade group could
be made up of an infantry brigade with engineers and logistic units attached. If the
word light or heavy is added, it indicates that the unit respectively lacks or exceeds its
standard complement of personnel and equipment.
Appendix 4 contains the nomenclature of formations and units used by Emirati
armed forces.
This book uses the British Army naming convention for commanders as this
convention has generally been used by the various armed forces of the Emirates:

• Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel or above) to mean a commander of a higher

formation or a force (e.g. Commander Abu Dhabi Defence Force)
• Commanding Officer (CO) (Lieutenant-Colonel or Colonel) to mean a commander
of a large formation (e.g. CO 4th Battalion)
• Officer Commanding (OC) (Captain or Major) to mean a commander of a unit (e.g.
OC 9th Squadron)
Foreword

When I took up a position at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa University to teach a Masters

course in security studies to Emirati security professionals in 2013, I was surprised to
find an almost complete lack of useful information on the UAE Armed Forces and its
antecedent forces. The exception was coverage of the British-controlled force in the
Emirates, the Trucial Oman Levies/Scouts, which existed between 1951 and 1971.
While there were useful and reliable summaries of Emirati-controlled forces written
in the early 1980s,1 little has been produced since then.
This lack of attention was particularly surprising given that the UAE Armed Forces
are probably the most capable Arab military in terms of its ability to undertake joint,
sustained, and expeditionary operations. Or more poetically a ‘Little Sparta’, a term
attributed to General James Mattis, the recent US Secretary of Defense.2 Over the last
decade, the UAE military has been deployed operationally across the region including
to Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. It has gone from being a recipient to a supplier
of military expertise, with its training teams and advisors having supported forces in
Somalia, Puntland, Yemen, and Seychelles, to name just a few states.
Its level of combat effectiveness is a considerable achievement given that the UAE
became a fully sovereign nation only in 1971. It is even more so the case considering
that until the early 1960s, much of the population lived as their ancestors had – in
fishing, agriculture, and animal husbandry. There was little or no education, health
services, roads, piped water, or electricity. And its first locally controlled armed force
was formed only in 1965.
This book seeks then to provide an authoritative, narrative account of the evolution
of the UAE Armed Forces. It is divided into three parts. The first covers the physical,
social, political and historical environment as these have shaped and continue to shape
the country’s military development. The second part describes the defining charac-
teristics of Emirati armed forces. It details the enduring roles of Emirati militaries
over their six decades of existence, and how political control of the armed forces has

1 Notable examples are J.E. Peterson, Defending Arabia (London, 1986); J.B. Kelly, Arabia,
the Gulf and the West (London, 1980).
2 Rajiv Chandrasekaran, ‘In the UAE, the United States Has a Quiet, Potent Ally
Nicknamed “Little Sparta”‘, The Washington Post, 9 November 2014.

xvi
 Foreword xvii

changed over time. It also identifies the characteristics which have made the UAE
Armed Forces markedly different from other armed forces in the region – notably
its preference for advanced hardware, a multi-country sourcing strategy, limited
domestic manpower and engagement of expatriates. The third and largest part of the
book provides the most comprehensive history of the armed forces of the Emirates
to date. This history focuses on the key elements that generate military capabilities,
notably force structure, materiel, and personnel.
One of the primary aims of the book is to provide accurate information on the UAE
Armed Forces. This is because much of what have been and continues to be written
about them are incomplete, out-of-date, or incorrect. For example, the following
statement appeared in a specialist military journal in 2012:

The army of the United Arab Emirates has 49,000 men … That ground force is
augmented by three separate sheikhdom forces. The 15,000 strong Abu Dhabi
Defense Force has two mechanized infantry brigades, an artillery battalion, a
squadron of Hawker Hunter fighters and four coastal patrol boats. The 2,000-
man Dubai Defense Force is organized into a single infantry brigade called the
Central Military Command, while the small sheikhdom of Ras Al Khayman
[sic] fields a 900-man Defense Force Group.3

The errors in this extract are numerous. For instance, the so-called ‘separate
sheikhdom forces’ had been integrated into the UAE Armed Forces decades before,
the Abu Dhabi Defence Force ceased to exist in 1976, and the force’s Hawker Hunters
had in fact been given to Somalia in 1983.4 Hence, a key purpose of this book is to
provide, for the first time, an accurate account of the history of the armed forces of the
Emirates. To enable readers to cross check this account with other writings, extensive
footnotes are included which not only contain the sources of the information provided
in the book but also useful contextual information.
This book has been written for several different groups of readers. One is foreign
military personnel and their civilian counterparts who study, work alongside or
support capacity-building in the Gulf. The book will also be of use to academics,
graduate students and policy makers interested in Arab Gulf military affairs and
UAE modern history. To support the reader – whether they are military, academic
or an interested layperson – the book provides both detailed country and military
background information, and examples of points, aiming to provide the context
necessary to appreciate the meaning of significant developments.
This book only came to fruition through the support of many individuals. The
most important is Jacinta Nelligan, to whom I am deeply indebted. She has not only

