Ecuadorian Army
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ecuadorian Army (Spanish: Ejército Ecuatoriano) is the branch of the Ecuadorian military in charge of the defense of the Ecuadorian State from any land-based threat.
As such, the Army is one of the three branches that constitute the Ecuadorian Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Ecuatorianas), the other two being the Ecuadorian Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana, FAE), and the Ecuadorian Navy (Armada Ecuatoriana, ARE).
Organizationally, the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy form up the Comando Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas (Joint Command of the Armed Forces), where the Amy is referred to as Fuerza Terrestre (Land Forces).
According to the Ecuadorian Law of National Security (Ley de Seguridad Nacional), the Joint Command, along with the Ministry of National Defense, constitute the Military Front (Frente Militar). It is the duty of the Military Front to give advice to the President of the Republic and the National Security Council in everything related to military and warmaking policies.
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[edit] Military Equipment Info
The army was the dominant service; its personnel strength of approximately 40,000 in 1989 was nearly four times the combined strength of the navy and air force, and its commander normally held the rank of four-star general. The army had four theaters of operation, commonly known as defense zones, with headquarters in Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, and Puyo, respectively (see fig. 18).
The army's principal operational units consisted of twelve brigades, all odd-numbered, running in sequence from the first to the twenty-third. The first ("El Oro"), third ("Portete"), fifth ("Guayas"), seventh ("Loja"), and thirteenth ("Pichincha") brigades were infantry units with headquarters at Machala, Cuenca, Guayaquil, Loja, and Quito, respectively. The army deployed two jungle brigades in the Oriente (eastern region): the seventeenth ("Pastaza"), with headquarters at Mera, and the nineteenth ("Napo"), based at Francisco de Orellana (more commonly known as Coca). The ninth Special Forces brigade ("Patria")--an outgrowth of a special paratroop detachment formed in 1960 to combat leftist guerrillas in the Oriente--had its headquarters at Latacunga. The eleventh armored brigade ("Galápagos") deployed from Riobamba. Three other specialized brigades, the twenty-first (logistics), the twenty-third (corps of engineers), and the fifteenth (army aviation), operated out of Quito. Originally confined to transport, communications, training, and geographic survey duties, the fifteenth brigade expanded into battlefield logistic support following the delivery in 1981 of French Puma, Super Puma, and Gazelle helicopters.
Combat brigades generally consisted of three battalions. Although not all brigades were at full strength, key units such as the Loja brigade near the Peruvian border had full complements or even additional reinforcements. States of readiness varied because personnel primarily consisted of one-year conscripts, some of whom received minimal training. Brigade commanding officers generally held brigadier general rank, although some were led by senior colonels. The commanders of the Pichincha, Guayas, Portete, and Pastaza brigades served concurrently as commanders of their respective theaters of operation.
The army's standard infantry weapons consisted of the Belgian FN FAL 7.62mm rifle and the Israeli Uzi 9mm submachine gun, the latter employed for counterinsurgency operations. The FN MAG 7.62mm was the standard machine gun, although the army still had .30- and .50-caliber machine guns of United States origin and 81mm mortars in its inventory. Armored vehicles included French-origin light tanks and four-wheeled reconnaissance vehicles, as well as Cascavel armored cars from Brazil (see table 20, Appendix). Most of the army's approximately 100 armored personnel carriers were French and Brazilian wheeled models, although it also had some tracked M-113s from the United States. A large order for obsolete medium tanks and armored personnel carriers from Argentina had to be cancelled in 1988 because of the deepening financial crisis.
[edit] Equipment
[edit] Armoured vehicles
- T-55 MBT
- EE-9 Cascavel
- EE-11 Urutu
- EE-9 Jaraca
- AMX-13
- Panhard AML
- AMX-VC11
- M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (will be retired)
- will receive 10 ERC 90 Sagaie from France
[edit] Equipment Sources
Historically, Ecuador depended on a wide variety of foreign suppliers for virtually all of its equipment needs. Only in the 1980s did it begin to develop a modest domestic arms industry as the Directorate of Army Industries manufactured rifle ammunition, uniforms, boots, and other consumable items.
