Namibian Defense Force

	Namibian Defense Force (NDF);
guide
Commander in Chief ; de jure :	President Hage Geingob ; ( Commander-in-Chief )
Commander in chief de facto :	Defense Minister
Defense Minister:	Peter Vilho
Military Commander:	Air Marshal Martin Phinehas ; ( Chief of the Defense Force ; since April 1, 2020)
Headquarters:	Windhoek
Military strength
Active soldiers:	about 9000
Conscription:	no
Resilient population:	total (men and women; ages 16–49) 527,948
Eligibility for military service:	18-25 years
Share of soldiers in the total population:	0.38%
household
Military budget:	N $ 7.2 billion (2015/2016)
Share of gross domestic product :	11.43% (2015/2016)
history
Founding:	1990

Flag of the Namibian Armed Forces

The Namibian Defense Force ( NDF ) are the armed forces of the Republic of Namibia . They are subordinate to the Namibian Ministry of Defense and the President of Namibia .

The NDF was founded after Namibia's independence in 1990. The Constitution of Namibia (Chapter 15) defines the main features of the NDF as “defender of the territory and national interests”. The armed forces can therefore be legally deployed at home and abroad.

The main task is to secure the sovereignty and territorial independence of Namibia by protecting against foreign attackers. In addition, the NDF can be used to support civilian tasks, for example in the event of natural disasters, but also to protect government buildings. The tasks are set out in detail in the Defense Amendment Act, 1990 .

The NDF and their armed services is also an integral part of the Standby Force ( English Standby Force ) of the Development Community of Southern Africa .

history

The Namibian Defense Force emerged from the various military and paramilitary alliances of the 23-year liberation struggle . These included the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN; People's Liberation Army ) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF; South West African Territorial Forces ). The British began after Namibia's independence with the formation of NDF together with the Kenyan UNTAG Troops.

Since 1992 Namibia has also been receiving aid from Germany and has been included in the equipment aid program for foreign armed forces.

Armed forces

The Namibian Defense Force is in the armed forces

subdivided.

army

The Army ( English Namibian Army ) is by far the largest part of the NDF. It has (as of 2001) tanks T-55 , armored personnel carriers of the models BRDM-2 , BTR-60 , Casspir , Wolf Turbo , artillery ZiS-3 , G2 and BM-21 as well as assault rifles of the model AK-47 .

air force

The Namibian Air Force ( English Namibian Air Force ) is the second largest branch of the NDF, but overall very small in terms of equipment and personnel. It was formally established on March 13, 2005.

marine

The Namibian Navy ( English Namibian Navy ) are Namibia's Armed Forces at Sea. They were formally founded in 2004, but have been administered as a separate unit since 1994 (Namibian Defense Force Maritime Wing). It is part of the Namibian Defense Force.

Assignments abroad

The NDF has deployed troops as part of United Nations missions to Liberia , Ethiopia , Côte d'Ivoire , Sudan and Eritrea, among others . In addition, Namibia had stationed combat troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo until 2001 , but withdrew them under international pressure.

education

The training takes place at various institutions in Namibia, partly with foreign support, for example from the advisory group of the German Armed Forces. The focus of Deutsche Aid is on vehicles. In Luiperdsvalley on the southern edge of Windhoek, mechanics were trained by the Bundeswehr . A training center was built at the military school in Okahandja so that the NDF can carry out the training independently . In addition, a driving school was set up at the Osona base .

Training institutions

Military School Okahandja ( English Military School Okahandja ): Basic training and advanced training for all soldiers, including at the Osona base; Founded in 1979 as the SWA Military School

Army War College (English Army Battle School )

Technical School of the Army (English Army Technical Training Center )

School of Military Sciences (English School of Military Science )

Namibia Command and Staff College (English Namibia Command and Staff College )

Air Force School of Air Force affairs (English Air Force School of Air Power Studies )

Marine Training School (English Naval Training School )

School of signal units (English School of signal )

Web links

Commons : Namibian Defense Force - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Notes and references

The NDF are also made up of female military personnel. However, the number of women fit for military service available is not known.

↑ ^a ^b CIA World Factbook , military section from the article on Namibia. Access date: October 16, 2009
↑ Namibian Defense Act (PDF; 57 kB)
^ The SADF's Border War: Peace and the Results of Peace. ( Memento from May 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
^ Africa's regional interests in Congo. on: BBC News. November 28, 1998.
^ Namibia Pulls Out of Congo's War. ( Memento of March 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on: highbeam.com September 2, 2001.
^ Carla Rattay: Bundeswehr promotes Namibian armed forces. In: Allgemeine Zeitung. September 18, 2012, accessed November 4, 2012 .
↑ Training. Ministry of Defense. Retrieved August 6, 2019.

[[[CIA_World_Factbook]]-1] CIA World Factbook , military section from the article on Namibia. Access date: October 16, 2009

[2] Namibian Defense Act (PDF; 57 kB)

[3] The SADF's Border War: Peace and the Results of Peace. ( Memento from May 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

[4] Africa's regional interests in Congo. on: BBC News. November 28, 1998.

[5] Namibia Pulls Out of Congo's War. ( Memento of March 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on: highbeam.com September 2, 2001.

[6] Carla Rattay: Bundeswehr promotes Namibian armed forces. In: Allgemeine Zeitung. September 18, 2012, accessed November 4, 2012 .

[7] Training. Ministry of Defense. Retrieved August 6, 2019.