Nigerian Army Weapons And Equipment – What To Know

Interesting details to know about the Nigerian Army Weapons And Equipment – When talking about the Nigerian army there are lots of things you should know about, being among the armed forces for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a thing of pride and respect. Many have been trying to be in that position but not everyone can seem to get to it. Being an army officer requires you to deal with weapons and some other things to make sure that your task is being successful.

This article will be talking about the Nigerian army weapons and their equipment, I know you will want to find out the equipment and weapons used in the Nigerian army and other things which you need to know, well this article will answer all your questions.

Nigerian Army Weapons And Equipment – What To Know

There are lots of weapons and equipment being used in the Nigerian army, some of the weapons being used are outdated as we know that we are in the era of new-age technology using sophisticated equipment like drone and others. We believe that as time goes on they will have to improve on the use of their weapons and equipment. Well below are a list of weapons and equipment which are being used in the Nigerian army.

In the Nigerian army, they have the light armored vehicle and the heavily armored vehicles which are;

Light Armored Vehicles 

  • 4KH7FA SB 20 Greif
  • FV101 Scorpion
  • 4K7FA
  • MT-LB

Tank And Heavy Armored Vehicles 

  • Vickers Bridge Launcher
  • Vickers MK 3
  • Vickers ARV
  • T-55

Light And Heavy Weapons 

  • MORTAR

    • 120mm
    • M-29 60mm
    • M-43 81mm
    • L-16 81mm
    • MACHINE GUN
    • AUG/HBAR 5.56mm
    • Browning M2 HB 50 12.7mm
    • HK21 7.62mm
    • Dshk 12.7mm
    • RP-46 7.62mm
    • FN MAG 7.62mm
    • RPK 7.62mm
  • Air Defense Gun 

    • ZU-23-2-23 mm
    • L60 40mm
  • Submachine Gun 

    • Uzi 9mm
    • Sterling
    • H&KMP5 9mm
    • Beretta M12 9mm
    • VZ/23 9mm
    • Franchi LF- 57 9mm
  • Anti-Tank Missile/Rocket 

    • RPG-7
    • LRAC 89 89mm
  • Pistols 

    • FN 35 9mm
    • Beretta M 1951
    • Walther P5
  • Recoilless Gun 

    • M-40A1 106 mm
    • Carl Gustav 84 mm
  • Assault Riffle 

    • VZ/52 7.62mm
    • M16
    • Beretta BM59 7.62mm
    • FN Fal Herstal 7.62mm
    • AR70/223 5.56mm
    • Heckler & Koch G3 7.62mm
    • Steyr SSG69 7.62mm
    • FN FNC 5.56mm
    • Sig SG540 5.56

Vehicles And Missile System

  • MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System)

    • RL M20
    • APR-21 122 mm MRLS
    • SAM (PORTABLE)
    • SA-7a/b
  • Surface To Air Missile 

    • Roland 2
    • Blowpipe

Wheeled Vehicles And Armored

    • Casspir III
    • FV601 Saladin Mk2
    • Cobra Otokar
    • AML-90
    • AML-60
    • M3 Panhard
    • RG-31
    • Saxon
    • Mamba
    • Saige 1 Panhard
    • Fox
    • EE-9 Cascavel
    • EE-11
    • Hornet
    • FV603 Saracen
    • Piranha 6×6 MOWAG
    • Steyr 19S25 4×4 recovery vehicle
    • Steyr 32S29 6×6 recovery vehicle
    • VBL
    • BTR-3UN, UK, UR, E/14.5
    • SDP 700 4 x 4
    • Steyr M14 4 x 4
    • Land Rover 4 x 4
    • MB Unimog 4 x 4
    • Pinzgauer 4 x 4

Artillery

  • Anti-aircraft self-propelled gun

    • ZSU-23-4
  • Self-propelled howitzer

    • Palmaria 155 mm
  • Towed artillery

    • Light Gun 105mm
    • M46 130 mm towed gun
    • FH77 155 mm towed
    • D-30 122 mm towed gun
    • D-74 122mm

Helicopter 

    • SA330H Puma
    • A-109K (A-109LUH)
    • AS 532 Super Puma
    • mi-24V Hind-E
    • BO 105C
    • Mi-24P Hind-F
    • Hughes 300 C trainer

Nigerian Army Weapons And Equipment

The above equipment and weapons are what is being used by the Nigerian army, I know you might be wondering what countries supplies them with weapons. Countries like Belgium, Italy, and others, there are also other locally hand made weapons and equipment which are used for war and protecting their country. Good relations have been made with other countries, that is why in times of war, they get all the support which is needed from others, in as well they give out theirs too.

Like we said before, most of the weapons you might see listed above might be outdated but we believe as time goes on there will be an improvement in that sector which will make them use the latest equipment that is available. They maintain over a 100 weapon system from 14 different manufacturers.

The Nigerian Army

The Nigerian army was founded in the year 1900 and they were called the Royal West Africa Frontier Force, the army was formed in the second world war, the British trained Nigerian troops, the 81st and the 82nd West divisions fought in the East African Campaign and in the Far East. From a force of 18,000 in Nigeria in the infantry battalion rose to 126,000 in three divisions in the year 1970 by the end of the year Nigeria Civil war.

Key men which helped the Nigerian army to grow up to the point where they are today, men like Olusegun Obasanjo and others played an important role in the formation of the Nigerian army. At the end of the Civil war, the three divisions of the Nigerian army were replaced or reorganized into four divisions and each has a controlling territory that was running from North to South.

Each of the division which was created had access to the sea which makes it easier for triservice cooperation and logistics support. During the Civil war, Obasanjo led the army and they fought well, but weapons and other types of equipment were difficult for them to obtain and arms embargoes were imposed on several West African countries which made the situation more difficult.

The Nigerian army is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC), the army is organized into combat arms which are infantry and armored, and the combat support arms which are artillery, engineering, and signals, they also have the combat support services which comprises of different things like the medicals, ordinance, supply and transport and finance, there are some others which include the military police intelligence, support, public relations, and band and a host of others.

They have newly created the 6th division in Port Harcourt and this has been designed to establish and organize to improve its security operations in the Niger Delta, this is done to curtail illegal activities, militants, bunkering, pipeline vandalism, kidnapping, Niger Delta Avengers, and a whole lots of others.  You should know that Nigeria also has some military forces abroad which have been sent to learn some new skills and also create relations with other countries in helping them fight wars, this was done under General Muhammadu Buhari and it was a success under his administration as the Head of State.

Before we move to the weapons and equipment which are being used in the Nigerian army, we would love to show you some things. The Nigerian army has been rated as one of the best military forces in Africa, they have shown proven skills and ready to adapt to any situation, training and every other treatment undergo in the army are rigorous, as it has been said that it is not everyone that was able to pass through it. Most of the training done there is to make the soldiers stronger and be able to defend their country in any situation, at their barracks they are also being taught other several things, there are military doctors, military clinics, churches, and so on.

Women in the military are not been treated as women as they are also given the same treatment as men also, they undergo several training as they do to make them fit and stronger, though few women hardly go to the military with the few we know about they are doing on. Now let’s talk about the weapons and equipment which are being used in the Nigerian army.

In Conclusion, we have given you information about the Nigerian army and their weapon system, we have given you a list of Nigeria Army weapons and which is gotten from different manufacturers, I hope this article has been helpful to you and it has answered all your pending questions. This article has given important names about the Nigerian army, dates it was founded, and the several divisions which they have.

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