Military of Cape Verde

People's Revolutionary Armed Forces
Current form
Service branches	Army, Coast Guard (includes maritime air wing)[1]
Manpower
Active personnel	1,200
Expenditures
Percent of GDP	0.7% (2005)

Currently, the People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARP) of Cape Verde are undergoing major reorganisation.^{[citation needed]} The force has two independent branches, the Army and the Coast Guard. Both branches have their own air arm made up of mostly surveillance and transport aircraft. The combined force comprises about 1,200 soldiers, marines and coast guard personnel.

In the future, however, the military will be reduced to about 1,000 men. The Branches are to be reshuffled as well. The Army is going to be called the Cape Verdean National Guard, and it will be divided into three semi-autonomous branches: 1. The Military Police, 2. Os Fuzileiros (Marines), and 3. the Infantry Battalion of the National Guard. A Special Operation Unit is being created and is going to be attached to the marine brigade. The Cape Verdean government aims to make the Armed Forces more flexible and able to deal with terrorism, drug trafficking, disaster relief, and control its territorial waters.

The former Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Solomon Passy proposed, Cape Verde may enter the OSCE and the NATO.^[1]

Military equipment includes BRDM-2 and T-55 armoured vehicles, ZU-23-2 and ZPU-4 anti-aircraft guns, and AKM and RPK small arms.

Equipment

• AKM  Soviet Union
  
• RPD  Soviet Union
  
• RPG-7  Soviet Union

MBT

• Some T-54\5 100mm MBTs  Soviet Union^{[citation needed]}- servicability unknown

APC

• 10 BRDM-2 ^[2]  Soviet Union

Artillery

• 6 120-PM-43 mortar ^[2]  Soviet Union
• 18 ZPU-1 ^[2]  Soviet Union
• 12 ZU-23-2 ^[2]  Soviet Union

Military Police in Mindelo

Air Contingent

The Army also has its own air arm; after personnel training received from the USSR in 1982, three Antonov An-26 aircraft were delivered to Cape Verde - these were believed to be the only military aircraft possessed by the nation.^[3] However these three aircraft were supplemented in 1991 by a Dornier Do 228 light aircraft equipped for use by the Coastguard, and, in the late 1990s by an EMB-110 aircraft from Brazil, similarly equipped for maritime operations. The government has been in negotiations with China to acquire multirole helicopters for both military and civilian use.

Manufacturer	Model	Origin	Type	Service entry	Number	Notes
Antonov	Antonov An-26	Soviet Union	Tactical Transport	1982	3
EADS CASA	Casa C-212 MPA[4]	Spain	Maritime Patrol Aircraft	2008	1
Dornier Flugzeugwerke	Dornier Do 228	Germany	Maritime usage	1991	1	2 delivered
Embraer	EMB-110	Brazil	Airliner	late 1990s	1
LET	LET L-410 Turbolet UVP	Czech Republic	transport aircraft		1
Harbin	Harbin Z-9	China	Utility	2011	2

Coast Guard

Cape Verdian coast guard ship Tainha (P 262)

• 1 Kondor I patrol craft - 360 tons full load - commissioned 1970
• 1 Peterson MK 4 patrol craft - 22 tons - commissioned 1993
• 1 other patrol craft - 55 tons

References

1. ^ sprungbrett-nach-westafrika
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Military Balance 2010, page 299
3. ^ * World Aircraft Information Files. Brightstar Publishing, London. File 337 Sheet 02
4. ^ "infodefensa.com (in Spanish)". http://infodefensa.com/esp/noticias/noticias.asp?cod=335&n=Defensa-cede-aviones-C-212/200-SAR-a-Cabo-Verde,-Senegal-y-Mauritania-e-intensifica-relaciones-militares-para-la-vigilancia-de-espacios-mar%EDtimos. 

External links

• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cv.html
• http://www.nationmaster.com/country/cv-cape-verde/mil-military
• http://praia.usembassy.gov/about-us/security-assistance-office.html
• http://www.paigc.org/
• http://www.snpc.cv/
• Cape Verde Military Police