page_title: Somali Armed Forces
section_title: Army equipment, 1989
hierarchical_section_title: Somali Armed Forces / Army equipment / Army equipment, 1989
caption_attribution_description: English: Three abandoned Somali (US Manufactured) M47 Tanks sit destroyed amongst some trees near a warehouse. The US Army's 10th Mountain Division (not shown) stumbled across the abandoned tank. This mission is in support of Operation Restore Hope.
context_page_description: The Somali Armed Forces are the military forces of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Headed by the President as Commander in Chief, they are constitutionally mandated to ensure the nation's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
  The SAF was initially made up of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police Force. In the post-independence period, it grew to become among the larger militaries in Africa. Due to Barre's increasing reliance on his own clans, repressive policies, and the Somali Rebellion, the military had by 1988 begun to disintegrate. By the time President Siad Barre fled in 1991, the armed forces had dissolved. An unsteady rebuilding process began after 2000. As of January 2014, the security sector is overseen by the Federal Government of Somalia's Ministry of Defence, Ministry of National Security, and Ministry of Interior and Federalism. Somaliland, Puntland, and Jubaland maintain their own separate military forces.
context_section_description: Previous arms acquisitions included the following equipment, much of which was unserviceable ca. June 1989:
  293 main battle tanks (30 Centurion from Kuwait, 123 M47 Patton, 30 T-34, 110 T-54/55 from various sources). Other armoured fighting vehicles included 10 M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks, 30 BRDM-2 and 15 Panhard AML-90 armored cars (formerly owned by Saudi Arabia). The IISS estimated in 1989 that there were 474 armoured personnel carriers, including 64 BTR-40/BTR-50/BTR-60, 100 BTR-152 wheeled armored personnel carriers, 310 Fiat 6614 and 6616s, and that BMR-600s had been reported. The IISS estimated that there were 210 towed artillery pieces (8 M-1944 100 mm, 100 M-56 105 mm, 84 M-1938 122 mm, and 18 M198 155 mm towed howitzers). Other equipment reported by the IISS included 82 mm and 120 mm mortars, 100 Milan and BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missiles, rocket launchers, recoilless rifles, and a variety of Soviet air defence guns of 20 mm, 23 mm, 37 mm, 40 mm, 57 mm, and 100 mm calibre.
caption: Abandoned Somali tanks in Mogadishu, discovered by U.S. Army troops on 1 December 1993
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