The Ghana Armed Forces on May 8 received 14 Puma M36 Mk3 Armored Personnel Carriers from the United States government amid rising security threats from the Sahel.
The mine-resistant, ambush-protected carriers, or APCs, were delivered to the Burma Camp in Accra and are worth more than $6 million. Edward Omane Boamah, Ghana’s minister for defense, was grateful for the donation, which he called “generous and strategic.”
“This occasion is not just a symbol of the enduring partnership between our two countries,” Boamah said in a report by Ghanaian news website MyJoyOnline. “It is a tangible expression of our shared commitment to peace, stability and security within Ghana and across the West African sub-region.”
The GAF vehicles are designed to improve troop protection, mobility and effectiveness in counterterrorism and other security operations. The four-wheel-drive vehicles can carry up to 12 people and are ideal in high-threat environments, Military Africa reported. They have V-shaped hulls that protect against mines and improvised explosive devices. Durable and adaptable, they can navigate challenging terrains while maintaining a high level of operational effectiveness.
Virginia Palmer, U.S. ambassador to Ghana, said the vehicles are part of a larger effort.
“These APCs support the GAF’s mission of ensuring peace and border integrity, which makes both Ghana and the United States safer,” Palmer said in the MyJoyOnline report. “They are part of a broader commitment that includes continued training and joint operations.”
Before the vehicles were delivered, 40 personnel from the Ghana Army’s 15 Armored Brigade and Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps participated in a four-week operation and maintenance course led by the U.S. Army. Fundamental training included vehicle identification, familiarization with interior and exterior components, operational instructions, safety procedures, and the handling of turrets and gun ports. Participants also engaged in field driving exercises over sand, mud and rocky inclines.
Unlike its West African neighbors, Ghana has been spared from major terror attacks, but violent extremists fighting in Burkina Faso have begun using the border area as a logistical and medical base to sustain their insurgency, sources told Reuters. As these terror groups continue their westward spread, people in the area face risks of infiltration and radicalization.
To help address these threats, the U.S. government in late February handed over a skills house to the Ghana Army’s Special Operations Training School in Daboya. The facility will help troops refine skills in house-clearing tactics, cross-border operations and urban warfare. It also is expected to enhance intelligence sharing and joint military exercises among Ghana and its neighbors.
The Ghana Navy in September received two Defender patrol boats from the U.S. to improve its capacity to combat illegal fishing, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, piracy, armed robbery at sea and other maritime crimes. The U.S. government also provided a storage facility. The donation was worth more than $1.5 million.