• Military Menu                       

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

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Sudan Navy

The navy, formed in 1962, was the smallest branch of the country's military establishment. By 2004 the navy, with bases at Port Sudan and Marsa Gwiyai on the Red Sea and at Khartoum, had 1,800 personnel. By that time the navy had 2 inshore patrol craft and about 16 river patrol boats. In 1991 its personnel strength was uncertain but was estimated at 500 officers and men. Headed by a brigadier general from headquarters in Port Sudan, the service was responsible for coastal and riverine defense and for deterring smuggling along the Red Sea coast. A Nile River patrol unit was based at Khartoum.

The navy was formed originally around a nucleus of four armed coastal patrol boats provided by Yugoslavia. Subsequently, river patrol boats, landing craft, and auxiliary vessels were also obtained from Yugoslavia, and a Yugoslav training staff was on hand until 1972. In 1975 the Yugoslav patrol boats were replaced by two seventy-ton patrol craft and four ten-ton patrol craft transferred from Iran and armed with machine guns.

By 1980 the Navy was organized into six squadrons - four with patrol responsibilities, one a landing craft squadron, and one an auxiliary and service squadron. Naval headquarters was located in Port Sudan at the Flamingo Bay Naval Base. Four coastal observation stations were manned by two shore battalions. The Navy had no marine corps or air component. All naval craft had been acquired from Yugoslavia and pre-revolutionary Iran with the exception of one Sudanese-built launch. The country had only one operational patrol boat out of an inventory of 19 assorted craft. The Navy could not patrol its coastline, prevent smuggling, or even guard territorial waters. The most experienced naval officers and men were seconded to the United Arab Emirates Navy in order to keep skills current on modern equipment.

As of 1980 the naval budget had the lowest priority in Sudan's defense allocations, and the Navy had been neglected for a number of years. Some $30 million of the US foreign military sales credit for 1981-82 had been set aside for naval modernization. Most of these funds will be used to build and repair dockside facilities at Flamingo Bay. Sudan also agreed with US Navy survey team recommendations to refurbish their small patrol craft and to purchase additional ones if funding became available. The naval shops and facilities at Flamingo Bay were not functioning, and harbor facilities are grossly inadequate, according to US military officials.

The naval fleet comprised aged, second hand gifts, and purchases from other navies, resulting in a mixture of vessels that was not planned with specific Sudanese defense requirements in mind. The minimal, short duration, coastal patrolling and search and rescue capabilities that exist could be significantly enhanced if more of the patrol vessels were operational. By 1985, coastal patrols were directed, with some success, exclusively against smuggling activities. Combat capabilities were nonexistent. The Navy lacked adequate funding and shipborne-trained personnel, and is dependent upon foreign assistance for future development.

In 1989 four new 19.5-ton riverine fast patrol craft armed with 20mm and 7.62mm machine guns were delivered by Yugoslavia for operations on the White Nile. The purpose of the new craft was to protect river convoys of supplies and troops to the south. The operational status of the two large patrol craft was regarded as uncertain in 1990. The general standard of efficiency of the navy was considered to be inadequate as a consequence of a lack of maintenance and spare parts. Most auxiliary vessels had drifted into a state of total disrepair.

By 1991 the navy was assigned two Casa C-212 aircraft, operated by air force crews, which had a limited capacity to carry out maritime reconnaissance over the Red Sea. The airplanes were unarmed.

Sudan’s navy has taken delivery of a training vessel donated by Russia as part of bilateral military cooperation between the two countries. During the ceremony 10 October 2020, Major General Haj Ahmed Youssef, representative of the Commander of the Navy, stated that the ship will be a valuable addition to the naval force's arsenal, especially in the field of training, according to the agency. The donated vessel appears to be a Project UK-3 (NATO Petrushka) class vessel (UK-307/Orson) built in Gdansk, Poland, in 1989. It has a total displacement of 350 tons and a length of 39.27 m, and accommodates 13 crew members and 28 cadets and instructors. Speed is 12 knots and range 1 000 nautical miles at 10 knots. The vessel is one of the largest in Sudan’s naval fleet, which is believed to comprise several Kurmuk class patrol boats, a single Swiftship type patrol boat, several ex-Yugoslav patrol boats, several Sewart type patrol craft, two ex-Iranian Kadir class coastal patrol craft and two Sobat class amphibious/transport/supply vessels.

Sudan is a good example of the difficulty in tracking small navies with small vessels
* possibly discared in 1990?