South African Army
From Roach Busters
| |
| Active | 1912 - |
| Country | South Africa |
| Branch | Army |
| Size | 230,000 active personnel |
| Part of | Ministry of Defence and National Security |
| Headquarters | Pretoria |
| Engagements | World War I World War II Korean War Angolan Civil War Gulf War |
| Commander-in-Chief | State President Festus Mogae |
| Commander | Lieutenant General Ken Walls |
| Notable commanders | Louis Botha Jan Smuts Isaac Pierre de Villiers Petrus Jacobs |
The South African Army is the branch of the South African military tasked with the land defense of the nation. It is the largest, best-trained, and best-equipped branch of the military, and is the backbone of the armed forces. It operates large expeditionary and fixed land forces to accomplish its missions.
A highly mechanized and rapidly deployable force, the South African Army is the most powerful on the continent by a wide margin. Employing 230,000 personnel in active duty and another 210,000 in the reserves, it is also one of the largest. Rigorous training standards and top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art weapons ensure that the Army always operates at peak efficiency and is capable of confronting any adversary on the battlefield.
While much of the South African Army's hardware is procured abroad, a large percentage of it is indigenously produced, making it largely self-sufficient. South African equipment is specially designed to accomodate its diverse climate, and most of its armored vehicles are both light and maneuverable while also highly resistant to mines.
The State President serves as the ceremonial commander-in-chief of the Army. The Army's military commander is Lieutenant General Ken Walls.
Contents |
Organization
Active units
South African Armoured Corps
- 1 Special Service Division (Bloemfontein)
- 1 South African Tank Division (Bloemfontein)
South African Infantry Corps
Divisions
- 44 Parachute Division (Bloemfontein)
Brigades
- 1 South African Infantry Brigade (Bloemfontein)
- 3 Infantry Brigade Training Depot (Kimberley)
- 4 South African Infantry Brigade (Gaborone)
- 5 South African Infantry Brigade (Windhoek)
- 6 South African Infantry Brigade (Grahamstown)
- 7 South African Infantry Brigade (Phalaborwa)
- 8 South African Infantry Brigade (Manzini)
- 9 South African Infantry Brigade (Cape Town)
- 10 South African Infantry Brigade (Pretoria)
- 14 South African Infantry Brigade (Maseru)
- 15 South African Infantry Brigade (Bulawayo)
- 61 Mechanised Infantry Brigade Group (Upington)
- 115 South African Infantry Brigade (Lilongwe)
- 116 South African Infantry Brigade (Blantyre)
- 118 South African Infantry Brigade (Lusaka)
- 121 South African Infantry Brigade (Mtubatuba)
South African Artillery
- 4 Artillery Division (Potchefstroom)
- 10 Air Defence Division (Potchefstroom)
South African Engineers
- 2 Field Engineer Brigade (Harare)
- 14 Engineer Brigade (Bloemfontein)
- 35 Engineer Support Brigade (Gaborone)
- 1 Construction Engineer Brigade (Pretoria)
- 1 Military Printing Brigade (Pretoria)
- 4 Survey and Mapping Brigade (Bulawayo)
South African Special Forces
- 5 Special Forces Division (Pretoria)
Reserve units
Armour
- Light Horse Brigade (Johannesburg)
- Natal Mounted Rifles Brigade (Durban)
- Umvoti Mounted Rifles Brigade (Greytown)
- Pretoria Brigade (Pretoria)
- Limpopo River Brigade (Musina)
- Zambezi River Brigade (Livingstone)
- President Kruger Brigade (Bloemfontein)
Infantry
- Cape Town Highlanders Brigade (Cape Town)
- Cape Town Rifles Brigade (Cape Town)
- Durban Light Infantry Brigade (Durban)
- Durban Brigade (Durban)
- Johannesburg Brigade (Johannesburg)
- Lusaka Volunteer Rifles Brigade (Lusaka)
- Blantyre Brigade (Blantyre)
- Lilongwe Carbineers Brigade (Lilongwe)
- Prince Alfred's Guard Brigade (Port Elizabeth)
- Rand Light Infantry Brigade (Johannesburg)
- Copperbelt Brigade (Ndola)
- Jan Smuts Brigade (Cape Town)
- Nelson Mandela Brigade (Bhisho)
- Harare Brigade (Harare)
- Gaborone Brigade (Gaborone)
- Maseru Brigade (Maseru)
- Mbabane Brigade (Mbabane)
- Walvis Bay Rifles Brigade (Walvis Bay)
- First City Brigade (Grahamstown)
- Windhoek Brigade (Windhoek)
Artillery
- Cape Field Artillery Brigade (Cape Town)
- Natal Field Artillery Brigade (Pietermaritzburg)
- Transvaal Horse Artillery Brigade (Potchefstroom)
- Stellenbosch University Brigade (Stellenbosch)
- Transvaal State Artillery Brigade (Pretoria)
- Orange Free State Artillery Brigade (Bloemfontein)
- Pretoria Highlanders Brigade (Pretoria)
- 6 Light AA Brigade (Harare)
- Cape Garrison Artillery Brigade (Cape Town)
- East Transvaal Brigade (Nelspruit)
- Namibia Horse Artillery Brigade (Windhoek)
- Lake Malawi Garrison Artillery Brigade (Karonga)
Engineers
- 3 Field Engineer Brigade (Johannesburg)
- 6 Field Engineer Brigade (Cape Town)
- 19 Field Engineer Brigade (Mbabane)
Equipment
Individual weapons
- Z88 9×19mm semi-automatic pistol
