South Sudan People's Defence Forces

South Sudan People's Defence Forces
Flag of the South Sudan People's Defence Forces
Founded	1983
Current form	2018
Service branches	Ground Force Air Force and Air Defence Riverine/Navy[1]
Headquarters	Bilpham, Central Equatoria Malual-Chaat, Bor Wunyiek, Northern Bahr el Ghazal Mapel, Western Bahr el Ghazal
Leadership
Commander-in-chief	Salva Kiir Mayardit
Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs	Chol Thon Balok
Chief of Defense Forces	General Santino Deng Wol (since 11 April 2021)[2]
Personnel
Military age	18
Active personnel	185,000[3]
Expenditure
Budget	£10,240,750,031 SSP ($78,615,712) [2016/17] [citation needed]
Percent of GDP	0.86% (2015 est.)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	Military Industry Corporation
Related articles
History	Military history of South Sudan First Sudanese Civil War (SPLM) Second Sudanese Civil War (SPLM) Khoriom Battalion Fierce Fighters Disarmament of the Lou Nuer (SPLM) Battle of Malakal (SPLM) Heglig Crisis (SPLM) South Sudanese Civil War (SPLM)
Ranks	Military ranks of South Sudan

The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key participant of the Second Sudanese Civil War, led by John Garang. After Garang's death in 2005, Salva Kiir was named the SPLA's new Commander-in-Chief. As of 2010, the SPLA was divided into divisions of 10,000–14,000 soldiers.

Following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, the last remaining large and well-equipped militia, the South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF), under General Paulino Matiep, signed an agreement with Kiir known as the Juba Declaration, which amalgamated the two forces under the SPLA banner.

Following South Sudan's independence in 2011, Kiir became President and the SPLA became the new republic's regular army. In May 2017 there was a restructure and the SPLA took on the name of South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF), with another change in September 2018 to South Sudan People's Defence Forces. As of 2018^[update], the army was estimated to have 185,000 soldiers as well as an unknown number of personnel in the small South Sudan Air Force. As of 2019^[update], the SSPDF comprised the Ground Force, Air Force, Air Defence Forces and Presidential Guard.