namibian armed forces

[wittmanace]

i was wondering what other forum members would acquire for the namibian defence forces under the actual real parameters:

annual budget for armed forces roughly 80 million us dollars

tasks:
used in peacekeeping eg- congo (technically not peacekeeping as aligned with the government and not under un or oau guise)

last use was the quelling of a minor uprising/ attempted separatist take over in the north (less than 100 involved, using mortars, rpgs and assault rifles only)

roughly 10,00 personnel (just under)

Area: total: 825,418 sq km
land: 825,418 sq km
water: 0 sq km (cia world factbook)

Land boundaries:
total: 3,936 km
border countries: Angola 1,376 km, Botswana 1,360 km, South Africa 967 km, Zambia 233 km (cia world factbook)

Population: 2,055,080 (cia world factbook)

how would other forum members structure the defence and what acquisitions would be made? current equipment is listed as:

T-55 (unknown number, someplaces cited as less than 5)
Armoured Personnel Carriers
BRDM-2 (×12)
BTR-60 (×10)
Casspir (×20)
Wolf Turbo2 (×30)
Artillery
ZiS-3 76mm Towed Artillery (×12)
G2 140mm Gun (×24)
BM-21 122mm MRLS (×5)

Chengdu F-7NM Airguard - 12 ordered in August 2005 [3]
Chengdu FT-7NG Airguard - conversion trainers. 2 received in November 2006
Nanchang K-8 Karakorum - Air Forces Monthly, January 2008 reported 12.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger - multi-role fighter (2)
Utility
Cessna FTB.337G and O-2A - light utility aircraft (5)
Transport
Antonov An-12 Cub (2)
Harbin Y-12 (2; 1 of them is VIP)
VIP Transport
Learjet 36 (1)
Dassault Falcon 900 (1)
Helicopter
Mil Mi-35P Hind-F - assault helicopter (2)
Aérospatiale SA-319 Alouette III - light utility helicopter (2)
note: source for equipment is wikipedia, due to shortgage of other sources on the topic

 

[contedicavour]

I didn't know they had a squadron of Chinese MIG21s / F7s, interesting. Some COIN planes such as SF260SW would be useful, plus more helos with considerable range and cheap, ie more MI-8/17.

Well they need a coast guard of some sort, OPVs mainly, to cover their long coastline. I remember they used an old yacht and an unarmed Danish Stanflex for some patrol.

Army wise I'm not an expert but long range recon vehicles are needed given the huge territory and very sparse density. Any reinforcement in wheeled recon vechicles such as the IVECO Lince would be useful.

cheers

 

[ishuna]

Im from Namibia

I didn't know they had a squadron of Chinese MIG21s / F7s, interesting. Some COIN planes such as SF260SW would be useful, plus more helos with considerable range and cheap, ie more MI-8/17.

Well they need a coast guard of some sort, OPVs mainly, to cover their long coastline. I remember they used an old yacht and an unarmed Danish Stanflex for some patrol.

Army wise I'm not an expert but long range recon vehicles are needed given the huge territory and very sparse density. Any reinforcement in wheeled recon vechicles such as the IVECO Lince would be useful.

cheers

i wanted you to tell me which pistols would be best for a military like namibias. They currently use the Makarov 9mm. is it good for a military that size( 8000) or is it to old, would you recomend it, or can they try a better one.

 

[tonnyc]

The proper answer would be "whatever fits the Namibian Army's needs". If you want a discussion of the technical characteristics of various guns, a gun forum is probably a better place to discuss that.

Out of curiousity, is there any actual complaint from the Namibian Army about the Makarov? It has a reputation as being reliable and economical. Pistols are mature tech with only incremental advances these days, so the Makarov isn't too old either. If the Namibian military is looking for a better one, define "better" first.

 

[EHamam]

I`d say the main objective of Namibia would be to consolidate their sovereignty over their coastline. Several goods go through it, they rely a lot on imports and they are close to a pretty strategic trading route. If the Namibian government doesn`t take care of it`s on, several powers will be lining up to do so - if they aren`t doing it already. I`d say improving relations with other countries on the far side of the atlantic.

Another thing is internal security. It doesn`t look like there`ll be a foreign invasion. The main problem, I`d wager, is a low intensity conflict, especially profiting from the mining of several precious goods (and maybe with insurgents sponsored from South Africa or other greedy neighbor). Therefore, Ultra heavy weaponry and top-of-the-line MBTs aren`t a priority. APCs (Almost no need for ATGMs), light attack planes such as the brazilian Tucano (excellent, cheap, trustworthy and can carry a pretty decent payload for it`s size) and heavy helicopter gunships with saturation rockets and cannons would be the way to go. Mortars and light artillery as well.

As for infantry equipment, I`m not an expert. Just go with the AK. Train your men first, and try not to make them run amock in looting and mindless killing. If your soldiers are good, the gun will be too - just take into consideration the US contractors in Iraq for a couple of years, many armed with cheap AKs and PKMs.

are you namibian?