The Three African Heavyweights
- Thread starter Ma'koya
- Start date
EXSSBN2005
New Member
I didn't think of Nigeria as a military heavy weight but after some Google searches found some interesting things : they are 56th in numbers of total armed forces troop numbers(48th in active numbers) [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_troops"]List of countries by number of troops - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="image"><img alt="Question book-new.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png[/ame]
Alot of their equipment is older styles T-55 and such but i havent heard of their tactical doctrine / abilities. A list of the NA army deployments they seem to be able to be the rapid response team in Africa for the UN troops on the western part of the continent. Their airforce seems pretty small with 12 fighters and 24 attack planes with alot of cargo/transport planes but then again they are more than likely not going to be taking on USA/China/Russia, they look to have been in the past mostly sending out peacekeepers to other African/European(Yugoslavia) nations. Numbers arent everything though as South African numbers are smaller than that of Nigeria but the SA equipment tends to be newer, but not always as evident from their Centurians / Olifont tanks from WW2 vintage(upgraded in 1976 though) (as a side note Australia is also under NI and SA numbers wise but able to field troops far from home as well).
Forces that would be fighting in Nigeria would be at the end of relatively long supply chains exceptions being if somone like Libya decided to make a move across their souther desert, Niger's eastern desert and then attack them, which Niger would probably ask other AU countries for help, as their 5000 would be hard pressed to fight off Libya's 80k.
Egypt: Numbers of troops wise pretty large (10th overall) with modern exuipment, as far as self defence more than likely they will not be attacked by traditional forces and the only neighbor that they would likely engage in fighting with (Israel) is IMO not going to start an offencive war into Egypt (IDF has alot on its plate and not looking for more).
South Africa: Long way from any potentially beligerent country as far as having to defend their region / Africa as a whole unless the threat is from a country that is in Africa then they are more than likely equiped to handle any thing that comes their way or will be once their orders for new equipment are filled and they get proficient in its useage, the SDNAF is a long way from the SADF as far as capabilities go from my reading of some books (some fiction some not). They are the only country (so far) to give up nuclear weapons once they declared themselfs nuclear power.
In summary they seem like paper tigers until we look at who they would most likely be fighting against and then we see that they can probably hold their own vs the conflicts that they would be reasonably expected to fight.
Alot of their equipment is older styles T-55 and such but i havent heard of their tactical doctrine / abilities. A list of the NA army deployments they seem to be able to be the rapid response team in Africa for the UN troops on the western part of the continent. Their airforce seems pretty small with 12 fighters and 24 attack planes with alot of cargo/transport planes but then again they are more than likely not going to be taking on USA/China/Russia, they look to have been in the past mostly sending out peacekeepers to other African/European(Yugoslavia) nations. Numbers arent everything though as South African numbers are smaller than that of Nigeria but the SA equipment tends to be newer, but not always as evident from their Centurians / Olifont tanks from WW2 vintage(upgraded in 1976 though) (as a side note Australia is also under NI and SA numbers wise but able to field troops far from home as well).
Forces that would be fighting in Nigeria would be at the end of relatively long supply chains exceptions being if somone like Libya decided to make a move across their souther desert, Niger's eastern desert and then attack them, which Niger would probably ask other AU countries for help, as their 5000 would be hard pressed to fight off Libya's 80k.
Egypt: Numbers of troops wise pretty large (10th overall) with modern exuipment, as far as self defence more than likely they will not be attacked by traditional forces and the only neighbor that they would likely engage in fighting with (Israel) is IMO not going to start an offencive war into Egypt (IDF has alot on its plate and not looking for more).
South Africa: Long way from any potentially beligerent country as far as having to defend their region / Africa as a whole unless the threat is from a country that is in Africa then they are more than likely equiped to handle any thing that comes their way or will be once their orders for new equipment are filled and they get proficient in its useage, the SDNAF is a long way from the SADF as far as capabilities go from my reading of some books (some fiction some not). They are the only country (so far) to give up nuclear weapons once they declared themselfs nuclear power.
In summary they seem like paper tigers until we look at who they would most likely be fighting against and then we see that they can probably hold their own vs the conflicts that they would be reasonably expected to fight.
Basically these are the best militaries in Africa. With Egypt being the best because of U.S. Military Aid. All you have to know is that they have the M-1A. South Africa have the know how to. So I'll put them second behind Egypt. Nigeria recieving U.S. assistance too but not on a big scale. Nigeria dont spend that much on defense anyway they have problem mismanaging there oil money. If Nigeria decided to use it money the right way the sky the limited for them they can purchase weapons from any Western countries. They decided to buy some Chinese F-7'sI would like to know what you guys think of Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa as it relates to defence in their sub-regions and Africa as a whole....
Egypt is by far the most capable of the African nations mentioned due to US assistance. South Africa is capable of deploying one Inf motorised brigade outside its borders on long term and one mechanised battalion group internally. This is due to severe budget restrictions that mean there is equipment in storage for a force 10 times that size but no trained personnel or budget to operate them. Nigeria’s military is mainly there for internal stability and is unlikely to provide anything beyond one Inf brigade for AU peace keeping. It should be noted that Libya is busy rebuilding its military. It must also be remembered that most central African conflicts like those in DRC and Rwanda are low technology infantry jungle conflicts. The terrain is not as suitable for armoured and mechanised conflict as in the northern semi desert and desert areas like in Egypt, Libya and Sudan.