On the sub-Saharan African continent, South Africa is traditionally considered the country with the most developed defense industry and military potential, but as growth continues throughout the region, new companies appear in countries such as Nigeria that could press on the pedestal. a recognized leader.
For most outside observers, Sub-Saharan Africa (a group of African countries located south of the Sahara Desert) is hardly a region with a strong defense industry, with one well-known exception - South Africa, which created a thriving and highly efficient sector of the economy in the 70s of the past. century.
However, like many things in Africa, the situation is changing rapidly, after many years of modest growth, new players are emerging, as the examples of Namibia, Nigeria and Sudan definitely show.
This development is usually the result of: a political desire to increase self-sufficiency in defense procurement; growing availability of skilled labor; large defense spending; and the growth of manufacturability and efficiency of the local industrial base.
The largest defense manufacturing facilities and companies in sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of South Africa, are solely controlled by the state, but as the example of Nigeria demonstrates, private business can quickly emerge when conditions permit.
While South Africa undoubtedly remains the real leader in the region in terms of the defense industry, the next few years will see a growing number of dynamic new companies competing for share in the growing regional military equipment market in other parts of the continent.
Nigerian ambitions
Nigeria has become one of the two main economic engines, competing with South Africa for leadership on the continent. The country is constantly faced with internal security problems. These include rebels from the Boko Haram group in the northeast, and oil piracy and kidnapping in the Niger Delta, as well as ongoing violence in a number of other areas, for example, in the Plateau state.
The election of President Muhammadu Bukhari in 2015 led to new investment by the state in the defense industry to provide the military with the necessary means to combat these security threats. Bukhari also pledged to accelerate the development and production capacity of the Nigerian defense industry in an effort to reduce the country's dependence on foreign suppliers and create new professional opportunities for the local workforce.
The history of Nigeria's defense industry began in 1964 with the creation of the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON). With the technical support of the West German company Fritz Werner, DICON built an arms factory in Kaduna for the licensed production of Beretta BM-59 rifles and M12S assault rifles, as well as millions of 7, 62x51 mm and 9x19 mm rounds.
The three-year civil war, which went on in 1967-1970, was the impetus for an increase in the production of weapons and ammunition for the federal army. In subsequent years, DICON continued to produce weapons, but in the 90s, due to budgetary difficulties, there was a drop in production volumes.
DICON is currently focusing on the production of small arms and ammunition. The FN FAL model is still being produced, in the country it is known as NR1, OBJ-006 assault rifle (AK-47 clone), Beretta M12 SMG submachine gun, Browning GP35 pistol under the local designation NP1, FN MAG light machine gun, RPG-7, 81 mm mortars and hand grenades, as well as 7, 62 mm NATO and 9 mm Parabellum cartridges.
A plant for the production of 7.62x39 mm cartridges is to open soon, the machine equipment for it was supplied by the Chinese company Poly Technologies. DICON Corporation is also ready to start manufacturing the Beryl M762 assault rifle in the near future, after it signed an agreement in March 2018 with the Polish company PGZ.
In 1979, Nigeria signed an agreement with the Austrian Steyr Daimler Puch for the construction of a plant for the production of Pinzgauer light vehicles, as well as Steyr 4K 7FA armored personnel carriers. The exact production volumes of this Special Vehicles Plant remain unknown.
The plant is currently used by the Nigerian army as a service center for armored vehicles. The Army Corps of Engineers also used this venture for the development and production of the Igiri APC, which was introduced in 2012; but its characteristics were unsatisfactory and production was discontinued.
The Corps of Engineers is currently producing a tubular frame buggy-type lightweight reconnaissance platform IPV, which began arriving in 2017.
The crew of the IPV machine is three people, a driver and two gunners, one sits to the left of the driver behind a light machine gun, and the second is located in the back and operates a heavy machine gun on a turret. The Army has ordered an additional 25 IPV vehicles this year.
Thriving business
Private companies are quickly finding their niche in the booming Nigerian defense industry. Among them, perhaps the most dynamic is the Proforce company, which develops and manufactures armored vehicles and personal protective equipment for the police and the military. Its main production facilities are located in the states of Ogun and Rivers.
Founded in 2008, Proforce originally specialized in the production of cash collection vehicles and the booking of civilian vehicles for commercial customers. After starting work on booking Toyota pickup trucks for law enforcement, the company ultimately decided to develop an armored personnel carrier in response to the needs of the police, taking the chassis of a Toyota Land Cruiser as a base.