Prior to World War II, Italy supplied a substantial amount of military matériel to Ecuador. During and after World War II, the United States became the predominant supplier, although by the 1950s Ecuador had also turned to World War II-vintage weapons from European countries, notably aircraft from Britain. During the 1960s and 1970s, France became a leading supplier of tanks and aircraft. Ecuador purchased submarine and patrol boats from West Germany and rifles and machine guns from Belgium.
Ecuador became a substantial customer for Israeli arms in the 1970s, purchasing Arava aircraft, Gabriel missiles for arming naval patrol craft, Uzi submachine guns, and other munitions. Under technical assistance contracts, Israel serviced Israeli planes in the air force inventory as well as Boeing civilian aircraft flown by TAME and Ecuatoriana Airlines. Ecuador reportedly also employed Israeli security specialists as consultants in the fight against terrorism.
In 1976 Ecuador became the first foreign country to order the Kfir, an advanced jet fighter equipped with the General Electric J-79 engine produced in Israel under license. The transaction, which required United States government approval because of the engine technology, was rejected by the administration of President Jimmy Carter in order to discourage the proliferation of sophisticated military equipment in the Third World. The action caused an uproar in Israel where the sale was regarded as an important breakthrough in Israel's efforts to develop international markets for the Kfir. In 1981, after the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan, Washington removed its objection to the sale. Although the contract called for the purchase of twelve Kfirs and an option to purchase an additional twelve, Ecuador acquired only the original group, at a price estimated at US$196 million.
According to ACDA, Ecuador was a relatively heavy importer of arms in the late 1970s and early 1980s, averaging US$150 million annually and reaching a peak of US$280 million in 1982. These imports declined sharply to an average of only US$50 million annually between 1985 and 1987, presumably as a result of a dramatic reduction in oil revenues and the precipitous drop in the value of the sucre, which made imported arms extremely expensive. Between 1983 and 1987, Ecuador imported an estimated US$460 million of arms, primarily from Italy, France, the United States, and Britain. Ecuador did not receive military equipment from the Soviet Union or other communist countries.
[edit] Organization
As of November 2004, the Ecuadorian Land Forces Order of Battle was as follows:
- I Army Division "Shyris" (HQ Quito)
- 11th Armored Cavalry Brigade "Galápagos"
- 13th Infantry Brigade "Pichincha"
- 9th Special Forces Brigade "Patria"
- 24th Special Forces Group
- 25th Special Forces Group
- 26th Special Forces Group
- 27th Special Forces Group
- II Army Division "Libertad" (HQ Guayaquil)
- 5th Infantry Brigade "Guayas"
- III Army Division "Tarqui" (HQ Cuenca)
- 1st Infantry Brigade "El Oro"
- 3rd Infantry Brigade "Portete"
- 7th Infantry Brigade "Loja"
- 27th Artillery Brigade "Bolívar"
- IV Army Division "Amazonas" (HQ Coca)
- 17th Jungle Infantry Brigade "Pastaza"
- 19th Jungle Infantry Brigade "Napo"
- 54th Special Forces Battalion "Aguarico"
- 55th Jungle Infantry Battalion "Putumayo"
- 56th Jungle Infantry Battalion "Tungurahua"
- 57th Jungle Infantry Battalion "Montecristi"
- 21st Jungle Infantry Brigade "Cóndor" (HQ Patuca)
- 60th Special Forces Battalion "Capitán Calles"
- 61st Jungle Infantry Battalion "Santiago"
- 62nd Jungle Infantry Battalion "Zamora"
- 63rd Jungle Infantry Battalion "Gualaquiza"
- Non-divisional Units
- 15th Army Aviation Brigade "Paquisha" (HQ San Rafael)
- 23rd Engineer Command "Cenepa" (HQ Quito)
- 25th Logistics Support Brigade "Reino de Quito" (HQ Quito)
[edit] References
- This article is derived in part from a public domain Federal Research Division Country Study on Ecuador's army.
[edit] External links
- SAORBATS Order of Battle & Equipment of South American Armed Forces.
