Ministry of Defence

Coat of arms of Kuwait
Ministerial Department overview
Formed	17 January 1962; 62 years ago (1962-01-17)
Preceding Ministerial Department	Kuwait Army Directorate of Public Security Force
Jurisdiction	Government of Kuwait
Headquarters	Kuwait City
Motto	الله والوطن والامير God, Country and The Emir
Minister responsible	Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah
Child Ministerial Department	Office of the Minister of Defence Military Office of Chief of General Staff of Kuwait Armed Forces Office of the Assistant Minister Offices of the Undersecretaries of the Assistant Minister
Website	www.mod.gov.kw

The Kuwait Ministry of Defence (Arabic: وزارة الدفاع الكويتية) is one of the governmental bodies of Kuwait. Its minister in charge is a member of the Cabinet of Kuwait. The current Minister of Defense is Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah.^[1][2][3]

Minister

On 1 July 1961, when the ministry was not of birth yet during Operation Vantage; the Kuwait Army was the de facto command leadership of the available armed forces since establishment and acted as official minister advising the Emir of Kuwait on course of action. The Kuwait Army redesignated in 1953 was founded 13 years before the enacting of the Kuwait ministry, mainly by Field Marshal Sheikh Abdullah Mubarak Al-Sabah (youngest son of Mubarak Al-Sabah) in 1949.

Name	Portrait	Rank	Tenure	Note
Abdullah Mubarak Al-Sabah		Field Marshal	1949–1961	General Commander of Kuwait Army and the Directorate of Public Security Force (1942–1961) until the two split in 1953. Founder and patron of Kuwait Army and Kuwait Air Force.

List of ministers of defense and deputy prime ministers (1962–present)

The ministry has been headed by the following people since its inception in 1962:

#	Name	Portrait	Title	Tenure	Note
1	Mohammed Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	1962–1964	Mohammed Al-Ahmad Kuwait Naval Base is named after him.
2	Saad Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	1964–1978	14th Ruler and 4th Emir of Kuwait (2006) Saad Al-Abdullah Academy for Security Sciences which is in charge of training personnel of the Kuwait Police is named after him[4]
3	Salem Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	1978–1988
4	Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	1988–1991	Crown Prince of Kuwait (2006–2020), 16th Ruler and 6th Emir of Kuwait
5	Ali Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	1991–1994	Ali Al-Sabah Military College which is in charge of training personnel of the Kuwait Armed Forces excluding the Kuwait Police is named after him.
6	Ahmad Al-Homoud Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	1994–1996
7	Salem Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	1996–2001
8	Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	2001–2011	Prime Minister of Kuwait (2011–2019)
9	Ahmad Al Homoud Al Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	2011
10	Ahmad Al Khalid Al Sabah[5]		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	2012–2013	(ret) Lieutenant General and Chief of the General Staff of the Kuwait Armed Forces (2009–2012)
11	Khaled Al Jarrah Al Sabah[6][7][8][9]		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	2013–2016	(ret) Lieutenant General and Chief of the General Staff of the Kuwait Armed Forces (2012-2013)
12	Mohammad Al Khalid Al Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	2016–2017
13	Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	2017–2019
14	Ahmad Mansour Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah[10]		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	2019–2020
15	Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	2020–2022	[11]
16	Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah		Minister of Defence (Acting)	2022	[12]
17	Talal Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	March 9, 2022–October 2, 2022	[1]
18	Abdullah Ali Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah		Minister of Defense	October 5, 2022–June 18, 2023
19	Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	June 18, 2023–January 17, 2024
20	Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah		Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence	January 17,2024-Present

General functions

The major function of the ministry is to implement the government's defence policy and to govern all branches of the Kuwait Armed Forces.^[13] It is also responsible for the production, transfer, use, storage, and coordination of mines; and for mine clearance.^[13]

The ministry publishes a monthly magazine called Homat Al Watan.^[14]