People's National Army (Algeria)

Armée Nationale Populaire
الجيش الوطني الشعبي

ANP emblem
Active 1962
(Formerly the Armée de Libération Nationale)
Country  Algeria
Branch Army
Size 107,000 regular (2007)
150,000 reserves (2007)
Equipment 1.050 MBTs, 1,748 IFVs & APCs, 660 artillery pieces
Commanders
Chief of Staff of the People's National Army Ahmed Gaid Salah

The Armée Nationale Populaire (ANP) (in Arabic : الجيش الوطني الشعبي) is the land force of the Military of Algeria. The Armée Nationale Populaire's equipment is provided by Russia, the People's Republic of China, and various other countries.

The Army include two armoured and three mechanised divisions (IISS Military Balance 2007), one of which is the 8th Armoured Division based at Ras El Ma, 90 kilometres from Sidi Bel Abbes,[1] in the 2nd Military Region. The division was formed from the 8th Armoured Brigade after 1988 (the 8th Armoured Brigade seems to have been formed in 1976). Another is the 40th Mechanised Infantry Division apparently based in the 3rd Military Region. The mission of the 40th Division is usually the protection of the Algerian-Moroccan frontier.[2] The IISS Military Balance 2013 named one of the other mechanised divisions as the 12th.

There is also French reporting of an airborne division formed in the early 1990s.[3] A division with five airborne regiments, seemingly similar to the French reporting, was listed in the IISS Military Balance for 2001-02 and 2006. However it was not list in the 2007 edition of the Military Balance.

Creation and development

After the end of the liberation war in June 1962, the first objective was to establish a logistics organization to meet the needs of the army - a structure, feed, clothe, care for and train . The directions of Stewardship, Hardware, Engineering and Health, Transport and Supply were the first to emerge. These directions, which came quickly join those of the staff of the Air Force, Navy and Education, at the Ministry, would form the backbone of the National People's Army. The bases of the general structure of the army were consolidated with the creation of the main directions, the establishment of an effective organization, the opening of schools and instruction centers and sending abroad trainees for different weapons and services.

Efforts to develop and modernize the ANP continued throughout the 1970s and 80s, at the organizational level, the formation of battalions and brigades. During the eighties, the army experienced a considerable growth. Thus, in 1986, a restructuring began, based primarily on the implementation of large units combining firepower and gradual movement, i.e. combat divisions, equipped with sophisticated weapons systems and other equipment necessary for the use and maintenance of these systems. This modernization was not just about the hardware, but included all organizational areas and combat. Thus was created the General Inspection of the PNA.

Military regions

Algerian military regions

Source: Library of Congress Country Study, 1993, 258-260

Algeria is divided into six numbered military regions, each with headquarters located in a principal city or town. This system of territorial organization, adopted shortly after independence, grew out of the wartime wilaya structure and the postwar necessity of subduing antigovernment insurgencies that were based in the various regions. Regional commanders control and administer bases, logistics, and housing, as well as conscript training. Commanders of army divisions and brigades, air force installations, and naval forces report directly to the Ministry of National Defense and service chiefs of staff on operational matters.

During the 1980s, most of the army's combat units were concentrated in Military Region II (Oran) and to a lesser extent in Military Region III (Béchar). Chadli Bendjedid became head of Military Region II in 1964. Adjacent to Morocco, Region III straddles the main access routes from that country. It is also near the troubled Western Sahara, embracing territory previously claimed by Morocco. Much of the internal disorder and violence associated with economic distress and the Islamist movement has occurred in Military Region I (Blida), which includes the capital of Algiers, and Military Region V (Constantine). Army units have been strengthened in and near the cities where attacks against the government and security forces have occurred. Although regional commanders were originally all colonels, the commanders of region I (Mohamed Djenouhat) and Region V (Abdelhamid Djouadi) were both promoted to major general in 1992. The two southeastern jurisdictions — Military Region IV (Ouargla) and Military Region VI (Tamanrasset) — are sparsely populated tracts of desert where a limited number of combat troops carry out patrols and man small outposts. The Ouargla region assumed a measure of strategic importance after relations with Libya soured, but the military's main activities there and in Region VI are the construction and planting projects undertaken by conscript forces. Region VI was created in 1975 to cover the south.[4]

President Bouteflika, as Minister of Defence, nominated new commanders for military regions in August 2004. (BICC) In 2010 there were a further series of changes. Président Bouteflika a opéré un mouvement à la tête de trois military regions, according to the presidential décrees published Wednesday 25 August in the Algerian Journal officiel. Général Mohand-Ameziane Si-Mohand was nominated to head the 3ème région militaire, le général Hassen Alaimia prend les commandes de la 4ème région militaire et la 5e est désormais dirigée par le général Saïd Ziad.[5] These nominations took effect from 1 August, selon les mêmes décrets. Le chef de l’Etat a également désigné de nouveaux commandants-adjoints à la tête de ces régions.

Equipment

Sources are the Israeli Institute for National Strategic Studies's Middle East Military Balance,[6] SIPRI Trade registers[7] and Army-Guide.

