| Armed Forces of Uruguay | |
|---|---|
| Fuerzas armadas del Uruguay (Spanish) | |
 Coat of Arms of Uruguay | |
| Founded | 1828 |
| Service branches |  National Army of Uruguay National Navy of Uruguay Uruguayan Air Force |
| Headquarters | Montevideo,Uruguay |
| Leadership | |
| President of the Republic | Yamandú Orsi |
| Ministry of National Defense | Armando Castaingdebat |
| Chief of the Defence Staff | Rodolfo Pereyra Martínez |
| Personnel | |
| Active personnel | 24,000 (2001[1]) |
| Expenditure | |
| Budget | $492 million (2008) |
| Percent of GDP | 2.3% (2020)[2] |
| Industry | |
| Foreign suppliers |  Argentina Brazil Canada Israel Russia United States Singapore |
| Related articles | |
| Ranks | Ranks of the Armed Forces of Uruguay |
 Uruguay topics |
|---|
 Uruguay portal |
TheArmed Forces ofUruguay (Spanish:Fuerzas Armadas del Uruguay orFF.AA. del Uruguay) consist of theNational Army of Uruguay, theNational Navy of Uruguay, and theUruguayan Air Force. These three independent branches areconstitutionally subordinate to thePresident of the Republic through theMinister of Defense. The government has trimmed the armed forces to about 16,800 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 on 12UN Peacekeeping missions. The largest groups are in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo andHaiti. There is also a 58-man contingent in theMFO in theSinai.[3]
The Army consists of some 15,000 personnel organized into fourdivisions.
It is equipped with 15 IsraeliTi-67 (T-55) Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), 17 AmericanM24 Chaffee light tanks, 46M41A1 Walker Bulldog light tanks, 24 AmericanM113A1 Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), 15 CzechBMP-1 Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), 130OT-64 SKOT APCs, 64 GermanCondor APCs, 15 BrazilianEE-9 Cascavel, 18EE-3 Jararacaarmored cars, and 48 Russian lightly armoredGAZ-3937 amphibious vehicles.[citation needed] In 2008, Uruguay also purchased 44 6x6 Canadian-madeAVGP APCs rehabilitated byFAMAE in Chile after retirement from theCanadian Army, receiving a second batch of 100 of Grizzlys and 5 Huskys, the recovery version. It has 4 sets ofRM-70 multiple rocket launchers. The army operates 40Land Rover Defender 110SW vehicles, and is looking to buy between 30 and 40 more.[4]
The currentassault rifle used by the Army is the Argentinian-built version of the BelgianFN FAL; it is being replaced by the AustrianSteyr AUG following a bidding contest in 2007 and 2008. In addition, about 300 RussianAK-101s are already used, and the elite airborne, commando, and antiterrorist Battalion 14 (Batallón de Infantería Paracaidista N.º 14) exclusively employ GermanHeckler & Koch G36s.
The Army will receive locally producedGlock 17 pistols as replacements for its legacyBrowning Hi-Power andM1911 pistols.[5]
Uruguay Special Forces are now fielding an indigenous.50 BMG sniper rifle called theFS50 Peregrino. It is a single-shot bolt-action rifle that was developed in Uruguay for about two years.[6]
The Uruguayan Army was considering buying either thePanzerfaust 3 orRPG-7 as short-range anti-tank weapons.[7] Acquisition of the rockets was cancelled due to lack of funds.[8]
The Navy consists of about 5,700 personnel under command of Admiral Jorge Wilson[9] and is organized into four commands: the Fleet Command (Comando de la Flota orCOMFLO), the Coast Guard (Prefectura Nacional Naval orPRENA), the Chief Directorate of Naval Materiel (Dirección General de Material Naval orDIMAT), and the Chief Directorate of Naval Personnel (Dirección General de Personal Naval orDIPER). The Navy General Staff (Estado Mayor General de la Armada orESMAY) acts as an advisory body to the admiral.
The current fleet consists of one ex-GermanLüneburg-class replenishment ship, refitted with helipad and used for helicopter patrol and transport and named ROU 04General Artigas, one formerUnited States Coast Guard (USCG) Cape-class cutter, named ROU 11Río Negro, three former USCG Marine Protector-class patrol boat, named as ROU 14Río Arapey, ROU 15Río de la Plata and ROU 16Río Yaguaron, three ex-East GermanKondor II class minesweepers, a three-mastedstaysailschooner namedCapitán Miranda (ROU 20) and other smaller craft.
The Navy also includes Marine Corps and a small Naval Air Station atLaguna del Sauce, equipped with twoBeechcraft T-34C-1 Turbo Mentors, twoBeechcraft Super King Air and threeCessna O-2A Skymasters fixed-wing aircraft, and twoBell 412 and oneBell OH-58A Kiowa helicopters.
The Uruguayan Naval Academy (Escuela Naval orESNAL) is located inCarrasco, a suburb ofMontevideo. Instruction consists of a 4-year course of study culminating in a cruise on the instructionaltall shipCapitán Miranda, which lasts several weeks and takes graduates to various ports around the world.
The Air Force consists of about 3,000 personnel and organized into three Air Brigades (I, II, & III) and several Squadrons.
Combat aircraft consist of a few CessnaA-37B Dragonflies and transport aircraft of twoLockheed C-130s, twoEmbraer C-95 Bandeirantes, oneEmbraer C-120ER Brasilia, five SpanishCASA C-212-200/300 Aviocars and ten Cessna U-206H Stationairs. The helicopter fleet consist of a fewBell UH-1H Iroquois, fiveBell 212 and twoEurocopter AS-365N2 Dauphin.
The Air Force Academy (Escuela Militar de Aeronáutica) is located at General Artigas Air Base inPando,Canelones; the Air Force Technical School of Aeronautics (Escuela Técnica de Aeronáutica) in Toledo Sur,Canelones; and the Air Force Command Academy (Escuela de Comando y Estado Mayor Aéreo) at Captain Boiso Lanza Air Base inMontevideo. Training aircraft consists of twelve ItalianAermacchi SF-260EU, threeBeechcraft UB-55 and UB-58 Barons, and five SwissPilatus PC-7U Turbo Trainers.
