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===Missiles and anti-aircraft weapons===
===Missiles and anti-aircraft weapons===


* [[Strela 2]] SA-7 Grail MANPAD launchers (USSR)
* 12 [[Strela 2]] SA-7 Grail MANPAD launchers (USSR)\112 missiles<br />
* 10 [[SA-18]] Igla MANPAD launchers(Russia)-reported<br />
* 10 [[SA-16]] MANPAD launchers (USSR)\50 missiles<br />
* 6 [[Javelin]] MANPAD launchers (UK)\25 missiles<br />
* 20-32 [[Gepard]]-1A2 2x Oerlikon GDF-002 35mm SP-AAG (Germany) via (Belgium)-orderd 1998<br />
* 7-8 [[M167]] VADS [[Vulcan]] 20mm towed-AAGs (USA)


==References and notes==
==References and notes==

Revision as of 07:46, 4 September 2011

Botswana Ground Force
Active1977-present
CountryBotswana
TypeArmy
SizeActive; 12,000 Regular[1]
Part ofMinistry of Defence, Justice, and Security
Websitewww.gov.bw
Commanders
Commander-in-chiefPresident Ian Khama
Ceremonial chiefLieutenant General Tebogo Masire

The Botswana Ground Force is the army of the country of Botswana, and the land component of the Botswana Defence Force.

History

The Botswana Defence Force was raised in April 1977 by an Act of Parliament called the 'BDF Act NO 13 of 1977.[2] At its formation, Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe (now retired and Vice President of the Republic of Botswana) became its first Commander. The current President of the Republic of Botswana, Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, then Brigadier, was the Deputy Commander. Unusually for an African military force, and chiefly attributable to its being founded after Botswana's independence, the Botswana Ground Force was not formed from colonial units formed by a colonising power, but rather were formed from the remains of the Botswana Mounted Police Unit, previously known as the Bechuanaland Mounted Police, a unit of the British South Africa Police.[3]

While the new military establishment initially was quite popular among the Batswana, its capabilities were very limited. Small in size, and equipment was light and scarce, the BDF lacked the training and experience to confront the Special Forces of its belligerent neighbors. This was made painfully clear in February 1978, less than a year after its founding. Responding to reports of a Rhodesian military incursion along Botswana’s north-eastern border near the village of Lesoma, a mounted patrol drove directly into a Rhodesian ambush, sustaining 15 dead. The ‘Lesoma Incident’, or 'Lesoma Ambush', was a tragedy and a harsh lesson for the fledgling force, but it galvanised an intention among Botswana ’s leaders to improve the country’s military capabilities. The Lesoma tragedy is still recalled in Botswana as a key event in BDF history.

Within a decade of its founding, the BDF had grown by a factor of ten – to approximately 6,000 personnel. By 1988 its ground forces had been organised into two infantry brigades, one based in Gaborone and the other in Francistown. Its reconnaissance company had grown into a well-trained commando squadron of about 120 personnel. Also by this time, the BDF had acquired substantially greater firepower and mobility, with a modest inventory of US-made Cadillac-Gage V-150 light-wheeled fighting vehicles and Soviet-designed BTR-60 armoured personnel carriers.

The contemporary roles of the Defence Force are broad for a conventional military, suggesting that the government of Botswana and the BDF subscribe to a wide view of ‘security’ and consider the Defence Force an appropriate agency for attaining much of it, an issue that has been discussed even in the BDF’s own internal media. It is expected that the BDF in general is meant to be an apolitical instrument of the state.[4]

The current stated mission of the Botswana Ground Force is:
To defend the country and provide for the security of Botswana, participate in external security cooperation activities, and contribute in domestic support operations, with the aim of:

  • Ensuring national securirty and stability
  • Protecting the people and their properties
  • Protecting the constitution of Botswana to guarantee the rule of law
  • Defending Botswana's territorial integrity on land and in the air
  • Preserving Botswana as a free, independent and sovereign state
  • Aiding civil authorities in domestic support operations
  • Strengthening Botswana's international relations by participating in regional and international security cooperation activities[5]

