Mozambique Defence Armed Forces
Forças Armadas de Defesa de Moçambique
Founded1975
Current formAugust 1994
Service branchesArmy
Naval Command
Air and Air Defence Forces
Militia
HeadquartersMinistry of National Defence, Avenida Martires de Mueda, Maputo[1]
Websitemdn.gov.mz/index.php/fadm
Leadership
PresidentFilipe Nyusi
Prime MinisterAdriano Maleiane
National Defence MinisterJaime Bessa Neto[2]
Chief of General StaffJoaquim Mangrasse
Personnel
Military age18
Active personnel~11,200[3]
Expenditures
Budget$245 million (2020 est.)
Percent of GDP2.5% (2008 est.)
Industry
Foreign suppliers Portugal
 China
Related articles
HistoryMozambican War of Independence
Mozambican Civil War
Rhodesian Bush War
Angolan Civil War
Uganda-Tanzania War
1999 East Timorese crisis
RENAMO insurgency (2013–2019)
Insurgency in Cabo Delgado
RanksMilitary ranks of Mozambique
Mozambican soldiers

The Mozambique Defence Armed Forces (Portuguese: Forças Armadas de Defesa de Moçambique) or FADM are the national armed forces of Mozambique. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces and three branches of service: Army, Air Force and Navy.

The FADM were formed in mid August 1994, by the integration of the Forças Armadas de Moçambique/FPLM with the military wing of RENAMO, following the end of the civil war.

History

Coelho et al write: "Independence in June 1975 was preceded by a nine-month transition period in which Frelimo took control of a transitional cabinet where ..it held six of the nine ministries."[4] The previous Forças Populares de Libertação de Moçambique (FPLM), the armed wing of FRELIMO, became the Forças Armadas de Moçambique but retained the FPLM title, becoming 'FAM/FPLM.' From 1975 to the successful conclusions of the Rome negotiations in 1992, former liberation war leader Alberto Joaquim Chipande served as Minister of National Defence.[5]

Under the previous FAM, in 1982, ten provincial semi-autonomous military commands were created; the provincial commanders also acted as second in commands of the provincial government. Coelho et al write:[6]

"the 1st Brigade and the 6th Tank Brigade were located in Maputo; the 2nd Brigade was in Mapai and, together with 8th Brigade based in Chokwe, assured protection of the south; the 3rd Brigade was in Chimoio and the 5th in Beira; the 4th Brigade was placed in Tete, and the 7th in Cuamba, assuring a military presence in Niassa, Cabo Delgado, Zambezia and Nampula, and particularly in the Nacala corridor.."

Throughout the 1980s the FRELIMO government and its armed forces, the Forças Armadas de Moçambique/FPLM, fought the rebel Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), which received support by South Africa. The Mozambique Civil War only ended in 1992.

The Mozambique Defence Armed Forces were formed in mid-August 1994 after peace negotiations in Rome had produced the General Peace Agreement (GPA, AGP in Portuguese). The new armed forces were formed by integrating those soldiers of the former government Forças Armadas de Moçambique/FPLM and those among the RENAMO rebels who wished to stay in uniform.[7] They were formed through a commission, the Comissão Conjunta para a Formação das Forças Armadas de Defesa e Segurança de Moçambique (CCFADM), chaired by the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ).[8]

Two generals were appointed to lead the new forces, one from FRELIMO, Lieutenant General Lagos Lidimo, who was named Chief of the Defence Force and Major General Mateus Ngonhamo from RENAMO as Vice-Chief of the Defence Force. The former Chief of the Army of the Forças Armadas de Moçambique, Lieutenant General Antonio Hama Thai, was retired.

