Mauritanian National Army

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The Mauritanian National Army is the army of the Military of Mauritania.

History

In March 1985, the Defense Intelligence Agency reported the army was 8,300 strong with no reserves (Military Intelligence Summary - Africa South of the Sahara, DDB 2680-104-85, ICOD 15 October 1984, Mauritania pages 4, 5, declassified by letter dated April 29, 2014). Reported regions at the time were Region I - Nouadbihou, Region II - Zouirat, Region III - Atar, Region IV - formerly at Tidjikdja, which no longer existed, Region V - Nema, Region VI - Nouakchott, and Region VII - Rosso. The army was organised into the six regions which each supervised several companies, though there was 'one small autonomous infantry battalion stationed in Nouakchott.'

The Army is 15,000 strong, according to the IISS, with six military regions, two camel corps battalions, one battalion of T-54/55 battle tanks, one armoured reconnaissance squadron, eight garrison infantry battalions, seven motorised infantry battalions, one commando/para battalion, 3 artillery battalions, 4 air defence batteries, one engineer company, and one guard battalion.[1] The 1ère région militaire is at Nouadhibou, 2nd Military Region is at Zouerate, 3rd Military Region is at Atar, 4ème région militaire may be at Tidjikdja, 5th Military Region headquarters is at Néma,[2] 6th Military Region may be in the area of the capital, and the 7th Military Region may be at Aleg.[3]

The Mauritanian military is currently involved in Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans Sahara. Previous U.S. anti-terrorist engagement included training under the Pan Sahel Initiative. Under the PSI, a 10th Special Forces Group training team carried out a one-week border monitoring training programme in January 2004.[4]

The IISS listed equipment in 2007 as including 35 T-54/55 main battle tanks, 70 reconnaissance vehicles (20 Panhard AML-60, 40 Panhard AML-90, 10 Alvis Saladin) 25 wheeled APCs (estimate 20 Panhard M3 and 5 Alvis Saracen), 194 artillery pieces (80 towed: 36 HM-2/M-101, 20 D-30, 24 D-74; 114 mortars (60 60-mm, 30 Brandt 120-mm), 24 MILAN ATGM, 114 recoilless rocket launchers (est. 90 M-40A1 106mm, est 24 M-20 75mm), est 48 RPG-7 Knout, 104 SAMs (est 100 SA-7 Grail, and a reported 4 SA-9 Gaskin), and 82 towed anti-aircraft guns (14.5mm, including 12 ZPU-4, ZU-23-2, 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K), 12 57 mm AZP S-60, and 12 100mm KS-19s.[5]

Conflicts involved in

Equipment

Small arms

Name Origin Type Variant Photo Notes
TT pistol[6] Soviet Union Simi-auto pistol
MAC Mle 1950[6] France Simi-auto pistol
MAB PA-15 pistol[6] France Simi-auto pistol
Star Z-45[6] Spain Simi-auto pistol
FN P90 Belgium Assault rifle personal defense weapon
MAS-49 rifle France Assault rifle
M1 Garand United States Assault rifle
FR F1 France Sniper rifle
AK-47 Russia Assault rifle [7][8][9]
AKM Russia Assault rifle
Pistol Mitralieră Romania Assault rifle variant of the AK-47
Type 56 China Assault rifle variant of the AK-47
PKM Soviet Union Heavy machine gun
AA-52 France Heavy machine gun
DShK Soviet Union Heavy machine gun
FN MAG Belgium Heavy machine gun
M2 Browning United States Heavy machine gun M2HB
M1919 Browning United States Heavy machine gun

Tanks and AFL's

Name Origin Type Variant Photo Notes
T-54/55 Soviet Union Heavy tank
Panhard AML France reconnaissance vehicle Panhard AML-60
Panhard AML-90 France reconnaissance vehicle
Alvis Saladin United Kingdom reconnaissance vehicle
Panhard M3 France wheeled APC
Alvis Saracen United Kingdom wheeled APC

Air defence and rockets

Name Origin Type Variant Photo Notes
SA-7 Grail USSR AA Rocket Probably EX Soviet air defence
SA-9 Gaskin USSR AA Rocket

References

  1. ↑ IISS Military Balance 2007, p. 235-6
  2. ↑ "www.cridem.org/imprimable.php?article=47871". cridem.org. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  3. ↑ "mauritanie/politique/la-egraveme-reacutegion-militaire-ceacutelegravebre-le-cinq". actualites.marweb.com. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  4. ↑ Jane's Defence Weekly, 21 January 2004, p.19
  5. ↑ IISS 2007, p.236
  6. 1 2 3 4 Pézard, Stéphanie (June 2010). "Arms in and around Mauritania – National and Regional Security Implications" (PDF). Small Arms Survey. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
  7. ↑ "Mauritanian army destroys al Qaeda camp in Mali - France 24". France 24. 2011-06-25. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  8. ↑ "Nouakchott displays military might | Magharebia". 2014-08-10. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  9. ↑ "Mauritania: fighting the invisible enemy - France 24". France 24. 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
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