On January 24, 2026, King Abdullah II instructed the Chief of Staff to restructure the army to achieve a structural transformation of the Jordanian Armed Forces over the next three years. The most important elements of this restructuring were as follows:

• Restructuring the army to align with modern warfare tactics, and the nature of contemporary hybrid and unconventional warfare.

• Building agile, flexible, and high-quality armed forces to protect strategic and operational centers of gravity.

• Expanding the scope of defensive and offensive cyber operations and employing unmanned systems and artificial intelligence technologies.

• Emphasizing the importance of integration between the armed forces and public security, particularly the police, special police units, and border guards under the Public Security Directorate.

• Enhancing the capabilities of the Jordan Design & Development Bureau (JODDB) to become a nucleus for manufacturing advanced defense technologies.

• Restructuring the trust funds and investment companies affiliated with the armed forces and their management. The official and domestic justifications for the restructuring included:

• It is a strategic step towards adopting the sixth-generation military doctrine, a modern military approach aimed at transforming into a smaller, faster, and more effective army that relies on advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and unmanned systems.

• It is a move towards keeping pace with the shift of armies towards unconventional warfare based on the principle of “agile and effective.”

• It is an activation of joint combat operations among the world's armies, including Jordan’s, within the framework of what is known as “joint operations.” Jordan has become militarily closer to NATO after the opening of a NATO liaison office in Amman last year.

It is noteworthy that the request to restructure the Jordanian army came just days after the release of the US National Defense Strategy document in January 2026, announced by the US Department of Defense. The document stated, “President Trump is building alliances and strengthening partnerships in the Indo-Pacific that will be the bedrock of security and prosperity long into the future... Importantly, this must be accompanied by a robust and ongoing focus on deterrence to prevent war in the Indo-Pacific.”

The US military’s combat doctrine is shifting from protracted wars of attrition to a more flexible force focused on immediate economic and security objectives, leaving allies to shoulder the financial and military burden. On 16 February 2026, The Washington Times stated, “The U.S. Army is fundamentally transforming how it fights wars by investing heavily in autonomous drones and robotic systems designed to replace soldiers in the most dangerous battlefield situations, according to Army Chief Technology Officer Alex Miller in an exclusive interview with the “Threat Status” podcast.” Alex Miller previously stated, “We should be trading steel for blood—our steel, their blood,” in an article “A Q+A with Alex Miller, CTO of the Army” by Erin O'Brien published on August 5, 2025 for Tectonic Defence.

Therefore, Jordan’s modernization efforts cannot be separated from US security and military maneuvers in the region. This comes amidst America’s repositioning in the region and its focus on its war against Iran and other interests, as demonstrated by its withdrawal from its bases in Syria. The new Syrian regime’s need for sustained military and security support necessitates a Jordanian role, both required and deemed necessary by the US, to solidify American hegemony through local proxies, as outlined in the new defense strategy.

This is further evidenced by the visit of the Jordanian delegation — comprising of the Foreign Minister, the Chief of Staff, and the Director of Intelligence — to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on March 12, 2026, where both sides emphasized defense and security cooperation and combating “terrorism” — essentially, fighting Islam. Since the start of US aid in 1957, including military aid, the Jordanian army’s structure and equipment have been tailored to meet US demands in achieving its security, military, and intelligence interests, albeit under British influence and control.

A prime example of this is the presence of British military advisor Brigadier Alex Macintosh, representing the British Army and serving as an advisor to the Jordanian Army. McIntosh, a trusted confidant of the King, was dismissed in 2019, after a five-year service, with a group of 20 British military personnel, following a scandal involving an arms deal with Haftar’s Libya.

US military aid to Jordan has exceeded $9.8 billion since 2000. Despite the drive toward a “lean” army, as it is termed, the 2026 budget reflects an increase in spending. The Jordanian government allocated approximately 3.295 billion dinars to military and security agencies in the 2026 budget. The gap between spending and equipment is explained by the “cost of maintaining manpower” and a high level of readiness in a demanding environment. As for streamlining the army, this means eliminating its true strength—the strength inherent in conventional warfare, namely armored vehicles, tanks, and infantry.

Furthermore, linking the security forces and police to the army means abandoning the army’s combat doctrine against foreign enemies and preoccupying it with domestic matters, monitoring and suppressing popular protests amidst dire economic conditions and unemployment exacerbated by debt and inflation. This is particularly telling for retired military personnel, leading to serious economic consequences for a segment of the population skilled in the use of weapons, who are increasingly drawn to employment with security companies and foreign mercenary firms such as the American Blackwater, the Russian Wagner Group, and the American companies that oversaw aid distribution in Gaza.

The restructuring is not, as the regime and its Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff claim, for the protection of Jordan’s airspace and territory, the protection of its people, strategic deterrence, and the prevention of displacement. Meanwhile, foreign forces are stationed and deployed throughout its land and airspace. This is evidenced by the destruction of the $300 million American radar system at the Muwaffaq Salti airbase in Jordan at the beginning of the war on Iran. This radar system was designed to detect long-range missile launches and activate the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to intercept them. Any military modernization, if it has occurred, is merely to serve the military interests of America and the Jewish entity, as is happening today before everyone's eyes following the American and Jewish attack on Iran. This includes intercepting missiles aimed at the Jewish entity or American forces in Jordan, using these bases as launching points for attacks, or allowing their passage to destroy a Muslim land.

The reality of the modern conventional armies of Muslim lands is that they are constrained by nationalistic borders and foreign political dependencies based on the logic of national sovereignty. The illusion of independence and non-interference in the affairs of other countries, coupled with secular constitutions that separate Deen from military affairs, the subordination of these states to the rulers of separate countries, their regional or international military alliances depending on the political allegiance of the ruling regime, and their reliance on imported weapons and technology, all render their military decisions contingent upon the approval of the exporting nations.

In contrast, Hizb ut Tahrir’s vision for building armies is based exclusively on Islamic ‘Aqeedah (cred), which is the political ideology of the Islamic state. This ‘Aqeedah (creed) forms the foundation of the state and shapes its military ideology, serving as the cornerstone of its military policy. The army’s purpose is to fulfill the Shariah obligation of Jihad and spread the dawah to Islam. Its objective is not to protect artificial nationalistic borders, but rather to remove physical obstacles to the spread of the Dawah to Islam and the unification of Muslim lands. The army is under the direct command of the Khaleefah (Caliph), who, as the commander of the army, oversees jihad, the army, the police, military operations, and domestic military manufacturing to guarantee independent decision-making and prevent the dominance over Muslim weaponry by non-Muslims. Here it is necessary to differentiate between the military institution as a creation of colonialism to protect its interests and protect the regimes, and the soldiers as a part of the Islamic Ummah who share its ‘Aqeedah (creed), zeal for the Deen, and suffering from the attacks and evils of the disbelievers (kuffar). They are the army of the Ummah and not the army of the rulers, so it is a Shariah obligation to address them like all other Muslims, as they are concerned with the Iman, the Shariah rulings, and the concept of loyalty to the believers and disavowal of the disbelievers.