The first three infantry battalions were stationed at Chokwe, Cuamba, and Quelimane.[9]

On 20 March 2008, Reuters reported that President Guebuza had dismissed the Chief and Vice Chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant General Lagos Lidimo (FRELIMO) and Lieutenant General Mateus Ngonhamo (RENAMO), replacing them with Brigadier General Paulino Macaringue as Chief of Defence Force and Major General Olímpio Cambora as Vice-Chief of Defence Force.[10][11]

Filipe Nyussi took office as Minister of Defense on 27 March 2008, succeeding Tobias Joaquim Dai.[12] Nyussi's appointment came almost exactly one year after a fire and resulting explosions of munitions at the Malhazine armoury in Maputo killed more than 100 people and destroyed 14,000 homes. A government-appointed investigative commission concluded that negligence played a role in the disaster, and Dai "was blamed by many for failing to act on time to prevent the loss of life".[13] Although no official reason was given for Dai's removal, it may have been a "delayed reaction" to the Malhazine disaster.[14]

In April 2010 it was announced that "the People's Republic of China donated to the FADM material for agriculture worth 4 million euros, including trucks, tractors, agricultural implements, mowers and motorbikes in the framework of bilateral cooperation in the military. Under a protocol of cooperation in the military field, the Government of China will also provide support to the Ministry of Defence of Mozambique with about 1 million euros for the areas of training and logistics. The protocol for granting aid to the Armed Forces for the Defence of Mozambique (FADM) was signed by Defense Minister of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, and the charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Maputo, Lee Tongli."[15]

Mozambique has also been involved in many peacekeeping operations in Burundi (232 personnel),[16] Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor and Sudan. They have also actively participated in joint military operations such Blue Hungwe in Zimbabwe in 1997 and Blue Crane in South Africa in 1999.[17]

Land Forces

A Mozambique army officer during Exercise SHARED ACCORD 2010 with the United States

The Mozambican Army was formed in 1976 from three conventional battalions, two of which were trained in Tanzania and a third of which was trained in Zambia.[18] Army officer candidates were initially trained in Maputo by Chinese military instructors.[18] In March 1977, following Mozambique's Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union, officer candidates became eligible for training in various Warsaw Pact member states.[18] The Soviet military mission in Mozambique assisted in raising a new army composed of five infantry brigades and an armored brigade.[18] At the height of the civil war, this was gradually increased to eight infantry brigades, an armored brigade, and a counter-insurgency brigade[18] modeled after the Zimbabwean 5th Brigade.[19]

The preexisting FAM was abolished after the end of the civil war under the auspices of the Joint Commission for the Formation of the Mozambican Defence Force (CCFADM), which included advisers from Portugal, France, and the United Kingdom.[18] The CCFADM recommended that former army personnel and an equal number of demobilised RENAMO insurgents be integrated into a single force numbering about 30,000.[20] Due to logistics problems and budgetary constraints, however, the army only numbered about 12,195 in 1995.[18] Force levels rarely fluctuated between 1995 and the mid-2000s due to the army's limited resources and low budget priority.[18]

In 2016, the Mozambican Army consisted of 10,000 troops organised into three special forces battalions, seven light infantry battalions, two engineer battalions, two artillery battalions, and a single logistics battalion.[21]

As of 2017, the serving chief of the army was Major General Eugènio Dias Da Silva.[22]

Equipment

Between 1977 and 1989, the Mozambican Army was lavishly supplied with Soviet weapons, as well as a Soviet-supervised technical programme to oversee their logistics needs and maintenance.[23] Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, along with the resulting departure of Soviet technical staff, much of this equipment was rendered inoperable.[23] The bulk of the army's hardware remained vested in this ageing and increasingly obsolescent Soviet equipment throughout the 2000s, and serviceability rates have remained low.[21] In 2016, less than 10% of the army's artillery and armoured vehicles were operational.[21]

