Botswana Ground Force


The Botswana Ground Forces is the army of the country of Botswana, and the land component of the Botswana Defence Force.

Chiefs of the Defence Staff Ground Force (1966–present)

The former heads of the Botswana Ground Force Armed Forces were referred to while in office as either General Officers Commanding or Chiefs of the Defence Staff.

History

The Botswana Defence Force was raised in April 1977 by an Act of Parliament called the 'BDF Act NO 13 of 1977. At its formation, Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe became its first Commander. The former President of the Republic of Botswana, Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, then Brigadier, was the Deputy Commander.
Unusually for an African military force, and chiefly attributable to its being founded after Botswana's independence, the Botswana Ground Force was not formed from colonial units formed by a colonising power, but rather were formed from the remains of the Botswana Mounted Police Unit, previously known as the Bechuanaland Mounted Police, a unit of the British South Africa Police.
The contemporary roles of the Defence Force are broad for a conventional military, suggesting that the government of Botswana and the BDF subscribe to a wide view of ‘security’ and consider the Defence Force an appropriate agency for attaining much of it, an issue that has been discussed even in the BDF's own internal media. It is expected that the BDF in general is meant to be an apolitical instrument of the state.
The current stated mission of the Botswana Ground Force is:

To defend the country and provide for the security of Botswana, participate in external security cooperation activities, and contribute in domestic support operations, with the aim of:
The commander-in-chief of the BDF is Mokgweetsi Masisi, the current President of Botswana. Answering to him is Lieutenant General Placid Segokgo.
The various units of the Botswana Ground Force are as follows:
The BGF and the Botswana Air Force maintain the same rank system, which is loosely based on British or Commonwealth rank systems. The ranks are as follows:
Enlisted:
Officers:
The BDF uses a wide array of modern weapons and vehicles. Its suppliers are Russia and Western nations, including Israel, Switzerland, the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
In 2016 the Ministry of Defence of Botswana ordered 45 Piranha 8×8 armoured vehicles made by General Dynamics Switzerland.
MakeTypeOriginPhotoQuantity.
SK-105 KurassierTank52
SK105 4K7-FA recovery tankTank10
FV101 ScorpionLight Tank60
FV 103 SpartanInfantry fighting vehicle6
MOWAG PiranhaInfantry fighting vehicle50
Cadillac Gage CommandoArmoured personnel carrier50
ATMOS 2000Howitzer16
BM-21 GradMultiple rocket launcher20
BTR-60Armoured personnel carrier1 50
Véhicule Blindé LégerArmoured car64
RAM 2000Armoured car35
ACMAT Armoured car150
RMMV TG MIL range of trucksMilitarised commercial trucks200
Oshkosh M1070tank transporter ?
Soltam M-71Howitzer18
MICA surface-to-air missile?
L118 Light GunArtillery24
120mm MortarArtillery?
L16 81mm mortarArtillery?
BGM-71 TOWAnti-tank missile?
MILAN Anti-tank missile?
Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle recoilless rifle?
RPG-7Rocket-propelled grenade launcher?
Javelin surface-to-air missile5 Launchers
9K38 Iglasurface-to-air missile?
M167 VADSAnti-aircraft Gun10
Type 65Anti-aircraft Gun10

Small arms

River-wing equipment