- SP1 9×19mm semi-automatic pistol
- SP2 .40 S&W semi-automatic pistol
- CR-21 5.56×45mm assault rifle
- R4 5.56×45mm assault rifle
- R5 5.56×45mm carbine
- R6 5.56×45mm carbine
- NTW-20 20×110mm anti-materiel rifle
- Galil Sniper 7.62×51mm designated marksman rifle
- Armsel Striker 12 gauge shotgun
- BXP 9×19mm submachine gun
- SS-77 7.62×51mm general purpose machine gun
- Y3 AGL 40mm grenade launcher
- MGL Mk-1 40mm grenade launcher
- RPG-7 40mm grenade launcher
Artillery and missiles
- G1 88mm towed howitzer
- G2 140mm towed howitzer
- G4 155mm towed howitzer
- G5 155mm towed howitzer
- G7 105mm towed howitzer
- L118 Light Gun 105mm towed howitzer
- L-5 105mm pack howitzer
- G6 155mm self-propelled howitzer
- Rascal 155mm self-propelled howitzer
- Bateleur 127mm 40 tube self-propelled multiple rocket launcher
- Valkiri-22 24 tube self-propelled multiple rocket launcher
- Valkiri-5 towed multiple rocket launcher
- M3 81mm mortar
- Vasliyek 82mm automatic mortar
- M-43 120mm mortar
- Brandt 120mm mortar
- ZT-3 Swift anti-tank guided weapon
- Milan anti-tank guided weapon
- FT-5 92mm rocket launcher
- Carl Gustav 84mm recoilless launcher
- M-40A1 106mm recoilless launcher
- 20mm self-propelled air defense gun
- 23mm self-propelled air defense gun
- 35mm air defense gun
- Ingwe anti-tank guided missile
- BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missile
- SA-7 Grail (9K32 Strela-2) surface-to-air missile
- SA-14 Gremlin (9K34 Strela-3) surface-to-air missile
- SA-16 (Igla-1E) surface-to-air missile
- Starstreak surface-to-air missile
- Rapier surface-to-air missile
Armored vehicles
Main battle tanks
- Luiperd 2 main battle tank (South African variant of the Leopard 2E; uses 140mm instead of 120mm gun)
- Luiperd 2 ARV
- Luiperd 2 AVLB
Light tanks
- SK-105 A2 Kürassier light tank/tank destroyer
- FV107 Scimitar light tank/reconnaissance vehicle
- FV101 Scorpion light tank/reconnaissance vehicle
Infantry fighting vehicles
- Combat Vehicle 90 infantry fighting vehicle
- CV90120-T (light tank)
- CV9040 Anti-Air Vehicle
- CV90 Command Vehicle
- CV90 Forward Observation Vehicle
- CV90 Armored Recovery Vehicle
- CV9056 (tank destroyer)
- Badger infantry fighting vehicle (South African designation for the Patria AMV)
- Command
- Mortar
- Missile
- Section
- Fire Support
- Wiesel armored weapons carrier
- Wiesel 1 Aufklärung reconnaissance vehicle
- Wiesel 1 ATM TOW anti-tank guided missile carrier
- Wiesel 1 ATM TOW Resupply cargo carrier
- Wiesel 2 BF/UF air defense unit command post
- Wiesel 2 AFF air defense radar carrier
- Wiesel 2 Ozelot air defense vehicle
- Rooikat armored fighting vehicle
- Rooikat 76
- Rooikat 105 tank destroyer
- Ratel infantry fighting vehicle
- Ratel 20
- Ratel 60
- Ratel 81 mortar carrier
- Ratel 90
- Ratel 120 mortar carrier
- Ratel Command
- Ratel EAOS (Enhanced Artillery Observation System)
- Ratel Maintenance
- Ratel ZT3 tank destroyer
- Ratel Logistic
Armored personnel carriers
- Gila mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- Mamba mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- Mk2
- Mk3
- RG-31 Nyala mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- RG-31 Sabre cargo vehicle
- RG-31 Mk5 Nyala
- RG-31 Mk5E
- RG-32 Scout mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- RG-32M Standard
- RG-32M Full Armour
- RG-33 mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- RG-33L
- Casspir mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- APC
- Artillery Fire Control
- Ambulance
- Blesbok freighter
- Duiker tanker
- FISTV
- Gemsbok recovery vehicle
- Mechem mine-clearing vehicle
- MEDDS mine-sensor vehicle
- Plofadder mine-clearing vehicle
- Riot control
- Buffel mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- Buffel Mk 1
- Log Buffel logistics/cargo vehicle
- Moffel open cargo-bed vehicle
- Buffel Mk IIA/B
- Rhino
- Reva mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- Bandvagn 206 tracked all-terrain armored vehicle
- Bv 206A: Armored ambulance
- Bv 206F: Fire appliance vehicle
- PvBv 2062: Armed with 90mm recoilless anti-tank gun
- PvBv 2063: Armed with the BGM-71 TOW
- Bv 206S: Armored personnel carrier
- BvS 10 tracked all-terrain armored vehicle
Support vehicles
- SAMIL logistical transport truck
- SAMIL 20
- SAMIL 50
- SAMIL 100
- MAN heavy duty truck
- FV180 Combat Engineer Tractor
- M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle
- M9 Armored Combat Earthmover
- M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle
- Caterpillar D9 heavy bulldozer
- Okapi mine-protected vehicle
- Command and Control
- Fire Control
- Biological Detection
- Electronic Warfare
- Chubby mine detection system
- Meerkat mine detection vehicle
- Husky towing mine detection vehicle
- Duisendpoot mine-detonating trailer
Aircraft
- Atlas Oryx medium utility helicopter
- Denel AH-2A Rooivalk attack helicopter
- Denel Bateleur unmanned aerial vehicle
- Kentron Seeker unmanned aerial vehicle