Small arms

Name Image Caliber Type Origin Notes
Škorpion[24] .32 ACP Submachine gun  Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
Rifles
SKS[24] 7.62×39mm Semi-automatic rifle  Soviet Union
AKM[25] 7.62×39mm Assault rifle  Soviet Union
PM md. 63[25] 7.62×39mm Assault rifle  Socialist Republic of Romania
Vz. 58[25] 7.62×39mm Assault rifle  Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
SA80[26] 5.56×45mm Bullpup
Assault rifle		  United Kingdom Sold as part of British military aid.
FN FAL[24] 7.62×51mm Battle rifle  Belgium
Sniper rifles
Mosin-Nagant[25] 7.62×54mmR Bolt-action
Sniper rifle		  Soviet Union
Machine guns
RPK[24] 7.62×39mm Squad automatic weapon  Soviet Union
PKM[25] 7.62×54mmR General-purpose machine gun  Soviet Union
DShK[24] 12.7×108mm Heavy machine gun  Soviet Union
Rocket propelled grenade launchers
RPG-7[27] 40mm Rocket-propelled grenade  Soviet Union

Anti-tank weapons

Name Image Type Origin Caliber Notes
B-10[25] Recoilless rifle  Soviet Union 82mm
9M14 Malyutka[25] Anti-tank weapon  Soviet Union
9K111 Fagot[25] Anti-tank weapon  Soviet Union 10 in service.

Mortars

Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes
PM-43 Mortar  Soviet Union 12[28] INS
BM-37 Mortar  Soviet Union 40[28] INS

Tanks

Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes
T-54 Medium tank  Soviet Union 60[29] INS

Scout cars

Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes
BRDM-2 Amphibious armored scout car  Soviet Union 28[27] INS
BRDM-1 Amphibious armored scout car  Soviet Union 28[27] INS

Infantry fighting vehicles

Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes
BMP-1 Infantry fighting vehicle  Soviet Union 40[21][27] INS

Armored personnel carriers

Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes
BTR-152 Armored personnel carrier  Soviet Union 100[27][21] INS
BTR-60 Armored personnel carrier  Soviet Union 160[27][21] INS
WZ-551 Armored personnel carrier  China 30-35[30] INS
AT105 Saxon Armored personnel carrier  United Kingdom 25[21] INS
Marauder Armored personnel carrier  South Africa 5[30] INS
Casspir MRAP  South Africa 15[29] INS

Artillery

Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes
Rocket artillery
BM-21 Grad Multiple rocket launcher  Soviet Union 12[28] INS
Field artillery
BS-3 Field gun  Soviet Union 20[27][21] INS
Type 56 Field gun  Soviet Union
 China		 12[28] INS
M-46 Field gun  Soviet Union 6[28] INS
M-30 Howitzer  Soviet Union 24[29] INS
D-1 Howitzer  Soviet Union 12[28] INS
D-30 Howitzer  Soviet Union 12[27] INS
M101 Howitzer  United States 12[31] INS
D-48 Anti-tank gun  Soviet Union 6[28] INS

Air defence systems

Name Image Type Origin Quantity Status Notes
ZU-23-2 Autocannon  Soviet Union 120[27][21] INS
61-K Autocannon  Soviet Union 90[21] INS 10 in storage.
ZSU-57-2 SPAAG  Soviet Union 20[27][21] INS
S-125 Neva[32] Surface-to-air missile  Soviet Union 103[29] INS
9K32 Strela-2 MANPADS  Soviet Union 20[27] INS 250 in storage.[33]

Air Force

There are about 200 personnel in the navy.[34] In September 2004 it was reported that the South African Navy was to donate two of its Namacurra class harbour patrol boat to the Mozambique Navy. The boats were refitted by the naval dockyard at Simon's Town and equipped with outboard motors and navigation equipment donated by the French Navy. The French Navy Durance class command and replenishment oiler Marne (A360) was to deliver the boats to Maputo en route to its ALINDIEN operational area in the Indian Ocean after a refit in Cape Town.[35]

