The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) is the army of Botswana. It was formed in 1977 and has approximately 12,000 members. As of 2007, the commander is Lt. Gen. Tebogo Masire.^[1] The commander in chief is the President of Botswana. Being a landlocked country, Botswana has no navy.

Overview

Following political changes in South Africa and the region, the BDF's missions have increasingly focused on anti-poaching activities, disaster-preparedness, and foreign peacekeeping. The United States has been the largest single contributor to the development of the BDF, and a large segment of its officer corps has received U.S. training.

The BDF consists of one armoured brigade, two infantry brigades, four infantry battalions, two armoured artillery, one engineer regiment and one commando regiment.

The Botswana Defence Force Air Wing is the air force of Botswana and is organisationally part of the BDF.

Military branches:

Botswana Defence Force (includes Army and Air Wing), Botswana National Police

• Military age: 18 years of age

• Availability:

males age 18-49: 350,649 (2005 est.)

• Fit for military service:

males age 18-49: 136,322 (2005 est.)

• Reaching military age annually:

males: 21,103 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures

• Dollar figure:

$207.3 million (FY02), $61 million (FY99/00)

• Percent of GDP:

3.5% (FY02), 1.2% (FY99/00)

Overseas deployment

From 1998-99, 380 BDF soldiers formed part of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) task force to quell an internal uprising in Lesotho. Botswana withdrew its contingent when the situation was thought to be sufficiently stable not to require their presence. The BDF has also been successfully deployed as part of the UN peacekeeping operations in both Somalia and the Darfur region of Sudan. http://www.irinnews.org/country.aspx?CountryCode=BW&RegionCode=SAF

Army

In 2001, Botswana's forces consisted of:

FV101 Scorpion light tank - 36

SK-105 Kurassier light tank - 50

Cadillac Gage Commando - 50 (some with 90mm gun)

BTR-60 armoured personnel carrier - 30

FV103 Spartan armoured personnel carrier - 6

RAM/RBY armoured personnel carrier - 8

VBL Reconnaissance vehicle - 27 http://disarmament.un.org/cab/register_files/A-60-160%20E.pdf

Mowag Piranha III APCs - 50 http://disarmament.un.org/cab/register_files/A-60-160%20E.pdf

L118 Light Gun 105 mm towed howitzer - 12

OTO Melara Mod 56 pack towed artillery (105 mm) 6

Soltam - 12 towed artillery (155 mm)

Mortar (81 mm) - 12

M-43 Mortar (120 mm) - 6

TOW anti-tank missile launchers - 6

Carl Gustav recoilless rifle 84 mm - 30

M167 Vulcan air defence gun 20 mm - 7

SA-7 Grail portable surface-to-air missile launchers - 12

SA-16 portable surface-to-air missile launchers - 10

Javelin surface-to-air missile launchers - 6

Air Force

See main article: Botswana Defence Force Air Wing

Training

IMET (International Military Education and Training) funds from the USA remain important to Botswana's officer training programme. Over 30 Botswana officers receive military training in the US each year; by 1999 approximately 85% of the BDF officers are said to have been trained under this system.

See also

• Botswana
• Botswana Defence Force XI

References

External links

• Institute for Security Studies: Botswana Note: although generally a good source, this site wrongly describes Fisher as "Major General", and misspells his given name "Matshenwenyego".
• "Army Commander Accused Of Abuse" Mmegi Online 7 November 2005. Retrieved 25 February 2006. Example of correct title and spelling of commander's name.
• "THE BOTSWANA DEFENCE FORCE" Evolution of a professional African military

hu:Botswana hadereje