Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces
Index
1. Order of battle
2. Overview
3. Defence economics
4. State of military forces
5. Country threat report
6. External deployments
1. Order of Battle
| Total force strength | Army: 8 500 (target) Navy: 140 Air Force: 100 Paramilitary: 5 000 |
| Army | |
| Armoured cars | 4: Saladin |
| AIFVs and APCs | A few BMP-2s, a dozen BRT-80s and 10 Piranhas |
| Mortar | 27: 81 mm 2: 82 mm 2: 120 mm |
| Artillery | 10: 25 pounder (88 mm) 6: Type-83 122 mm |
| Rocket launcher | Carl Gustav RPG-2 RPG-7 |
| Air defence gun | 4: 12.7 mm 3: 14.5 mm |
| Air defence missile | SA-7 |
| Air Force | |
| Combat helicopter | 1: Mi-24 Hind |
| Transport helicopter | 2: Mi-17 Hip 1: BO 105C 2: AS 355 Ecureuil |
| Navy | |
| Patrol/Strike boat (Gun/Missile/OPV/IPV) | 1: Shanghai 3 class 1: Switfship class patrol boat Several inshore patrol craft and harbor cutters 1: LCU |
2. Overview
Head of State and Government: President Ernets Bai Koroma
Defence Minister: Alfred Paulo Conteh
Chief of Defence Staff: Brigadier General Samuel Omar Williams
Member of: UN, Commonwealth, AfDB, AU, IAEA, Seabeds Committee etc.
3. Defence economics
Defence budget percentage per GDP (2000-2010)
Defence budget per US$ Mil (2000-2011)
Defence budget percentage growth (2000-2011)
4. State of military forces
After the Sierra Leone civil war ended in 2002, the military was restructured and scaled down, to a targeted 8 500. The British military, through the International Military Assistance Training Team, has been instrumental in restructuring the Sierra Leone Armed Forces.
The army is the largest and best equipped branch of service, but suffers from a limited budget, which impacts on capacity and has led to poor pay and conditions for soldiers. Housing is a notable concern, as are veterans benefits. The military has little in the way of serviceable equipment, with the Air Force being especially hard hit. The Navy, with foreign help, has played an important role in safeguarding the country’s waters against illegal fishing, piracy, smuggling and crime at sea.
As Sierra Leone has built up its military, it has looked to taking part in peacekeeping operations and has been deployed to a number of countries, including Somalia and Sudan. Foreign countries, such as the UK and US, have assisted in training the military for these deployments.
5. Country threat report
| Threat type | Overview |
| External | • Sierra Leone is currently facing no external military threat. |
| Internal | • Sierra Leone is currently considered to be internally stable. |
| Regional | • Security in Guinea, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire may affect Sierra Leone’s foreign security policy. |
| Political | • Sierra Leone is considered to be politically stable. |
| Economic | • Sierra Leone’s economy is currently considered to be overly dependent on mineral exploitation with Sierra Leone’s |
6. External deployments
| Operation | Country | Personnel/assets |
| Peacekeeping | Sudan/Darfur | Police: 95 Experts on Mission: 10 Troops: 11 |
| Peacekeeping | Somalia | 850 (Amisom) |
Contact
Ministry of Defence
Tower hill
Freetown
Sierra Leone
Tel ++232 2226911
Military Forces HQ
Murray Town Barracks
Freetown
Sierra Leone
Tel ++232 223086/30642
