Rwandan Defence Forces The Rwanda Defence Force ( RDF ) ( in Kinyarwanda " Ingabo z ' u Rwanda " ) is the national army of Rwanda . Largely composed of former Rwandan Patriotic Army ( RPA ) soldiers , it comprises ( a ) the High Command Council of the RDF ; ( b ) the General Staff of the RDF ; ( c ) the Rwanda Land Force ; ( d ) the Rwanda Air Force ; and ( e ) specialised units . In November 2002 Emmanuel Habyarimana was removed from his post as Minister of Defence , which government spokesperson Joseph Bideri attributed to his " extreme pro - Hutu " views . Habyarimana was replaced by Marcel Gatsinzi . After the successful conquest of the country in 1994 in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide , the Rwandan Patriotic Front decided to split the RPF into a political division ( which retained the RPF name ) and a military division , which was to serve as the official army of the Rwandan state in two distinct and independent institutions . Defence spending continues to represent an important share of the national budget , largely due to continuing security problems along the frontiers with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi , and lingering concerns about Uganda ' s intentions towards its former ally . The government has launched an ambitious plan to demobilize thousands of soldiers resulting in a standing military of 33 , 000 and another 2 , 000 paramilitary strong force - a decrease from 70 , 000 in just a decade . During the First and Second Congo War , the RPF committed wide scale human rights violations and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , according the United Nations Mapping Report . United Nations Mapping Report : DRC 1993 - 2003 Four serving army officers of the Rwanda Defence Forces ( RDF ) were indicted in June 2008 for crimes committed during the 1994 genocide . Historical outline 1962 - 1994 . The U . S . Army ' s " Area Handbook for Rwanda " , compiled in 1968 - 9 , describes the security forces of Rwanda in 1969 as the 2 , 500 strong National Guard and the National Police , about 1 , 200 strong . The National Guard had been established two years before independence and had gained experience by repelling small Tutsi invasions in 1963 and 1964 . It was under the direction of the Minister of Defence , Juvénal Habyarimana , who also held the function of Chief of Staff of the National Guard in mid - 1969 . At that time it was composed of a headquarters , an intervention group ( effectively an infantry battalion ) , five other rifle companies , and five independent rifle platoons . The " Forces armées rwandaises " ( FAR ) was the national army of Rwanda until July 1994 , when the government collapsed in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide and the war with the Rwandan Patriotic Front . The FAR was estimated at 7 , 000 strong , including approximately 1 , 200 members of the Gendarmerie . Elite troops included the Presidential Guard , estimated at between 1 , 000 - 1 , 300 troops , as well as the Paracommando and Reconnaissance units . These two units were of battalion strength by 1994 , and then counted a total of 800 troops . In response to the RPF invasion of 1990 , the 5 , 000 - man FAR rapidly expanded , with French training assistance ( as many as 1 , 100 French troops were in Rwanda at a time ) , to some 30 , 000 by 1992 . The Arusha Accords , signed on August 4 , 1993 , laid out a very detailed plan for the integration of the Rwandan Government and Rwandan Patriotic Front military forces . The Rwandan government was to provide 60 % of the troops for the new integrated army , but would have to share command positions with the RPF down to the level of battalion . The new army was to consist of no more than 19 , 000 soldiers and 6 , 000 Gendarmerie . However radical elements within the Rwandan government were implacably opposed to implementation of the Accords and , instead , began the planning that would lay the foundations for the genocide . The Reconnaissance Battalion ' s commander , François - Xavier Nzuwonemeye , and his subordinates played a key role during the genocide . Together with the Reconnaissance Battalion , the Paracommando Battalion under Major Aloys Ntabakuze and the Presidential Guard under Major Protais Mpiranya became the three most significant " genocidare " units . Col . Marcel Gatsinzi was briefly named chief of staff of the armed forces from April 6 to April 16 , 1994 , but was replaced by Augustin Bizimungu , who was quickly promoted to major general , since Col . Gatsinzi opposed the genocide . Bizimungu was only briefly chief of staff before fleeing the country . Many soldiers of the FAR have since been implicated by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the genocide , including its leader during the genocide , Col . Théoneste Bagosora , who was chief of the " cabinet " ( private office ) of the Ministry of Defence prior to the genocide . Other top leaders in the FAR were implicated in the assassination of the Rwandan president , Juvénal Habyarimana , which sparked the genocide . Many elements of the former Rwandan regime , including soldiers of the FAR , fled to eastern Zaire after the RPF victory , where they formed the Rassemblement Démocratique pour le Rwanda ( RDR ) , which later became the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda ( FDLR ) , which is still active in eastern Congo ' s North Kivu Province . Hutu refugee massacres . The Rwandan Defence Forces have committed atrocities during the 1994 Rwandan genocide , as the Rwandan Patriotic Front , and also during both the Congo wars . This includes the Kibeho Massacre . The RDF and the ADFL carried out mass atrocities during the First Congo War with as many as 222 , 000 Rwandan Hutu refugees going missing . Land Forces . A number of sources , including Gérard Prunier , document U . S . aid to the RPA before the First Congo War . The officially admitted part of the training was Joint Combined Exchange Training . Prunier strongly implies the United States supplied communications equipment , vehicles , boots , and medicines to the RPA before the war began and after it broke out , delivered second - hand Warsaw Pact weapons and ammunition either directly to Goma or by airdrop along the AFDL front lines . He reports that after the war ' s outbreak , the U . S . Air Force had switched from using C - 141 Starlifter s and C - 5 Galaxy s to deliver the non - lethal aid to Kigali Airport and Entebbe Airport , to airdrops by C - 130 Hercules aircraft . From July 1994 until December 1997 the RPA had six brigades , as designated in the Arusha Accords : 402nd in Kigali and Kigali Rurale Prefecture ; 201st in Kibungo , Umatura , and Byumba Prefectures ; 301st in Butare , Gikongoro , and Cyangugu Prefectures ; 305th in Gitatama and Kibuye Prefectures ; and 211th in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri Prefectures . The brigade boundaries mirrored the political administrative boundaries , which often complicated military operations . During the First Congo War the brigade headquarters remained inside Rwanda but directed operations inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Jane ' s World Armies said in July 2009 that ' the RDF is deployed to protect the country ' s borders and defend against external aggression . There are four divisions , each deploying three brigades : The Cyangugu Military Camp has been reported to house the 31st Brigade of the 4th Division . Gen . Patrick Nyamvumba has been Chief of Defence Staff since June 2013 . Many soldiers from the former Rwandan Armed Forces ( FAR ) , the national army under the previous regime , have been incorporated into the RDF since 1994 . This process began soon after the genocide in January 1995 , when several former FAR officers were given senior positions in the new armed forces : Col . ( later Gen . ) Marcel Gatsinzi became the Deputy Chief of Staff of the RPA , Col . Balthazar Ndengeyinka became commander of the 305th Brigade , Lt . Col . Laurent Munyakazi took command of the 99th Battalion , and Lt . Col . ( later Brig . Gen . ) Emmanuel Habyarimana became an RPA Member of Parliament and Director of Training in the Ministry of Defence . Gen . Gatsinzi later became Director of Security and then Minister of Defence in 2002 . Circa 2000 during the Second Congo War , the Rwanda Patriotic Army unofficially admitted to having 4 , 000 to 8 , 000 troops deployed in the Congo , according to the Economist Intelligence Unit , but this was believed to be a substantial understatement . The International Crisis Group estimated that the RPA has between 17 , 000 and 25 , 000 troops deployed in the Congo . In April 2001 , a United Nations report on the exploitation of the Congo , said the RPA had a minimum of 25 , 000 troops in the Congo , an estimate the report attributes to “ military specialists with a great deal of experience in the region . " On 17 September 2002 the first Rwandan soldiers were withdrawn from the eastern DRC . On 5 October Rwanda announced the completion of its withdrawal ; MONUC confirmed the departure of over 20 , 000 Rwandan soldiers . Air Force . After achieving independence in 1962 , the air arm ( " Force aérienne rwandaise " ) was formed with Belgian help . By 1972 the first modern equipment started to arrive in the form of seven Alouette III s . Other deliveries included SA 342L Gazelles , Britten - Norman Islander s , Nord Noratlas , SOCATA Guerrier armed light planes and AS 350B Ecureuils . After fighting began between the RPA and the government in 1990 most aircraft were shot down , destroyed on the ground or crashed . Few survived . Equipment . Army Equipment . Air Force Equipment .