South African Army

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South African Army

Active	1912 -
Country	South Africa
Branch	Army
Size	230,000 active personnel
Part of	Ministry of Defence and National Security
Headquarters	Pretoria
Engagements	World War I World War II Korean War Angolan Civil War Gulf War
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	State President Festus Mogae
Commander	Lieutenant General Ken Walls
Notable commanders	Louis Botha Jan Smuts Isaac Pierre de Villiers Petrus Jacobs

The South African Army is the branch of the South African military tasked with the land defense of the nation. It is the largest, best-trained, and best-equipped branch of the military, and is the backbone of the armed forces. It operates large expeditionary and fixed land forces to accomplish its missions.

A highly mechanized and rapidly deployable force, the South African Army is the most powerful on the continent by a wide margin. Employing 230,000 personnel in active duty and another 210,000 in the reserves, it is also one of the largest. Rigorous training standards and top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art weapons ensure that the Army always operates at peak efficiency and is capable of confronting any adversary on the battlefield.

While much of the South African Army's hardware is procured abroad, a large percentage of it is indigenously produced, making it largely self-sufficient. South African equipment is specially designed to accomodate its diverse climate, and most of its armored vehicles are both light and maneuverable while also highly resistant to mines.

The State President serves as the ceremonial commander-in-chief of the Army. The Army's military commander is Lieutenant General Ken Walls.

Organization

Active units

South African Armoured Corps

1 Special Service Division (Bloemfontein)
1 South African Tank Division (Bloemfontein)

South African Infantry Corps

Divisions

44 Parachute Division (Bloemfontein)

Brigades

1 South African Infantry Brigade (Bloemfontein)
3 Infantry Brigade Training Depot (Kimberley)
4 South African Infantry Brigade (Gaborone)
5 South African Infantry Brigade (Windhoek)
6 South African Infantry Brigade (Grahamstown)
7 South African Infantry Brigade (Phalaborwa)
8 South African Infantry Brigade (Manzini)
9 South African Infantry Brigade (Cape Town)
10 South African Infantry Brigade (Pretoria)
14 South African Infantry Brigade (Maseru)
15 South African Infantry Brigade (Bulawayo)
61 Mechanised Infantry Brigade Group (Upington)
115 South African Infantry Brigade (Lilongwe)
116 South African Infantry Brigade (Blantyre)
118 South African Infantry Brigade (Lusaka)
121 South African Infantry Brigade (Mtubatuba)

South African Artillery

4 Artillery Division (Potchefstroom)
10 Air Defence Division (Potchefstroom)

South African Engineers

2 Field Engineer Brigade (Harare)
14 Engineer Brigade (Bloemfontein)
35 Engineer Support Brigade (Gaborone)
1 Construction Engineer Brigade (Pretoria)
1 Military Printing Brigade (Pretoria)
4 Survey and Mapping Brigade (Bulawayo)

South African Special Forces

5 Special Forces Division (Pretoria)

Reserve units

Armour

Light Horse Brigade (Johannesburg)
Natal Mounted Rifles Brigade (Durban)
Umvoti Mounted Rifles Brigade (Greytown)
Pretoria Brigade (Pretoria)
Limpopo River Brigade (Musina)
Zambezi River Brigade (Livingstone)
President Kruger Brigade (Bloemfontein)

Infantry

Cape Town Highlanders Brigade (Cape Town)
Cape Town Rifles Brigade (Cape Town)
Durban Light Infantry Brigade (Durban)
Durban Brigade (Durban)
Johannesburg Brigade (Johannesburg)
Lusaka Volunteer Rifles Brigade (Lusaka)
Blantyre Brigade (Blantyre)
Lilongwe Carbineers Brigade (Lilongwe)
Prince Alfred's Guard Brigade (Port Elizabeth)
Rand Light Infantry Brigade (Johannesburg)
Copperbelt Brigade (Ndola)
Jan Smuts Brigade (Cape Town)
Nelson Mandela Brigade (Bhisho)
Harare Brigade (Harare)
Gaborone Brigade (Gaborone)
Maseru Brigade (Maseru)
Mbabane Brigade (Mbabane)
Walvis Bay Rifles Brigade (Walvis Bay)
First City Brigade (Grahamstown)
Windhoek Brigade (Windhoek)

Artillery

Cape Field Artillery Brigade (Cape Town)
Natal Field Artillery Brigade (Pietermaritzburg)
Transvaal Horse Artillery Brigade (Potchefstroom)
Stellenbosch University Brigade (Stellenbosch)
Transvaal State Artillery Brigade (Pretoria)
Orange Free State Artillery Brigade (Bloemfontein)
Pretoria Highlanders Brigade (Pretoria)
6 Light AA Brigade (Harare)
Cape Garrison Artillery Brigade (Cape Town)
East Transvaal Brigade (Nelspruit)
Namibia Horse Artillery Brigade (Windhoek)
Lake Malawi Garrison Artillery Brigade (Karonga)

Engineers

3 Field Engineer Brigade (Johannesburg)
6 Field Engineer Brigade (Cape Town)
19 Field Engineer Brigade (Mbabane)

Equipment

Individual weapons

Z88 9×19mm semi-automatic pistol
SP1 9×19mm semi-automatic pistol
SP2 .40 S&W semi-automatic pistol
CR-21 5.56×45mm assault rifle
R4 5.56×45mm assault rifle
R5 5.56×45mm carbine
R6 5.56×45mm carbine
NTW-20 20×110mm anti-materiel rifle
Galil Sniper 7.62×51mm designated marksman rifle
Armsel Striker 12 gauge shotgun
BXP 9×19mm submachine gun
SS-77 7.62×51mm general purpose machine gun
Y3 AGL 40mm grenade launcher
MGL Mk-1 40mm grenade launcher
RPG-7 40mm grenade launcher