Structure and organisation

The commander-in-chief of the BGF is Ian Khama, the current President of Botswana. Answering to him are the Minister of Defence, Justice, and Security, Dikgakgamatso Seretse, and the Defence Council, and the Commander of the Botswana Defence Force, Lieutenant General Tebogo Masire. The various units of the Botswana Ground Force are as follows:

  • 1st Armoured Brigade (Gaborone)
  • 1st Infantry Brigade (Mechanised Brigade at Gaborone)
  • 2nd Infantry Brigade (Motorized Brigade at Francistown)
  • 3rd Infantry Brigade (Motorized Brigade at Ghanzi)
  • 1st Commando Regiment (Gaborone)
  • Four independent infantry battalions
  • Two armored-artillery brigades
  • One combat engineering regiment
  • 1 air defense battalion
  • Army eiver-wing (including diving unit)

Ranks and insignia

The BGF and the Botswana Air Force maintain the same rank system, which is loosely based on British or Commonwealth ranks systems. The ranks are as follows:

Enlisted:

Officers:

Equipment and vehicles

The BGF uses a wide array of modern weapons and vehicles. Its suppliers are Russia and Western, including Israel, Switzerland, USA, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Small arms

Handguns

Rifles

Submachine guns

Machine guns and heavy weapons

Personal equipment

  • Optical sights
  • SPECTRA helmets (France)
  • 13,000 Nuclear Chemical and Biological protective clothing (United States)
  • KA-50 Cavlar body armor
  • Nigth vision googles
  • Racal radio systems
  • Napco radio systems
  • GPS
  • Red-dot sights

Other equipment

  • 4+ mobile kitchens
  • Camouflage screens
  • Helmet covers
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Advanced training ammunition

Vehicles

  • 20 Leopard 2-A4 120mm MBTs (Germany)-reported to be on order.
  • 54 Leopard 1-V+2 Leopard 1 training tanks were apparently under negotiation for purchase from the Netherlands in 1996, but the deal never went through and no tanks were delivered.[6]


  • 52 Steyr SK-105 Kürassier (SK-105A-1)light tank 105mm (Austria) and an option for 30 more SK-105A-2 (TBD)
    • 2 SK-105 ARV recovery vehicle (Austria)
    • 2 Greif 4K7-FA SB-20 recovery tank (Austria)
    • 2 Pionier engineer tank (Austria)
  • 36 improved Alvis FV101 Scorpion CVR-T 76mm gun tracked reconnaissance vehicle (UK/Belgium)
  • 50 V-150 Cadillac Gage Commando amphibious armored car (12 V-150 with 90mm gun; 2 V-150 with 20mm gun; 6 V-150 with BGM-71C improved TOW ATGM Launcher; 30 V-150 AIFVs) 4x4 (United States)
  • 45 MOWAG Piranha III-C 8x8 APCs\AIFVs (Switzerland)
  • 6 FV103 Spartan APCs CVR-T (United Kingdom)
  • 3 Steyr A4K7 APCs (Austria)
  • 8 Ramta RAM-2V 4x4 APC (Israel)
  • 30 modernized GAZ BTR-60 PB 8x8APCs (USSR)
  • 40 AM General Humvee 4x4 (18x M1044,8x M1043 withMK19 Dot-3, 8x M998 with Red-T Bushmaster M242,3x M997 I3C, 3x M997 Ambulance). (USA)
  • 64 Panhard VBL 4x4 (France)
  • 10 Shorland armoured car (S-52) 4x4 (United Kingdom)
  • 344 ACMAT VBL TPK 4.20 4x4 troop carrier (France)
  • ACMAT VBL TPK 6.20 6x6 recovery truck (France)
  • 25 Mercedes Benz L2624 recovery truck (Germany)
  • 149 Land Rover Defender (United Kingdom)
  • 91 M1008 CUCV (United States)
  • 10 M1009 CUCV (United States)
  • Toyota Landcruiser 4x4 (Japan)
  • Mercedes Benz Unimog U-1700\U-4000\U-5000 (Germany)
  • 100 Mercedes Benz LA1113 4x4 4.5 ton trucks (Germany)
  • 380 DAF YA-4440 (Netherlands)
  • DAF trucks (Netherlands)
  • Tatra trucks (Czech Republic)
  • AIL Abir (Israel)
  • Reo M35 2.5 ton cargo truck (United States)
  • M49A2C fuel tanker
  • M1000 HET tank transporter (United States)
  • 43+ M105A1 trailer (United States)
  • M816 Wrecker 5-ton truck (United States)
  • 8+ M915 Tractor truck\Semi trailer (United States)
  • Bailey bridges (United Kingdom)