The project, designated PF2, was completed in 2012 and has been refined several times since then. As a Proforce spokesman noted, the choice of the Land Cruiser chassis was motivated by its low cost and wide availability of spare parts throughout Nigeria.
“After several tests and modifications, the PF2 went to other states where it took part in security tasks. Its unique design is perfect for Nigerian roads, in contrast to the larger armored Land Cruisers imported from overseas, which cannot navigate the narrow roads in some parts of the country.”
The PF2 weighing 4.2 tons is based on the Toyota Land Cruiser 79 chassis, the armored body offers 7, 62x51 mm all-round protection against bullets, corresponding to the B7 level. The car can accommodate up to seven people in addition to the driver, it can be equipped with a protected combat module for a light machine gun.
The PF2 was also Proforce's first international success when six cars were sold to Rwanda in 2015. They were purchased by police forces in the Central African Republic for the UN peacekeeping mission.
According to Proforce, the Rwandans were very pleased with the vehicles, signing an agreement with the company to support the PF2 and upgrade ten armored Land Cruisers from another supplier.
The ties between Proforce and Rwanda are growing stronger and it is planned to establish a branch there. Although the PF2 car has not yet been purchased by the Nigerian military, the manufacturer is offering it to other African countries as well as the police. The company hopes very much for the export opportunities of its products, opening in this regard representative offices in Ghana and the United Arab Emirates.
A force to be reckoned with
In late 2016, work began in close collaboration with the Nigerian army on a more ambitious project to develop an MRAP (with enhanced mine and improvised explosive device protection) type, known as the ARA or Thunder. The idea was to offer the military a cost-effective solution in order to save valuable foreign exchange by eliminating the import of more expensive platforms.
Proforce has created the first prototype based on the Tatra 2.30 TRK 4x4 truck. Upon completion of development, the MRAP prototype underwent extensive testing in the Nigerian army, including a rebel-ridden operational area in the northeast of the country.
Following these field trials, the Army requested some improvements and improvements to the ARA prototype. The most notable of these are: increased ground clearance, replacement of individual windshields with a one-piece armored windshield to improve visibility, and the installation of a new communication system from an unnamed supplier. After improvements, an order was received for 8 of these machines, and all of them have been delivered at the moment.
The ARA armored vehicle has a gross weight of 19 tons, it is equipped with a 370 hp Cummins diesel engine coupled with an Allison transmission; it accommodates up to 12 people, including the driver and the gunner. The vehicle is armored in accordance with the STANAG Level 4 standard and can be equipped with lattice screens to protect against RPGs.
Although Proforce is offering the current version of the ARA to other countries, an improved version with a single-volume body is currently being manufactured, as the Nigerian army wished to have such a configuration. The company expects additional orders for this new variant.
In addition to the ARA and PF2 armored vehicles, Proforce also sold modified Hilux pickups to the Nigerian military, which it converted into light armored personnel carriers, installing a protected compartment on the rear platform, which has B6 + protection and several loopholes for shooting. Several vehicles have been supplied to the army and the air force, which use them in internal security tasks.
Proforce is also poised to begin manufacturing body armor and bulletproof helmets at its new factory. In addition, the company is looking for foreign partners, as evidenced by the delegation of the French company Nexter, which visited the plant in 2017 to discuss possible industrial cooperation with DICON.
Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing, a major Nigerian automaker, has also shown interest in armored platforms after several of its Chinese-licensed vehicles performed well in the Nigerian army. For this perspective, the company would like to establish closer ties with the DICON Corporation.
Innovation and exaggeration
Faced with EU and UN arms embargoes, Sudan turned to China, Iran and Russia as major arms suppliers. The country is also developing its own manufacturing capacity with the aim of increasing the level of self-sufficiency in the defense sector. Khartoum's first attempt to establish the production of military equipment dates back to 1959, when the first ammunition workshop was founded. In 1993, the Military Industry Corporation (MIC) was formed to consolidate and expand the local defense industry.
Accurately understanding MIC capabilities is challenging due to the paucity of available sources. Some of the country's notable manufacturing sites include the Al Shaggara Industrial Complex, which produces small arms ammunition; The Yarmouk Industrial Complex, which reportedly produces large caliber ammunition, missiles, artillery systems and machine guns; Elshaheed Ibrahim Shams el Deen Complex for Heavy Industries, engaged in the production, maintenance and modernization of armored vehicles; and Safat Aviation Complex.