Artillery and missiles

G1 88mm towed howitzer
G2 140mm towed howitzer
G4 155mm towed howitzer
G5 155mm towed howitzer
G7 105mm towed howitzer
L118 Light Gun 105mm towed howitzer
L-5 105mm pack howitzer
G6 155mm self-propelled howitzer
Rascal 155mm self-propelled howitzer
Bateleur 127mm 40 tube self-propelled multiple rocket launcher
Valkiri-22 24 tube self-propelled multiple rocket launcher
Valkiri-5 towed multiple rocket launcher
M3 81mm mortar
Vasliyek 82mm automatic mortar
M-43 120mm mortar
Brandt 120mm mortar
ZT-3 Swift anti-tank guided weapon
Milan anti-tank guided weapon
FT-5 92mm rocket launcher
Carl Gustav 84mm recoilless launcher
M-40A1 106mm recoilless launcher
20mm self-propelled air defense gun
23mm self-propelled air defense gun
35mm air defense gun
Ingwe anti-tank guided missile
BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missile
SA-7 Grail (9K32 Strela-2) surface-to-air missile
SA-14 Gremlin (9K34 Strela-3) surface-to-air missile
SA-16 (Igla-1E) surface-to-air missile
Starstreak surface-to-air missile
Rapier surface-to-air missile

Armored vehicles

Main battle tanks

Luiperd 2 main battle tank (South African variant of the Leopard 2E; uses 140mm instead of 120mm gun)
- Luiperd 2 ARV
- Luiperd 2 AVLB

Light tanks

SK-105 A2 Kürassier light tank/tank destroyer
FV107 Scimitar light tank/reconnaissance vehicle
FV101 Scorpion light tank/reconnaissance vehicle

Infantry fighting vehicles

Combat Vehicle 90 infantry fighting vehicle
- CV90120-T (light tank)
- CV9040 Anti-Air Vehicle
- CV90 Command Vehicle
- CV90 Forward Observation Vehicle
- CV90 Armored Recovery Vehicle
- CV9056 (tank destroyer)
Badger infantry fighting vehicle (South African designation for the Patria AMV)
- Command
- Mortar
- Missile
- Section
- Fire Support
Wiesel armored weapons carrier
- Wiesel 1 Aufklärung reconnaissance vehicle
- Wiesel 1 ATM TOW anti-tank guided missile carrier
- Wiesel 1 ATM TOW Resupply cargo carrier
- Wiesel 2 BF/UF air defense unit command post
- Wiesel 2 AFF air defense radar carrier
- Wiesel 2 Ozelot air defense vehicle
Rooikat armored fighting vehicle
- Rooikat 76
- Rooikat 105 tank destroyer
Ratel infantry fighting vehicle
- Ratel 20
- Ratel 60
- Ratel 81 mortar carrier
- Ratel 90
- Ratel 120 mortar carrier
- Ratel Command
- Ratel EAOS (Enhanced Artillery Observation System)
- Ratel Maintenance
- Ratel ZT3 tank destroyer
- Ratel Logistic

Armored personnel carriers

Gila mine-protected armored personnel carrier
Mamba mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- Mk2
- Mk3
RG-31 Nyala mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- RG-31 Sabre cargo vehicle
- RG-31 Mk5 Nyala
- RG-31 Mk5E
RG-32 Scout mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- RG-32M Standard
- RG-32M Full Armour
RG-33 mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- RG-33L
Casspir mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- APC
- Artillery Fire Control
- Ambulance
- Blesbok freighter
- Duiker tanker
- FISTV
- Gemsbok recovery vehicle
- Mechem mine-clearing vehicle
- MEDDS mine-sensor vehicle
- Plofadder mine-clearing vehicle
- Riot control
Buffel mine-protected armored personnel carrier
- Buffel Mk 1
- Log Buffel logistics/cargo vehicle
- Moffel open cargo-bed vehicle
- Buffel Mk IIA/B
- Rhino
Reva mine-protected armored personnel carrier
Bandvagn 206 tracked all-terrain armored vehicle
- Bv 206A: Armored ambulance
- Bv 206F: Fire appliance vehicle
- PvBv 2062: Armed with 90mm recoilless anti-tank gun
- PvBv 2063: Armed with the BGM-71 TOW
- Bv 206S: Armored personnel carrier
BvS 10 tracked all-terrain armored vehicle

Support vehicles

SAMIL logistical transport truck
- SAMIL 20
- SAMIL 50
- SAMIL 100
MAN heavy duty truck
FV180 Combat Engineer Tractor
M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle
M9 Armored Combat Earthmover
M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle
Caterpillar D9 heavy bulldozer
Okapi mine-protected vehicle
- Command and Control
- Fire Control
- Biological Detection
- Electronic Warfare
Chubby mine detection system
- Meerkat mine detection vehicle
- Husky towing mine detection vehicle
- Duisendpoot mine-detonating trailer

Aircraft

Atlas Oryx medium utility helicopter
Denel AH-2A Rooivalk attack helicopter
Denel Bateleur unmanned aerial vehicle

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 |-
 !Engagements
-|World War I<br>World War II<br>Korean War<br>Angolan Civil War
+|World War I<br>World War II<br>Korean War<br>Angolan Civil War<br>Gulf War
 |-
 ! cellpadding="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:center" style="background:#ccccff;" |<center>Commanders</center>