The establishment of military bases abroad enables a country to project power, e.g. to conduct expeditionary warfare, and thereby to influence events abroad. Depending on their size and infrastructure, they can be used as staging areas or for logistical, communications and intelligence support. Many conflicts throughout modern history have resulted in overseas military bases being established in large numbers by world powers; and these bases have helped the countries that have established them to achieve political and military goals.
The United Kingdom and other colonial powers established overseas military bases in many of their colonies during the First and Second World Wars, where useful, and actively sought rights to facilities where needed for strategic reasons. At one time, the establishment of coaling stations for naval ships was important. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union established military bases where they could within their respective spheres of influence, and actively sought influence where needed. More recently, the War on Terror has resulted in overseas military bases being established in the Middle East.
While the overall number of overseas military bases has fallen since 1945, the United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Russia and France still possess or utilize a substantial number of them. Smaller numbers of overseas military bases are operated by China, Iran, India, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States is the largest operator of military bases abroad, with 38 "named bases"[note 1] with active duty, national guard, reserve, or civilian personnel as of September 30, 2014. Its largest, in terms of personnel, was Ramstein AB in Germany, with almost 9,200 personnel.[2][note 2]
a Bangladesh Military Contingent (BMC) has resided in Kuwait since the end of the 1991 Gulf War to assist the Kuwait Military Forces in logistics and other sectors under a bilateral agreement.[4][5][6][7]
24 troops and 2 frigates.[58] An Albanian-Turkish military cooperation agreement was signed in 1992 that encompassed rebuilding Albania's Pasha Liman Base by Turkey alongside granted access for Turkish use.[59]
Buildings and structures in Gizil Sherg military town, and one terminal building located in the airfield in Hacı Zeynalabdin settlement.[60] An observation base was also built by Turkey in the Nagorno-Karabakh region after the 44-day 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. The base was established under the name "Ceasefire Observation Center", and officially started to operate in January 2021 with 60 Turkish and Russian soldiers stationed at the base.[61]
Turkey has signed agreement with Iraq which includes allowing the Turkish army to pursue elements of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, with the permission of, and in coordination with the Federal Government of Iraq. It also includes opening two liaison offices between Baghdad and Ankara to exchange intelligence and security information between the two countries.[64][65] As of 2020, Turkey has a military base with 2,000 personnel garrisoned with around 60 tanks, Armoured personnel carriers and one commando battalion.[66][67]Turkey has more than 40+ military and intelligence bases scattered all around Iraq, the most out of any country.[68] There are plans to build a new base in the Metina area of Duhok governorate in Iraqi Kurdistan Region as of April 2021.[69][70] In total, Turkey has stationed around 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers in Iraq.[71][72]
A total of 35,000 to 40,000 armed forces of Turkey are currently in active duty Cyprus Turkish Peace Force Command in the de facto state Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.[72]
5,000 personnel in Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch regions. New bases were followed at south of Afrin canton in Atme and Darat Izza[81] There are 114 Turkish bases in Syria as of January 2022.[82] After operation Peace Spring, approximately 6,400 personnel are working around the Peace Spring region between Ras al-Ayn and Tell Abyad. 19 observation points are settled around Idlib and Aleppo Province.[83] Altogether, there are an estimated 10,500 Turkish soldiers and 250 tanks stationed in Turkish occupation of northern Syria. These numbers are constantly subject to modifications.[72]
Countries with United States military bases and facilities
The U.S. military maintains hundreds of military installations, both inside the United States and overseas (with at least 128 military bases in 55 countries and territories, as of July 2024). Some American bases are also NATO-led with forces from multiple countries. According to the U.S. Army, Camp Humphreys in South Korea is the largest overseas base in terms of area.[99] Most of foreign military installations are located in NATO countries, Middle East countries, South Korea and Japan.
AUTEC is a laboratory that performs integrated three-dimensional hydrospace/aerospace trajectory measurements covering the entire spectrum of undersea simulated warfare. Its mission is to assist in establishing and maintaining naval ability of the United States through testing, evaluation, and underwater research.
North Bay's air force base is the centre for the air defence of the entire Canada, and works in concert with the United States via NORAD for the air defence of Canada-U.S. portion of the North American continent.
Around 150 people are stationed at Pituffik. The U.S. Space Force's northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces. The base is home to a substantial portion of the global network of missile warning sensors of Space Delta 4, and space surveillance and space control sensors of Space Delta 2, providing space awareness and advanced missile detection capabilities to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the United States Space Force, and joint partners.