River-wing equipment

  • 2 Boston Whaler Rider-class PCs (United States)
  • 7 P1903 class PCs (Netherlands)
  • 5 Aliboats Aluminium Works PCs (South Africa)
  • 3 Aliboats Aluminium Works small river LCTs (South Africa)
  • 4 Aliboats Aluminium Works small river LCUs (South Africa)
  • Zodiac boats (France)
  • 20 Panther class jet boats (United States)
  • Diving equipment

Missiles and anti-tank weapons

  • RPG-7V anti-tank rocket (Russia)
  • 6 BGM71-C Improved Tow ATGM Launchers\100 missiles (USA)
  • Nag ATGM Launchers (India)
  • 10 MBDA Milan-2T ATGM Launchers (France)\(India)-reported
  • 200 LAW MK-80 Ligth ATRLs (UK)
  • 100 Bofors AT-4 Ligth ATRLs (Sweden)-reported
  • 50 M40-A1C1 106mm RCLs (USA) via (Holland)-reported
  • 50-70 Carl Gustav M-2-550 84mm RCLs (Sweden) via (Holland)

Artillery

  • 20 APRA-40 122mm MRLs (Romania)
  • 12 ATMOS-2000 155mm SPH (Israel)-reported
  • 12 IMI\Soltam M-71\Model 845P 155mm towed howitzer (Israel)
  • 36 L118 Light Gun 105mm towed howitzer (United Kingdom)
  • 6 Oto Melara Pack model M-56 105mm towed howitzer (Italy)
  • 6 M-43 120mm heavy mortar (USSR)
  • 12 L-16-A1 81mm medium mortar (UK)
  • Cobra artillery radar (Germany)

Missiles and anti-aircraft weapons

  • 12 Strela 2 SA-7 Grail MANPAD launchers (USSR)\112 missiles
  • 10 SA-18 Igla MANPAD launchers(Russia)-reported
  • 10 SA-16 MANPAD launchers (USSR)\50 missiles
  • 6 Javelin MANPAD launchers (UK)\25 missiles
  • 20-32 Gepard-1A2 2x Oerlikon GDF-002 35mm SP-AAG (Germany) via (Belgium)-orderd 1998
  • 7-8 M167 VADS Vulcan 20mm towed-AAGs (USA)

References and notes

  1. ^ http://www.nationmaster.com/country/bc-botswana/mil-military
  2. ^ "Republic of Botswana - Government portal". Gov.bw. 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  3. ^ "Republic of Botswana - Government portal". Gov.bw. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  4. ^ Otisitswe B Tiroyamodimo, Why is security a contested concept? Sethamo (Botswana Defence Force Newsletter), 37, December 2001, pp 9-11.
  5. ^ "Republic of Botswana - Government portal". Gov.bw. 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  6. ^ "Botswana's army chief defends purchase of tanks and combat aircraft". The Independent. London. 1996-06-26. Retrieved 2011-05-09.

Sources

  • Kenosi, Lekoko. The Botswana Defence Force and Public Trust: The Military Dilemma in a Democracy.
  • Tiroyamodimo, Otitisitswe B. (December 2001). "Why is security a contested concept?". Sethamo (Botswana Defence Force Newsletter).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Botswana Ground Force.
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