Army Technology

Lebanese Army: M113s and HMMWVs predominate in patchwork force

The Lebanese Army will be tasked with providing the bulk of a peacekeeping force to ensure the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel persists.

The role the Lebanese Army has been tasked to perform as part of the ceasefire between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah will be critical in ensuring the nascent peace could extend beyond the near term, following a devastating conflict that has results in thousands of military and civilian deaths.

Cross border bombardment from Hezbollah into northern Israel had become a common occurrence since the outbreak of overt hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip, which followed the bloody incursion by Hamas militants into Israel in October 2023.

In response, Israel initiated a bombing campaign over southern Lebanon, targetting key military sites and Hezbollah leaders, which resulted in widespread destruction of infrastructure and the displacement of tens of thousands of civilians.

Reacting to the ceasefire, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J Austin said on 26 November the move was “good for Israel, good for Lebanon, and good for the security of the region”, citing the ability of “tens of thousands” of Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return to their homes.

Into this operating area, thousands of Lebanese Army and UN peacekeepers under the UNIFIL force are expected to be deployed, in a bid to maintain the ceasefire and create a buffer zone between Hezbollah and Israel.

UN personnel in Kfarkila, Lebanon, in December 2018. Credit: Shutterstock

This raises the real prospect of direct confrontation between Lebanese Army troops and Hezbollah forces, a political dilemma given the ethnic, social, and religious make-up of Lebanon. Alternatively, Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) could also be brought into further contact with Israeli forces, with 45 LAF personnel killed by Israeli action, according to a 25 November UNIFIL release, citing Lebanese figures.

“The LAF has reported a series of Israeli strikes in recent weeks, resulting in the loss of personnel, damage to premises, and destruction of assets,” UNIFIL stated.

Although the national land force of Lebanon, the Lebanese Army is effectively a third-party in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Hezbollah, with its own political and security structures deeply embedded in the south of the country, has come to operate effectively as state-with-a-state since following the withdrawal of Israel forces from Lebanon in 2000.

How capable is the Lebanese Army?

Numbering around 70,000 personnel, the Lebanese Army has struggled to develop effective command and control structures, while its patchwork equipment inventory containing a mix of legacy and newer platforms, mostly provided by the US, as well as countries such as France, the UK, Russia, and Italy.

According to GlobalData analysis, the Lebanese Army operates up to 10 US-origin M60A3 main battle tanks (MBT), delivered in 2009, along with an unspecified number of M48A5 and T-55 tanks. It is likely the Lebanese MBTs are in a poor state of readiness and not suitable for buffer-zone operations.

A driver and gunner from the Kuwaiti Army’s 94th Al-Yarmouk Mechanized Brigade provide security operate an M113 armored personnel carrier. Credit: US Air Force

Potentially one of the platforms that could be used are the M113 armoured personnel carriers (APC), of which around 1,250 were delivered between 2012-2015 from the United States. The M113 is a workhorse of many militaries with the design dating back to the 1960s, and is still in service across the world, including several hundred with the Israel Defence Forces.

Armoured multirole vehicles such as the Lebanese Army’s HMMWV (~1,500 vehicles of various types) would also be suitable for peacekeeping and patrol operations. In addition, some 100 Land Rover Defender 90 4x4s were also delivered by the UK to Lebanon in 2021, along with 60-tonnes of spare parts in 2024.

Over 1,000 HMMWV 4x4s have been provided to Lebanon from US Army stocks. Credit: US Army

The Lebanese Army was also provided 32 Bradley M2A2 infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) by the US from 2017-2018, which could augment the M113s and HMMWVs likely to be utilised in the peacekeeping mission.

Lebanon does maintain some medium-range artillery through 72 M198 155mm towed howitzers provided by the US from 2015-2016, along with 12 M109A3, and potentially the M109A5 variant, self-propelled howitzers in 2015.

In addition, a range of Russian-origin towed and self-propelled artillery is listed in its inventory, including the ZPU-2, ZPU-4, ZU-23-2, and ZSU-23-4 Shilka systems. The ubiquitous BM-21 ‘Grad’ 122mm rocket launcher is also in service, although numbers are unknown.

It is thought that Hezbollah seized a range of military equipment from the Lebanese Army, including M113 APCs, during previous periods of instability.

Lebanon defence spending flatlines amid crises

Defence spending insight from GlobalData indicates that Lebanon’s expenditure registered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -3.1% from 2018-2022 and was anticipated to record a negligible CAGR of 1.2% through to 2027, valuing up to $1.89bn. This still corresponds to more than 6% of GDP, with the country’s economy heavily damaged by financial crises, pandemics, and hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

The previous Syrian civil war and Israeli-Lebanon conflict resulted in a large number of refugees crossing the border into Lebanon, which has burdened the Lebanese economy, led to sectarian violence, and complicated its internal security.

The country faces sectarian violence, threats of militancy, homegrown extremism, and unrest at refugee camps, according to previous GlobalData analysis.