• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Djiboutian Armed Forces - Equipment

With tensions still running high on the Djibouti-Eritrea border, the government of Djibouti marked Djiboutian National Day on 27 June 2008 with modest celebrations. Approximately 700 military and 300 Gendarmes, police, and firefighters marched in the parade. The parading troops displayed U.S. equipment (including approximately 15 Humvees, some with U.S. 50 Caliber M2 machine guns, and several FMTV class trucks), and French equipment (including several Vehicule de l'Avant Blinde (VAB) or similar wheeled armored personnel carriers, and several Vehicule Blinde Leger (VBL) or similar light armored vehicles, unidentified truck-mounted rocket launchers, and assorted trucks.)

Djibouti’s armed forces on 27 June 2015 displayed a Norinco WMA301 tank destroyer for the first time, adding to its growing inventory of military hardware. The single WMA301 was displayed during Djibouti’s 38th anniversary of independence parade. Only one WMA301 Assaulter was displayed during the parade, making it unclear exactly how many have been delivered to the East African country.

The Forces Armee Djiboutien also paraded M109 howitzers and Cougar mine-resistant, ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles. Both types are relatively new to Djibouti’s inventory, being displayed for the first time at the country’s 2014 anniversary celebrations. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Djibouti received ten second hand 155 mm M109A1 self-propelled howitzers from Italy in 2013 and 12 Force Protection Cougars from the United States in 2013.

Other recent acquisitions by Djibouti, according to SIPRI, include ten RG-33 armoured personnel carriers acquired second hand in 2014, two second hand Shorts-360 transport aircraft acquired from the United States in 2014 and seven Iveco Puma armored vehicles (armed with Chinese W85 12.7 mm machineguns) delivered second hand from Italy.