Zambian Army


Zambian Army


The Zambian Army is the land military branch of the Zambian Defence Force. Like all branches of the Zambian military, citizens of the nation are required to register at 16 years old, and citizens can join at 16 years old with parental consent or at 18 years old when they are classified as adults by Zambia. There is currently no conscription. (There was a Zambia National Defence Force conscription from 1975 to 1980.) Applicants must be Zambian citizens and must have a school Grade 12 certification. Applicants must also undergo a test for HIV on enlistment. Personnel can serve until age 55, when there is a mandatory retirement. Its first Commander Major General was Michael Grigg, appointed by Kenneth Kaunda. The first local Commander was Gen Kingsley Chinkuli. According to the 2014 CIA World Factbook:

  • There are 3,041,069 men between 16-49 who are classified as manpower (this does not mean that all of them are fit for duty), and 2,948,291 women between 16–49 who are classified as manpower. This makes a total of 5,989,360 people classified as manpower.
  • There are 1,745,656 men who are classified as fit for military service between the ages of 16–49. There are 1,688,670 women who are classified as fit for military service between the ages of 16–49. Therefore, Zambia has 3,434,326 people fit for military service between the ages of 16–49.
  • 1.55% of the GDP of Zambia is spent on the military, ranked 70th in the world.

Organisation

The current Army organisation is as follows:

Three infantry brigades:

  • 1 Brigade (Lusaka)
  • 2 Brigade (Kabwe)
  • 3 Brigade (Ndola)

With the following units:

  • 64th Armoured Tank Regiment (tank).
  • 17th Cavalry Regiment (armoured reconnaissance)
  • 10th Medium Artillery Regiment
    • 2 Artillery Battalions
    • Multiple Rocket Launchers Battalion
  • 1 Engineer Regiment, Mufulira
  • 6 Construction Regiment
  • Mechanised battalion
  • Zambia Regiment (raised in 1964 from the Northern Rhodesia Regiment)
    • Light Infantry
      • 1st Battalion
      • 2nd Battalion
      • 3rd Battalion
      • 4th Battalion
      • 5th Battalion
      • 6th Battalion
    • Reserve Infantry
      • 7th Battalion
      • 8th Battalion
      • 9th Battalion
  • 1 Commando Battalion
  • 48th Marine Unit
  • Specialist schools

Equipment

Small arms

Tanks

Armored vehicles

Anti-tank weapons

Artillery

Air defence systems

Unmanned aerial vehicles

References

Works cited

  • International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 2016). The Military Balance 2016. Vol. 116. Routlegde. ISBN 978-1-85743-835-2.
  • Jones, Richard D.; Ness, Leland S., eds. (2009). Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010 (35th ed.). Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Zambian Army by Wikipedia (Historical)



 


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