The Armed Forces of the Republic of the Congo (), also less formally denoted as the Forces armées congolaises or its acronym FAC, are the military forces of the Republic of the Congo. They consist of the Congolese Army, the Congolese Air Force, the , and the . The dissolution of French Equatorial Africa in 1958, and France's impending military withdrawal from the Congo in August 1960, provided the impetus for the formation of the FAC. The FAC and state paramilitary agencies are headed by an Armed Forces Chief of General Staff, usually appointed by the President of the Republic of the Congo. Major General Guy Blanchard Okoï has served as chief of staff since 2012.
History The Congolese military was created on January 16, 1961, and reflected the nature of the colonial security forces, which recruited among the country's northern ethnic groups and were staffed by junior Bakongo officers and a handful of French senior commissioned officers. President Alphonse Massamba-Débat, who seized power in 1963, expelled all the French personnel and sidelined the military in favor of independent political militias, which were trained by Cuban troops. The militias and the Congo's civil defense corps were later integrated with the FAC as the Armée Nationale Populaire.
Under the People's Republic of the Congo, the FAC was again reorganized, with Mbochi career soldiers making up the bulk of the new officer corps; its effectiveness and standards, however, were gradually eroded by draconian political purges throughout the 1970s. A second major setback occurred during the 1990s, when mass desertions led to many FAC officers and enlisted troops joining regional militias. The FAC was reformed for the third time after the Second Congo War, incorporating many former rebels and militia combatants.
On 5 February 2012, there were munitions explosions at a tank regiment (seemingly 'Regiment Blinde') barracks located in Brazzaville's fifth arrondissement, Ouenzé. Some 206 people were initially reported killed. There are five military barracks in the city, and after the explosion officials said the government had promised to move all munitions out of the capital.
Organization The army Is composed of: the 10th Pointe Noir Infantry Brigade in Military Defense Zone No. 1
Which contains: the - Command and Services Battalion - Combat Engineering Company - 101° Motorized Infantry Battalion - 102° Airborne Battalion -104° Light Tank Battalion -106° Jet Artillery Group -108° Air Sol Artillery Group
Army equipment Small arms Name Image Caliber Type Origin Notes Pistols TT-33Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). . 7.62×25mm Semi-automatic pistol Walther PP .25 ACP Semi-automatic pistol MAC 50 9×19mm Semi-automatic pistol Submachine guns MAT-49 9×19mm Submachine gun Franchi LF-57 9×19mm Submachine gun Rifles SKS 7.62×39mm Semi-automatic rifle AK 7.62×39mm Assault rifle AKM 7.62×39mm Assault rifle Type 56 7.62×39mm Assault rifle IMI Galil 5.56×45mm Assault rifle Vektor R4 5.56×45mm Assault rifle FN FAL 7.62×51mm Battle rifle CETME Model C 7.62×51mm Battle rifle MAS-36 7.5×54mm Bolt-action rifle MAS-49/56 7.5×54mm Semi-automatic rifle Machine guns FM 24/29 7.5×54mm Light machine gun RP-46 7.62×54mmR Light machine gun RPD 7.62×39mm Squad automatic weapon RPK 7.62×39mm Squad automatic weapon PKM 7.62×54mmR General-purpose machine gun KPV 14.5×114mm Heavy machine gun DShK 12.7×108mm Heavy machine gun Rocket propelled grenade launchers RPG-7 40mm Rocket-propelled grenade RPG-18 64mm Rocket-propelled grenade RPO-A Shmel 93mm Missile launcher
Anti-tank weapons Name Image Type Origin Caliber Notes M18 Recoilless rifle 57mm
Tanks Name Image Type Origin Quantity Notes T-54/55 Medium tank 25 Type 59 Main battle tank 15 Type 62 Light tank 10 Type 63 Light tank 8 PT-76 Amphibious Light tank 3
Scout cars Name Image Type Origin Quantity Notes BRDM-1 Scout car 25 BRDM-2 Scout car
Armored personnel carriers Name Image Type Origin Quantity Notes BTR-60 Amphibious Armored personnel carrier 30 AT105 Saxon Armored personnel carrier 28 Panhard M3 Armoured personnel carrier 9 Mamba Armoured personnel carrier 18 Marauder Armored personnel carrier 52 ZFB-05 Armored personnel carrier 14
Artillery Name Image Type Origin Quantity Notes Self-propelled artillery 2S1 Gvozdika Self-propelled artillery 3 Rocket artillery RPU-14 Multiple rocket launcher Unknown BM-14 Multiple rocket launcher Unknown BM-21 Grad Multiple rocket launcher 10 Mortars PM-41 Mortar Unknown PM-43 Mortar 28 Field artillery ZiS-2 Anti-tank gun 5 BS-3 Field gun 10 D-30 Howitzer 10 D-20 Howitzer 8 M-46 Field gun 5
Air defence systems Towed anti-aircraft guns Name Image Type Origin Quantity Notes ZPU Anti-aircraft gun Unknown 61-K Autocannon 28 S-60 Autocannon Unknown KS-19 Anti-aircraft gun 4
Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns Name Image Type Origin Quantity Notes ZSU-23-4 Shilka SPAAG 8
Navy
The Navy has around 800 personnel. In October 2007, the US Navy provided some training to Congolese Navy personnel in Pointe-Noire, a port city that is the second largest settlement in the country.
As of 2016 it was commanded by Rear Admiral Andre Bouagnabea-Moundanza.Commander of Congolese Navy Rear Admiral Andre BOUAGNABEA-MOUNDANZA and accompanying party was hosted by Commander of Turkish Navy Admiral Bülent BOSTANOĞLU on 1 February 2016 . Turkish Navy website. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
As of 2019 the Navy operates a single Mil Mi-14 helicopter.
Air Force
After achieving independence from France in 1960, the Congolese Air Force (Force Aerienne Congolaise) was started with equipment such as the Douglas C-47s, Broussards and Bell 47Gs, these were followed by Nord Noratlas tactical transports and Sud Alouette helicopter. In the 1970s the air force switched to Soviet equipment. This included five Ilyushin IL-14 and six turboprop Antonov An-24 transports and an An-26 in return for providing bases for Cuban MiG-17 operations over Angola. These fighters and a few MiG-15UTI combat trainers were transferred to the FAC. In 1990 these fighter were replaced by 16 USSR supplied MiG-21MF/bis Fishbeds plus a couple of MiG-21US trainers. Together with a Soviet training mission which stayed until late 1991, during that time there were numerous accidents that involved both Soviet and Congolese personnel. After the Soviets left there was only limited funding for MiG operations and they were withdrawn. Six Mi-8 helicopters were delivered from Ukraine in mid-1997 before the Cobra rebel takeover.
In 1990, the Air Force was reformed into its present state. Most fighter aircraft it possessed were scrapped in 2001. France and China provided most training to the Air Force in recent times.
See the article Congolese Air Force for current inventory.
References