Kuwaiti ground and air forces conducted exercise Desert Horizon in November 2023 to evaluate the level of interoperability among units from different military branches.
Attended by Kuwait Armed Forces Acting Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Ghazi Al-Shammari, Desert Horizon used live ammunition to simulate a complex operational environment and symmetric and asymmetric warfare.
Units that participated in the exercise were the Assault Company from the 25th Commando Brigade, the 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, F-18 aircraft from the Air Force, and Apache helicopters from Army Aviation.
Kuwait Armed Forces regularly participate in local, regional and international exercises to raise the capabilities of their units and update equipment to keep pace with developments in conventional and unconventional wars.
The Arabian Gulf country embarked on an ambitious program to rebuild itself and reequip its armed forces as soon as the country was liberated from Iraqi occupation in 1991 by a global coalition led by the United States.
To this end, Kuwait set up the Kuwait Emergency Recovery Office that closely coordinated with the newly established U.S. Defense Reconstruction Assistance Office manned by personnel from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In 2017, Kuwait opened a regional NATO center, reintroduced mandatory military service and budgeted $10 billion toward defense modernization, including the purchase of advanced fighter jets, tanks and air defense systems by 2026.
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