In 2013, the French shipyard CMN Group confirmed a major order by Mozambique, including 6 patrol vessels & interceptors (HSI32).[36] On 29 July 2019 in the first ever visit by an Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh donated 2 L&T class Fast interceptor boats to the Navy. A team from Indian Coast Guard will also be stationed to train the crew, support for maintenance and operation of the two boats.[37]

Equipment

  • PCI-class inshore patrol boat (3 ordered, non-operational)
  • MNS Pebane (P-001) ex-Spanish navy Dragonera (P-32) ( 85 tons, 32 meters ) transferred after refit 2012 from the Spanish Navy[38] for a symbolic price (€100).
  • 20 - 25 DV 15 interceptors. An unknown number of units in active service.[39]
  • 3 x HSI32 Interceptors [39]
  • 3 x Ocean Eagle 43 OPV. Three were acquired as part of the CMN deal. Currently all three are based at Pemba.[39]

References

  1. ↑ Military Technology, World Defence Almanac, Vol. XXXII, Issue 1, 2008, p.323
  2. ↑ ""You don't need to be a military officer to be defence minister" – Jaime Bessa Neto | Club of Mozambique".
  3. ↑ IISS2021, p. 478.
  4. ↑ Coelho, Malache & Macaringue 2015, p. 161.
  5. ↑ Coelho, Malache & Macaringue 2015, p. 162.
  6. ↑ Coelho, Malache & Macaringue 2015, p. 173.
  7. ↑ "Suppressing the Revival of Conflict in Mozambique through Inclusive National Dialogue". ACCORD. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  8. ↑ 'Final Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in Mozambique,' S/1994/1449, 23 December 1994
  9. ↑ Richard Synge, Mozambique: UN Peacekeeping in Action, 1992-94, United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington, D.C., 1997, p.105
  10. ↑ Reuters, Mozambique leader Guebuza sacks defence chiefs, 2008
  11. ↑ World Library. "A History of the Mozambican Civil War" (PDF). worldlibrary.org. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  12. ↑ "Mozambique: New Ministers Sworn in". allAfrica.com. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  13. ↑ "Mozambique defence minister axed a year after arms depot tragedy". International News Service. 26 March 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  14. ↑ "Mozambique: Guebuza Sacks Defence Minister". allAfrica.com. 26 March 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  15. ↑ "Oje - o Jornal Economico - África - China equipa exército de Moçambique com material agrícola de 4 milhões de euros". Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  16. ↑ Helmoed-Romer Heitman, 'Burundi mission at full strength,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 29 October 2003, 16.
  17. ↑ Berman & Sams 2000.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Coelho, Malache & Macaringue 2015.
  19. ↑ Bermudez, Joseph (1997). Terrorism, the North Korean connection. New York: Crane, Russak & Company. p. 124. ISBN 978-0844816104.
  20. ↑ Coelho, Malache & Macaringue 2015, p. 181.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 The Military Balance 2016. London: International Institute for Strategic Studies. 2016. pp. 457–458. ISBN 978-1857438352.
  22. ↑ "Sunil Lanba visits Mozambique, Tanzania". Indiablooms.com. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  23. 1 2 Howe, Herbert (2004). Ambiguous Order: Military Forces in African States. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Reinner Publishers. pp. 59–60. ISBN 978-1588263155.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 "SALW Guide: Global distribution and visual identification (Mozambique country report)" (PDF). Bonn: Bonn International Center for Conversion. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hogg, Ian (1991). Jane's Infantry Weapons, 1991-1992 (1992 ed.). Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd. p. 747. ISBN 9780710609632.
  26. ↑ Grant 2016, p. 75.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Kruger, Anton; Martin, Guy (23 August 2013). "Armed Forces for the Defence of Mozambique". Johannesburg: DefenceWeb. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Chapter Nine: Sub-Saharan Africa". The Military Balance. International Institute for Strategic Studies. 120 (1): 490. 2020. doi:10.1080/04597222.2020.1707971. S2CID 219623431.
  29. 1 2 3 4 SIPRI, (various) (2016). "Trade Registers". Solna: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  30. 1 2 "Trade Registers". Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  31. ↑ IISS 2016, p. 458.
  32. ↑ Keegan, John (1983). World Armies (Second ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan. p. 408. ISBN 978-0333340790.
  33. ↑ Hussein, Solomon (1988). Towards a Common Defence and Security Policy in the Southern African Development Community. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-0798301749.
  34. ↑ IISS2021, p. 479.
  35. ↑ Helmoed-Romer Heitman, 'SAN patrol boats gifted to Mozambique,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 1 September 2004, p.17
  36. ↑ "French shipyard CMN confirms major order by Mozambique including 6 Patrol Vessels & Interceptors". Navy Recognition. 7 September 2013.
  37. ↑ "India hands over two Fast Interceptor boats to Mozambique". Zee News. 29 July 2019.
  38. ↑ "La Armada española transfiere el patrullero 'Conejera' a la Marina de Senegal". spanish navy web. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  39. 1 2 3 "H I Sutton - Covert Shores". www.hisutton.com. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