Naval Support Activity Bahrain is home to approximately 8,500 military personnel. The mission of NSA Bahrain is to provide Operational Support to U.S. and Coalition Forces operating throughout the United States Central Command area of responsibility.[110]
United States forces have used Diego Garcia since at least the mid-1960s, under lease from the United Kingdom. The island has port facilities and an airstrip capable of handling large aircraft. Currently, 1,700 military personnel reside there.
Pine Gap consist of a massive computer complex with 38 radomes protecting radio dishes[135] and operates with over 800 employees.[136] The location is strategically significant because it controls United States spy satellites as they pass over one-third of the globe, including China, North Korea, the Asian parts of Russia, and the Middle East.[135] Central Australia was chosen because it was too remote for spy ships passing in international waters to intercept its signals.[137]
One of its roles is to detect and geolocate the source of electronic signals, such as those emitted by mobile phones. This information is used by the US military to identify and geolocate targets of interest, which it can then attack using special forces or lethal unmanned drones, for example.[138]
^What are here termed "named bases" are the bases listed in section X: "Personnel Data from DMDC", i.e. excluding that table's rows labelled "Other", in the 2015 DoD Base Structure Report.
^The 2015 U.S. Base Structure Report gives 587 overseas sites, but sites are merely real property at a distinct geographical location, and multiple sites may belong to one installation (page DoD-3). For example, the Garmisch, Germany "named base" with its 72 personnel has eight distinct sites large enough to be listed in the Army's Individual Service Inventory list: Artillery Kaserne, Breitenau Skeet Range, Garmisch Family Housing, Garmish Golf Course, General Abrams Hotel And Disp, Hausberg Ski Area, Oberammergau NATO School, and Sheridan Barracks (listed in Army-15 to Army-17). These range in size from Ramstein AB with 9,188 active, guard/reserve, and civilian personnel down to Worms, which has just one civilian.
^Djibouti: Changing Influence in the Horn's Strategic HubArchived 2013-11-26 at the Wayback Machine, chathamhouse.org, David Styan, April 2013 ("Having temporarily used US facilities, a Japanese base, situated close to Camp Lemonnier, opened in July 2011. Around 600 members of its Maritime Self-Defence Forces rotate between Japan's naval vessels operating from the port of Djibouti and the camp. Naval units protecting Japanese shipping in the region had operated out of the US base prior to 2011. Japan is reported to pay an annual rent of $30 million for the facilities, similar to the sums paid for either of the far larger US and French bases. This has led to an expansion of Japan's civilian aid programme to Djibouti, which has also become a hub for wider development activities in the Horn by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.")
^Syed, Baqir Sajjad (22 April 2017). "Raheel leaves for Riyadh to command military alliance". Dawn. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2017. Pakistan already has 2000 troops in Saudi Arabia under a 1982 bilateral agreement. The deployed troops are mostly serving there in training and advisory capacity.
^Shams, Shamil (30 August 2016). "Examining Saudi-Pakistani ties in changing geopolitics". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017. However, security experts say that being an ally of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan is part of a security cooperation agreement under which about 1,000 Pakistani troops are performing an "advisory" role to Riyadh and are stationed in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
^Haq, Riazul (18 February 2016). "Pakistan still clueless about role in Saudi coalition". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017. Aziz said military cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was nearly four decades' old, and around 1,000 Pakistani military officials were always present in the kingdom.
^Rogoway, Tyler (October 27, 2016). "Shadowy UAE Base in Libya Hosts Attack Aircraft and Chinese Drones". The Drive. Archived from the original on September 1, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2019. Some of these nations even have their own forward operating bases in Libya, including a secretive remote airfield operated by the United Arab Emirates about 50 miles [80 km] southeast of Benghazi. Here, the UAE has deployed a pocket air force of heavily armed and armored agricultural planes developed into surveillance and light attack platforms–the AT-802U Border Patrol variant of the Air Tractor and the more capable IOMAX Archangel–in addition to S-70 Blackhawks, and Chinese Wing Loong unmanned aircraft
^"UAE operating an airbase near Marj: report". Libya Herald. October 26, 2016. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2019. IHS Jane's says that the UAE is operating propeller-driven AT-802U light aircraft, helicopters and surveillance drones from the Al-Khadim airport to the southeast of Marj and Jardas Al-Abid.
^Navy News (Magazine). United Kingdom: Royal Navy. June 2011. p. 11 Eastern Outpost. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2016. ("The White Ensign is still flying above the operations of Naval Party 1022 (NP1022), based at Sembawang Wharves in Singapore.")
^""History"". U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
^ abMiddleton, Hannah (2009). "The Campaign against US military bases in Australia". In Blanchard, Lynda-ann; Chan, Leah (eds.). Ending War, Building Peace. Sydney University Press. pp. 125–126. ISBN 978-1920899431. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2012.