Although MIC has significant industrial capacity, its core business is likely to be based on licensed manufacturing and services. However, the corporation does have some R&D capabilities, as evidenced by the company's products at its last two IDEX exhibitions in Abu Dhabi.
First of all, this is the Khalifa-1 self-propelled howitzer, which is a 122-mm D-30 gun with a local Kagagu digital fire control system, mounted on the chassis of a Kamaz 43118 6x6 truck, equipped with a four-door protected cab. According to MIC, the Khalifa-1 howitzer has a maximum range of 17 km. The total mass of the system is 20, 5 tons with the calculation of five people and 45 122-mm rounds of ammunition. In addition, it takes only 90 seconds to take a position and fire the first shot.
The Khalifa-2 howitzer shown at IDEX 2017 is identical to the Khalifa-1 except for the Ural 4320 6x6 chassis.
MIC Corporation offers for export one more platform of its own design - the Sarsar family of armored personnel carriers. All three cars in this family are built on the chassis of light trucks (SUVs), the Sarsar-2 model is based on the KIA KM 450, and the Sarsar on the Toyota Land Cruiser. Each platform accommodates a driver, a shooter and six passengers.
The protected weapon module can be armed with a machine gun. The total weight of all three options is in the range of 5-5.5 tons. A number of other projects proposed by MIC appear to be either locally assembled products or a rebranding of platforms of Iranian origin. For example, the Khatim tracked armored vehicle is essentially a copy of the Iranian Boraq vehicle, which in turn is a modification of the Russian BMP-1.
The MIC corporation also either collects Chinese cars, or for marketing purposes, without any modifications, issues them as their own. This is what happens with the Shareef-2 armored vehicle, which is actually a Type 05P BMP. In addition, while Sudan claims it can produce tanks, it most likely simply has the capacity to modernize and overhaul this type of vehicle.
But it seems that these statements are somewhat unfounded, since, although the MIC claims the Al-Bashir tank as its own product, the latter is in fact a Chinese Type 85-IIM tank. In addition, Khartoum's decision in 2016 to purchase T-72 tanks from Russia also confirms that there is no production of tanks in Sudan and, at best, everything is limited to assembling vehicle kits.
The production of small arms and ammunition is the main activity of MIC, along with the maintenance and modernization of military equipment and artillery, for which a large number of foreign specialists have been invited. The following weapons are produced at local enterprises: automatic rifles of the AK family; pistols; Terab assault rifles, which are a local copy of the Chinese CQ, which is also a copy of the American M16; and Tihraga SMG, which is a clone of H&K MP5, most likely produced on Iranian equipment.
In addition, the production of the 12.7 mm Khawad heavy machine gun, which is a licensed version of the Chinese Tour 89, and the Abba, a local version of the 35 mm Chinese QLZ-87 grenade launcher, are underway. Mortars in calibers 60, 82 and 120 mm are also produced, along with copies of the RPG-7 and 73 mm Soba recoilless guns, very similar to the SPG-9 model. A wide range of small arms ammunition is being produced, including 7, 62x39mm rounds, mortar rounds, 107mm rockets and even aerial bombs.
Confirmed overseas purchasers of MIC products include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Mozambique and Somalia. Sudan has reportedly supplied MIC-made weapons to non-State actors in Côte d'Ivoire and South Sudan.
Get into a fight
The defense industry of Namibia, although it cannot boast of production volumes, has more than a dozen, even from the times when there was a civil confrontation with SWAPO - the Organization of the Peoples of South West Africa. In the 80s, the country produced machines of the MRAP Wolf and Wolf Turbo categories, very similar to the South African Casspir machine.
Wolf Turbo machines were used by the Namibian army in the fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 90s, with several vehicles supplied to this country. The design was subsequently modified to become the Wer'Wolf Mk 1 variant, which was produced by the Namibian company Windhoeker Maschinenfabriks (WMF).
The new vehicle was accepted for supply by the Namibian army and, ultimately, was deployed to the DRC. By the end of the 90s, an improved version of the Wer'Wolf Mk 2 appeared, which was subsequently also acquired by the Namibian army. Several export contracts have been concluded, mainly with Angola, but the exact number of platforms purchased is unknown.
