auto-update week 33

middle-east/ba.json

@@ -1181,6 +1181,17 @@
       "text": "<p>the BDF is a small, but well-equipped military focused on territorial defense and support to internal security; its primary concern is Iran, both the conventional military threat and its support to regional terrorist groups; the BDF participates in multinational exercises and has conducted small deployments outside of the country; in 2015, for example, Bahrain joined the Saudi Arabia-led military intervention in Yemen, supplying a few hundred troops and combat aircraft; the Army’s primary combat units are an armored brigade and a mechanized brigade, plus battalions of royal guards and special forces; in a conflict, the Army would be supported by the paramilitary National Guard; the Navy’s principal warships are a US-provided secondhand frigate, 2 corvettes acquired from Germany, and a secondhand British offshore patrol vessel; the Air Force has small numbers of US-made combat aircraft and attack helicopters</p> Bahrain’s closest security partners are the US and Saudi Arabia; it hosts the US Naval Forces Central Command (USNAVCENT; established 1983), which includes the US 5th Fleet, several subordinate naval task forces, and the Combined Maritime Forces (established 2002), a coalition of more than 30 nations providing maritime security for regional shipping lanes; in 2003, the US granted Bahrain Major Non-NATO Ally status, a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation; Bahraini leaders have said that the security of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are “indivisible”; Saudi Arabia sent forces to Bahrain to assist with internal security following the 2011 uprising; Bahrain also has close security ties to other Gulf Cooperation Council  countries, particularly Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the UK (2023)"
     }
   },
+  "Space": {
+    "Space agency/agencies": {
+      "text": "Bahrain National Space Science Agency (NSSA; established 2014) (2023)"
+    },
+    "Space program overview": {
+      "Space programs overview": {
+        "text": "space program in nascent stages and is focused on developing the capabilities to build and operate satellites; the NSSA&rsquo;s mission includes promoting space science, technology, and research, building capacity in the fields of satellite manufacturing, tracking, control, data processing and analysis, and remote sensing, developing space-related programs and space policy, and facilitating international cooperation; cooperates with a variety of foreign agencies and commercial entities, including those of India, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the UAE; also a member of the Arab Space Coordination Group, established by the UAE in 2019 (2023)"
+      },
+      "note": "<strong>note:</strong> further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in Appendix S"
+    }
+  },
   "Terrorism": {
     "Terrorist group(s)": {
       "text": "al-Ashtar Brigades; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Qods Force",