Works cited

Further reading

  • Protocol on the Formation of the FADM, Rome 1992
  • Cameron R. Hume, Ending Mozambique's War: The Role of Mediation and Good Offices, U.S. Institute of Peace, Washington DC, 1994
  • Lundin, Irae B, Martinho Chachiua, Anthonio Gaspar, Habiba Guebuzua, and Guilherme Mbilana (2000). Reducing Costs through an Expensive Exercise: The Impact of Demobilization in Mozambique, in Kees Kingma (ed.) Demobilization in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Development and Security Impacts, Basingstoke, UK: MacMillan, 173-212
  • Anica Lala, Security sector reform in post-conflict environments: An analysis of coherence and sequencing in Mozambique. Examining Peacebuilding Challenges of Defence, Police and Justice Reforms in a Neo-Liberal Era, 2014 Bradford thesis
  • Anica Lala, Security and Democracy in Southern Africa: Mozambique, 2007
  • Paulino Macaringue, "Civil-Military Relations in Post-Cold War Mozambique," Ourselves to Know, Institute for Security Studies, 2002.
  • Martin Rupiya, 'Historical Context: War and Peace in Mozambique,' in Jeremy Armon, Dylan Henrickson and Alex Vines, eds, The Mozambican Peace Process in Perspective, London: Conciliation Resources Accord Series, 1998
  • Richard Synge, Mozambique: UN Peacekeeping in Action, 1992–94, United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington, D.C., 1997 - includes details on formation of FADM, but has multiple mistakes, including concluding from mid-mission rather than final ONUMOZ report that new army had five (rather than final seven) battalions.
  • Eric T. Young, The Development of the FADM in Mozambique: Internal and External Dynamics, African Security Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1996
  • Joao Porto, Mozambique contributes to the African Union Mission in Burundi, April 2003
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Military of Mozambique.
  • United States Marine Corps, Brotherhood of Arms Archived 3 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine- story of one Mozambiqican officer's career
  • https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1976MAPUTO00888_b.html - details in 1976
  • "7000 ghost soldiers found. Soldiers have been paid in cash, and in March actually had to show up to collect. According to Carta de Moçambique (4, 6 May) 7000 ghost soldiers were found. "Among the irregularities detected in recent months is the growing number of children of former combatants, generals, colonels and politicians, who swell the ranks of the FADM and receive salaries without ever having been in military training, let alone setting foot in a military unit," noted Carta. And many salaries of fake soldier were being channelled to senior officials. The scheme also includes the distribution of food, alcoholic beverage, fuel vouchers and rent subsidy. The military will now switch to electronic payments." Joseph Hanlon, Mozambique News Reports and Clippings 596, 16 May 2022, accessible via https://www.open.ac.uk/technology/mozambique/news-reports-clippings-2022.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook (2024 ed.). CIA. (Archived 2003 edition)

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