Tanks

Model Type Quantity Notes
T-90SA+T-90MS 3rd Generation MBT 305+180[8] The first batch of 185 was signed during 2009 and the second batch of 120 signed in 2011 for $470 million +180 in 2014.[8][9]
T-72m1m 2nd Generation MBT 250 [10]
T-62 2nd Generation MBT 150
T-54/55 1st Generation MBT 270

APCs/AFVs

Model Type Quantity Notes
BTR-80/BTR-60 Armoured personnel carrier 400 150 BTR-80 and 250 BTR-60
FAHD Armoured personnel carrier 100
BMP-2 Infantry fighting vehicle 300 Being upgraded to 2M configuration.
BMP-1 Infantry fighting vehicle 685 Algeria signed a contract with Russia for modernization of 400 BMP-1s in 2006.
BRDM-2 Armoured reconnaissance vehicle 115
AML 60 Armoured reconnaissance vehicle 50
Panhard M3 Armoured personnel carrier 44
TPz Fuchs Armoured personnel carrier 54 / 980 on order In early 2011, 54 Fuchs worth $248 million were ordered from Rheinmetall. In 2014, 980 Fuchs were ordered as part of a €2.7 billion defence deal with Rheinmetall.[11]
Nimr High mobility multipurpose vehicle unknown .[12]
OT-64 SKOT amphibious armored personnel carrier 150 [13]

Artillery

Model Type Quantity Notes
2S3 Akatsiya Self-Propelled Artillery 100
2S1 Gvozdika Self-Propelled Artillery 150
PLZ-45 Howitzer 50 [14][15]
ML-20 Howitzer 20
M-46 Howitzer 10
D-30 Howitzer 190
D-44 Howitzer 80
160mm Mortar M1943 Mortar 60
120-PM-43 mortar Mortar 120

MRLs

Model Type Quantity Notes
BM-30 Smerch Multiple rocket launcher 18
BM-24 Multiple rocket launcher 30
BM-14-16 Multiple rocket launcher 50
BM-21 Grad Multiple rocket launcher 50

Air Defense Systems

Model Type Quantity Notes
S-75 Dvina Surface-to-air missile 6 batteries
S-300PMU-2 Surface-to-air missile 8 batteries 8 batt. of S-300PMU-2 were ordered,[16][17]
S-125 Neva/Pechora Surface-to-air missile 5 batteries
2K12 Kub Surface-to-air missile 10 batteries
9K33 Osa Surface-to-air missile 8 Batteries
Pantsir-S1 Surface-to-air missile 76 Systems [18] +38 received in 2013[19] [20] [21]
9K31 Strela-1 Surface-to-air missile 46 launchers
9K35 Strela-10 Surface-to-air missile 32 launchers
ZSU-57-2 Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun 20
ZSU-23-4 Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun 30
S-60 Anti-aircraft gun 70
61-K Anti-aircraft gun 145
ZU-23-2 Anti-aircraft gun 50

Future Acquisitions

An agreement with Rheinmetall for 980 Fuchs armoured personnel carriers over 10 years was signed in 2014,[11] on top of 54 that were already ordered[22]

References

  1. ↑ Le Soir Algerie, Voyage au cœur de la 8e Division blindée, 1997.
  2. ↑ http://www.algeria-watch.org/pdf/pdf_en/forces_repression.pdf. http://www.algeria-watch.org/fr/mrv/mrvmili/tigha_patriotes.htm
  3. ↑ Centre Francais de recherche sur la reseignement, Bulletin de documentation 5, accessed January 2014.
  4. ↑ http://www.lematindz.net/news/6233-lalgerie-est-elle-en-situation-de-guerre.html
  5. ↑ Vaste mouvement dans les structures des Régions Militaires, 26 August 2010
  6. ↑ http://www.inss.org.il/upload/%28FILE%291311071599.pdf
  7. ↑ Trade Registers
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://www.vestnik-rm.ru/news-4-7606.htm
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ http://vpk.name/news/62557_s_pricelom_na_staryih_partnerov.html
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Rheinmetall to sign 2.7 billion euro deal with Algerian military for 980 Fuchs vehicles
  12. ↑ http://www.algerie1.com/actualite/le-vehicule-blinde-nimr-qui-sera-construit-en-algerie-expose-au-public/
  13. ↑ http://www.armyrecognition.com/algeria/algerian_army_algeria_land_forces_pictures_modern_army_military_equipment_vehicle_pictures_descripti.html/
  14. ↑ "Algeria has bought Chinese-made 155mm self-propelled howitzer PLZ45 or PLZ52.". January 20, 2014.
  15. ↑ http://www.internationalpolicydigest.org/2014/02/26/chinese-military-sales-nigeria-algeria/
  16. ↑ In 2006 it was though that the capabilities of the command would be boosted by the delivery from Russia of eight S-300PMU2 Favorit air defence missile systems, ordered as part of the package of arms deals with Russia announced in 2006 as part of a USD7.5 billion arms package.In fact the first battalion of S-300 series SAMs ordered by Algeria was delivered in 2008 however the rest of the deal had been frozen.
  17. ↑
  18. ↑ "Newly-supplied Russian Pantsyr-1 anti-air missile used to down Turkish warplane". DEBKAfile. 24 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  19. ↑ http://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/1884007
  20. ↑ http://www.rg.ru/2015/04/07/pancir-site-anons.html
  21. ↑ http://lenta.ru/news/2015/04/07/pantsir/
  22. ↑ https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/algerian-arms-deal-brings-russia-75-billion-gas-market-leverage-02024/