Territorial Air Defence Forces

Territorial Air Defence Force
قوات الدفاع الجوي عن الإقليم (Arabic)
Forces de défense aérienne du Territoire (French)
Insignia of the Commander of the Territorial Air Defence Force
Founded1988
CountryAlgeria
RoleAir Defense
Size10,000
Part ofAlgerian People's National Army

The Territorial Air Defence Force (DAT; Arabic: قوات الدفاع الجوي عن الإقليم,[1]French: Forces de défense aérienne du Territoire[2]) is an armed service/branch of the Algerian People's National Army, the armed forces of Algeria.[3] It is one of the four service branches of the Algerian Armed Forces, along with the army, navy, and air force. It is tasked with the Algerian airspace protection mission. Its current commander is Major-General Amer Amrani.[4]

The higher military school of the Air Defence Forces (école supérieure de la défense aérienne du territoire) is located at Reghaïa in Algeria's 1st Military Region.[5] It provides engineering training.

Created in 1988, after being separated from the Ground Forces Command, it is currently under the command of the commander of air defense of the military region forces. Its equipment includes the S300 missile, batteries of Pantsir-S1s, and the Tor missile system, which is the most important weapon owned by the Territorial Air Defence Force.[6][7] Other systems include: the SA-6 "Gainful" and Buk missile systems, the S-125 Neva/Pechora and the SA-8 Gecko, as well as the "Shilka" armed with 23 mm cannons and man portable 9K32 Strela-2s. In addition, the force possesses many types of radar.

Currently there are three air defence brigades and five surface-to-air missile regiments with SA-2, SA-3, SA-6, and SA-20.[8]

  1. ^ "قوات الدفاع الجوي عن الإقليم". Ministry of National Defence (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Forces de Défense Aérienne du Territoire". Ministère de la Défense Nationale (in French). Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  3. ^ "The World Fact Book: Algeria". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Forces Commander". Ministry of National Defence. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Trois journées pour tout savoir sur les forces de défense aérienne" [Three days to learn everything about Air Defense Forces]. Jeunesse d'Algerie (in French). 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  6. ^ "La Russie a livré à l'Algérie 12 systèmes de défense aérienne en 2014" [Russia handed over 12 air defense systems to Algeria in 2014]. Algerie Solidaire (in French). 22 March 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Russian air defense systems continue to evolve". Defence Review Asia. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  8. ^ The Military Balance. London, UK: International Institute for Strategic Studies. 2014. p. 312.