ADF

The country sees air power as a crucial force as it charts a path to middle-income status ADF STAFF The year 2016 may be a turning point for the Zambia Air Force. The Air Force will finish taking delivery of six SF-260TW training aircraft, made by the Italian company Alenia-Aermacchi. The Air Force has ordered six Chinese-made L-15 Falcon fighter jets, at a cost of about $100 million. It also is taking delivery of an Italian-made C-27J transport plane and an undisclosed number of Russian Mi-17 helicopters. At the end of 2015, Zambian President Edgar Lungu vowed to help modernize the…

Supplying Complex Peacekeeping Missions Is Complicated by Remoteness and Infrastructure Deficits Any international peacekeeping mission will present a long list of logistical challenges. Mission settings are inevitably established in areas reeling from recent conflict, often rooted in age-old ethnic or political struggles. Responding United Nations and African Union forces always are composed of international contingents. Sometimes dozens of countries from all over the world converge in a region, each bringing hundreds of Soldiers, police officers, supplies, weapons and vehicles. Once in theater, forces must travel long distances, set up enormous camps and build field hospitals. Reliable supply chains require speed, efficiency…

The African Union Has a Logistics Plan to Quickly Put Troops Where They’re Needed Most The African Union was created in 2001 with great hope, but also a heavy burden of responsibility. Member states were still reeling from the failure to rapidly intervene in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and they hoped that an African Standby Force (ASF) could offer a solution. The AU developed the idea for the ASF in 2003 and founded it on two principles: Never again would African countries allow mass atrocities to occur on the continent without swiftly interceding. Interventions would be led by African…

Contractors can be a real asset to today’s armed forces. But military oversight must continue after the contract is signed. ADF STAFF Photos by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The core responsibilities of militaries all over the world include protecting civilians, rescue work during natural disasters and securing borders. But these same militaries must expend time and energy on the mundane tasks any large organization must deal with, such as payrolls, vehicle maintenance and laundry services. That’s where contractors can help. They can take on the non-core functions of a military, leaving Soldiers to focus on training and peacekeeping. Jobs such as…

Technology Saves Money and Protects Soldiers and Equipment Consider the typical tank used in combat. Tanks are a key component of modern ground warfare, but their use comes at a price. They are expensive to buy and expensive to operate. They guzzle fuel. Their tracks wear out. Tanks can be unreliable and difficult to repair. And tank training is destructive. “If you use a tank for a week in the field, I think you know what the result is,” said a military training specialist from Saab, the Swedish aerospace and defense company. “A tank levels everything in its path.” That’s…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Malawi’s Zomba Prison Project band has the distinction of being nominated for a prestigious Grammy Award. Its 20-track record I Have No Everything Here was nominated in the Best World Music Album category for 2016. Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo won the award, her third Grammy, and the second consecutive one in the World Music category. Musical talent at the Zomba maximum-security prison was discovered in 2013 when U.S. producer Ian Brennan spent two weeks working with 60 inmates and guards to make the album. Six hours of recordings were edited down into the final selection of songs, featuring…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Nigerians are congratulating countryman Wellington Jighere, who became the first African to win the English-language World Scrabble Championship. The 32-year-old beat Englishman Lewis MacKay 4-0 in the final in Australia in November 2015. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was among those to congratulate him, saying he has “done the country proud.” Jighere said on his Facebook page that he felt he was playing with the “whole continent” behind him. He added that it baffles him that he managed to win, given how tired he felt because he had not slept well in about a week. He told…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia won the International Association of Athletics Federations female athlete of the year award for 2015. Dibaba, 24, set a new 1,500-meter world record of 3 minutes, 50.07 seconds, at the World Championships competition in Beijing in August 2015. She also won the 1,500-meter gold and 5,000-meter bronze. Dibaba’s family is something of an athletic dynasty. Her older sister Tirunesh is a celebrated athlete who won more than 19 major medals, including five Olympic medals in the 2008 and 2012 games. Another older sister, Ejegayehu, won the silver medal in the 10,000 meters…

DEFENCEWEB The German government donated two Husky fixed-wing light aircraft to the Tanzania National Parks and Tanzania Wildlife Authority to help combat wildlife poaching. The aircraft were donated through the Frankfurt Zoological Society to be used to monitor Tanzania’s elephant hot spots, including the Selous Game Reserve and Serengeti National Park. Pilots will patrol for poachers, help rangers coordinate forces on the ground, and carry out wildlife censuses and habitat monitoring. The aircraft were handed over in November 2015 at Arusha airport in a ceremony attended by Serengeti Chief Park Warden William Mwakilema; Alan Kijazi, director of Tanzania National Parks;…

DEFENCEWEB The U.S. government donated 18 Toyota pickup trucks, a trailer truck, a front-end loader and other equipment to Cameroon’s military, which will use it to fight Boko Haram. Some of the other equipment includes seven 1,500- to 3,000-liter water tanks and six generators. U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon Michael Stephen Hoza handed over the equipment and vehicles to Cameroonian Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo in Yaoundé in December 2015. Hoza said the U.S. hopes that the new equipment will enhance the Army’s mobility and extend its operational capabilities. Hoza said the donation is a symbol of the strong partnership between…