In addition to the standard version of the armored personnel carrier, a fire support option was developed. The vehicle was armed with a 73mm 2A28 cannon in a turret similar to that of the Russian BMP-1. WMF's newest platform is designated Mk 3. This lighter MRAP vehicle based on the Iveco 4x4 truck chassis was presented at Africa Aerospace & Defense (AAD) in 2014.
The vehicle presented at this exhibition was a personnel transporter. It can accommodate 8 people, the level of all-round protection corresponds to the STANAG 4569 Level 1, which can be raised to Level 2. The total weight of the machine is 14 tons. Subsequently, the platform, most likely, was being finalized and it is possible that the base chassis was changed. However, there is no information about the current state of the project and about the orders of the platform by the Namibian army or foreign military.
Faced with an arms embargo in the 60s and 70s, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) had to quickly and from scratch create a defense industry in order to compensate for the shortage of imported weapons. In addition, due to the peculiarities of the internal conflict, in which land mines were used in large quantities, the development and production of completely new equipment was required.
Actually, in this regard, Rhodesia became the birthplace of vehicles of the MRAP category, when V-shaped hulls and armored cabins were installed on commercial chassis.
After independence, in order to continue the production of military equipment and weapons in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Defense Industries (ZDI) was founded. The company mainly focused on the production of small arms, as well as mortar and artillery shells. The production of armored platforms also continues, mainly a mine-protected vehicle from the Rhodesian Mine Protected Combat Vehicle (MPCV), which is a combination of an armored capsule and a Mercedes Unimog chassis.
A number of MPCVs are in service in the Zimbabwean army to this day, for example, they took part in the overthrow of Robert Mugabe in 2017. Although the ZDI company flourished in the 80s and 90s of the last century, exporting a significant amount of ammunition. the economic depression and international sanctions ultimately took a toll on the company and its capabilities.
In 2015, the then director of the company confirmed that all production had been stopped. However, in 2018, he said that measures were being taken to revive the ZDI company.
New companies
In Uganda, Luwero Industries, part of the government-owned National Enterprise Corporation, manufactures small arms ammunition. The Ugandan police also have their own workshops that manufacture Nyoka MRAP armored vehicles in collaboration with local firm Impala Services and Logistics. The Nyoka armored vehicle, first shown in 2014, is actually a modified and modernized Mamba armored personnel carrier, which the Ugandan army bought several dozen pieces in the 90s.
Kenya's Kenya Ordnance Factory Corporation (KOFC) remained the only defense company in the country after a failed attempt by the British firm Osprea Logistics to organize the production of Mamba Mk 5 armored personnel carriers in the city of Mombasa in 2012. The state-owned company KOFC produces only ammunition for small arms (7.62 mm NATO. 5, 56 mm and 9 mm Parabellum).
With the support of the Metal and Engineering Corporation (METEC), Ethiopia has built a large industrial complex. Ethiopian industry is renowned for its ability to service and support military equipment.
Bishoftu Automotive Industry, one of the companies in METES, owns repair and overhaul workshops that service the Ethiopian army's armored vehicles, including T-72 tanks, WZ-551 armored personnel carriers and BRDM-2. The company also assembled 75 Thunder Mk 1 armored personnel carriers, delivered in the form of vehicle kits by the Israeli company GAIA Automotive Industries in 2011-2013.
Homicho Ammunition Engineering Industry, another METES company, manufactures small arms ammunition, mortar and artillery shells, rockets and aerial bombs. Gafat Armament Engineering Industry produces under license the AK-47 and AK-103 assault rifles, known locally as Gafat-1 and ET-97/1.
In addition, Gafat Armament Engineering Industry produces: the ET-97/2 model, which the company describes as a 40mm grenade launcher; 35-mm automatic grenade launcher ET-04/01, which may be a licensed version of the Chinese QLZ-04 grenade launcher; 82-mm mortar ET-05/01 and 12, 7-mm machine gun ET-05/02. In addition to meeting the needs of the Ethiopian military and police, METES exports some of its products, mainly small arms ammunition, to other African countries, including South Sudan and Sudan.
While the sub-Saharan defense industry still has a long way to go to compete on an equal footing with European and American companies, examples from the Nigerian company Proforce show that private initiative combined with effective government can be a successful business.
The victories of the Namibian company WMF in overseas markets with its Wer'Wolf family are another example of how African defense companies, not as influential as the large South African firms, can still be successful internationally. As African governments increasingly strive for self-sufficiency in defense procurement, new and energetic local players should be expected to emerge.
