The South Sudan

South Sudan

South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...

 Armed Forces is duly constituted at Part 10, Chapter 1 of the South Sudanese constitution. It currently primarily consists of the Sudan People's Liberation Army

Sudan People's Liberation Army

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as a rebel political movement with a military wing known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army estimated at 180,000 soldiers. The SPLM fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War against the Sudanese...

 (SPLA), which was previously the armed wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and is in the process of becoming a regular army.

The mission of the South Sudan Armed Forces, as defined in the South Sudan Constitution:

• uphold this Constitution;
• defend the sovereignty of the country;
• protect the people of South Sudan;
• secure the territorial integrity of South Sudan;
• defend South Sudan against external threats and aggression; and
• be involved in addressing any emergencies, participate in reconstruction activities, and assist in disaster management and relief in accordance with this Constitution and the law.

Army

Following the 2011 independence referendum the SPLA will become the national military force of the Republic of South Sudan.

However Richard Rand writes that:

• "The lack of a coherent SPLA defense strategy is frustrating high-level support for transformation. Despite some successes with the development and implementation of procedural doctrine, the absence of a comprehensive strategic defense review and approved defense strategy means that the transformation process is rooted within a force structure that was designed out of necessity and without the benefit of detailed analysis. A comprehensive analysis of SPLA capabilities is required, not only as part of an overarching defense review, but also to guide future transformation.
• The challenges posed by the integration of the Other Armed Groups (OAGs) present the largest threat to the cohesion and effectiveness of the SPLA. Future transformation parameters must be informed by a thorough understanding of OAG integration issues.
• The SPLA faces multiple short-term challenges, including problems regarding accountability, logistics, and sustainment; a lack of mobility; poor tactical communications; urgent training and new equipment needs; and insufficient funds to support development."

Structure of SPLA

Current leaders of the Sudan People's Liberation Army:

• Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit
  Salva Kiir Mayardit
  Salva Kiir Mayardit is the first President of the Republic of South Sudan.-Sudanese civil wars:In the late 1960s, Kiir joined the Anyanya in the First Sudanese Civil War. By the time of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, he was a low-ranking officer...
  
  , Commander-in-Chief of SPLA
• Lt. Gen. Paulino Matip Nhial
  Paulino Matip Nhial
  Paulino Matip Nhial is a military leader and politician in South Sudan.-Early career:Paulino belongs to the Bul section of the Nuer people....
  
  , Deputy Commander-in-Chief of SPLA
• Lt. Gen. Nhial Deng Nhial
  Nhial Deng Nhial
  Lieutenant General Nhial Deng Nhial is a South Sudanese politician and leading member of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement . He was appointed the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of the newly independent Republic of South Sudan on August 26th, 2011 after having served as the caretaker...
  
  , Minister for SPLA Affairs
• Lt. Gen. James Hoth, Chief of General Staff

During the Second Sudanese Civil War

Second Sudanese Civil War

The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....

 the SPLA provided training teams to the large groups of boys who fled between 1981 and 1990. John Garang

John Garang

John Garang de Mabior was a Sudanese politician and rebel leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and following a peace agreement he briefly served as First Vice President of Sudan from January 2005 until he died in a July 2005...

 named these the "Red Army".

South Sudan Air Force

On 24 June 2008 a South Sudan Air Force was formally created by the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, although it didn't have any aircraft at that time. The U.S. Air Force Special Operations School announced in July 2009 that Sudan participated in the Building Partner Aviation Capacity Course. In May 2010 Major General Kuol Dim Kuol of the Sudan People's Liberation Army said: "SPLA has formed a nucleus air force and navy. Our pilots and engineers have been trained and local support and administrative units will follow suit." On 12 August 2010 the South Sudan Air Force received 4 Mi-17

MI-17

MI-17 can refer to:* Mil Mi-17, Soviet helicopter*M-17...

 helicopters of a total of 10 on order.

Equipment

Currently all weapons are from the Sudan People's Liberation Army

Sudan People's Liberation Army

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as a rebel political movement with a military wing known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army estimated at 180,000 soldiers. The SPLM fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War against the Sudanese...

 (SPLA). Most of the weapons come from the black market and were smuggled from Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 and Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

.

Infantry Weapons

metric and inch-pattern FN FAL

FN FAL

The Fusil Automatique Léger or FAL is a self-loading, selective fire battle rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal . During the Cold War it was adopted by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, with the notable exception of the United States...

s, G3A3

Heckler & Koch G3

The G3 is a 7.62mm battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design and development agency CETME ....

s, IMI Galil ARs, C-4 explosive

C-4 (explosive)

C4 or Composition C4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.-Composition and manufacture:C4 is made up of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer and usually marker or odorizing taggant chemicals such as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane to help detect the explosive and...

, various types of land mines

Land mine

A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....

Name	Type	Caliber	Origin	Notes
AK-47 AK-47 The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...	Assault Rifle	7.62 mm	Soviet Union
Type 56 Type 56 Assault Rifle The Type 56 assault rifle is a Chinese copy of the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle, which has been manufactured since 1956. It was produced by State Factory 66 from 1956-73, then by Norinco from 1973 onwards.-Service history:...	Assault Rifle	7.62 mm
M1918 BAR	Light Machine Gun	.30
Dragunov SVD	Sniper Rifle	7.62 mm	Soviet Union

Aircraft

Jane's Defence Weekly

Jane's Defence Weekly

Jane's Defence Weekly is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who first published Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships in 1898...

 said in September 2010 that "Bloomberg News had reported earlier that the fleet consisted of nine Mi-17V-5 transport helicopters and one Mi-172 variant, purchased for a total USD75 million from Russia's Kazan Helicopters, in a contract negotiated in May 2007 for deliveries set to begin in March 2010."
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Aircraft
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Origin
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Type
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Versions
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|In service
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Notes
|-----
| Mi-17

MI-17

MI-17 can refer to:* Mil Mi-17, Soviet helicopter*M-17...

|
| Transport Helicopter
| Mi-17V-5/Mi-172
| 4
| 4 out of 10 delivered