3 V. Liebl, ‘Oil War: Iran and the Military Balance in the Persian Gulf ’, Modern War, Nov-
Dec 2012.
4 TNA FCO 31/4053: UK Embassy in Mogadishu, ‘Hawker Hunters’, 11 July 1983.
xviii The Evolution of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates

provided wonderful encouragement and support, but also considerable editorial input.
Without her, this work would not have come to fruition.
I am extremely grateful to my editor, Dr Alaric Searle, for his valuable contributions
which have markedly improved the book. I also wish to thank my current and former
colleagues for their expert guidance and valuable subject matter knowledge: these
include Dr Ash Rossiter, Dr Victor Gervais, Dr Brendon Cannon, Dr Joel Hayward,
and UAE historian Peter Hellyer. Many others have made valuable contributions,
including those who have served in the UAE military, and both Emirati and foreign
academics. While I cannot mention all those who contributed to my research for
confidentiality reasons, the following individuals in particular deserve my gratitude:
Major-General Sheikh Saeed bin Hamdan bin Mohammad Al Nahyan, Lt Colonel
Sheikh Zayed bin Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, Major-General Andrew Pillar,
Captain Mohammad Abdullah Al Abdouli, Mike Brennan, Michael Curtis, Norvell
DeAtkine, Mike Edgerton, Stephen Franke, David Gregory, Steve Hay, Robin
Hitchcock, Ali Iqbal, Andrew James, Ahmed Khimas, Cliff Lord, Barry McCombe,
David Neild, Dr James Onley, J.E. Peterson, Kenneth Pollack, Ahmed Shubbar,
Keith Steel, Miles Stockwell, Dr Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Sir Harold ‘Hooky’
Walker, Tony Wallington, Zoltan Barany, Dr Nigel Warwick, Jeremy Williams, Gil
Barndollar and Hugo Willis.
I would like to acknowledge the support and cooperation of the following insti-
tutions, which hold significant collections of primary source material: the National
Archives of the UAE; the National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew; the
Middle East Centre Archives, St Antony’s College, Oxford; and the UAE Armed
Forces Museum and Military History Centre.
Finally, I wish to thank all the Emirati students I have both taught and learned
much from. Of these, I am particularly indebted to Sheikh Mohammad bin Hamad
bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Eng. Nawaf Alnuaimi, Eng. Saeed Mohammed Al Dhaheri,
Mohammad Al Olama, Khalid Mohammad Al Tahsoun Al Shehhi, Brigadier
Ahmed Bisho, Musabbeh Alghaithi, Ahmed Madloum, Narmeen Qambar, Fatima
Al Qubaisi, Ahmed Al Khateri, Ahmed Al Yammahi, Ali Al Mazrouei, Mohamed
Al Zanki, Haleema Al Hosani, Hind Al Shamsi, Huda Bamatraf, Jasim Al Shammri,
Maryam Mazrouei, Mohamed Al Mesaabi, Dr Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Brigadier
Nasser Al Otaibi, Sultan Al Darmaki, Talal Faris, Abdulla Al Jallaf, Abdulla Al
Tunaiji, Surour Ali Surour Al Nuaimi, Saif Al Khafili and Ahmed Alghaithi.
Knowing these and the other students, I am confident that the future of the UAE is
in good hands.
Athol Yates
20 September 2020
 ARMED FORCES OF THE
THE EVOLUTION OF THE
• MODERN MILITARY HISTORY SERIES •
M O D E R N M I L I TA R Y H I S T O R Y

While today the military of the United Arab Emirates

is described admiringly as a 'little Sparta', just 60
years ago the only security forces in the Emirates
were the armed retainers of the Ruling Sheikhs and
a small British-led, locally-raised Arab force. Using

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

a combination of direct oversight by rulers, investment in its nationals,
engagement of expatriates and the purchase of cutting edge military
hardware, the UAE Armed Forces has become, arguably, the most capable
Arab military. In the last decade, it has also gained considerable experience
through its military operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
This book traces the little-known and fascinating history of the country’s
military. It provides unparalleled detail on the constituent forces that evolved
into the UAE Armed Forces in 1976, and how the unified force has evolved since
then. It provides essential background information on the country, the enduring
roles of the military and the history of each military service, plus details on the
political and command structure governing the military, and its manpower
and materiel characteristics. The book concludes with an explanation of how
the UAE has been able to develop a highly capable military in such a relatively
short period of time.

Dr Athol Yates teaches civil security, security technology, internal security, disaster management,
public policy and research methods at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi. His research focuses on
the modernisation of the UAE’s security structure and organisations including the public policy,
higher national security architecture, UAE police services and the UAE Armed Forces.

o .u k
. c
ATHOL YATES

he lion
w .
m ww
e r fro
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