Cameroon Armed Forces

Cameroon Armed Forces
Forces armées camerounaises (FAC)
Founded1960
Service branches
  • Army
  • Air Force
  • Navy
  • Fire Fighter Corps
  • Gendarmerie
HeadquartersYaoundé
Leadership
Commander-in-ChiefPaul Biya
Deputy Commander-in-ChiefJoseph Ngute
Minister of DefenseJoseph Beti Assomo
Chief of the Defence StaffRené Claude Meka
Personnel
Active personnel40000[1][failed verification]
Expenditure
BudgetUS$347 million[2]
Percent of GDP1.6[2]
Industry
Foreign suppliers Brazil[citation needed]
 China
 France
 India
 Indonesia
 Israel
 Russia
 Singapore
 South Africa
 Vietnam
Related articles
HistoryBamileke War
Bakassi conflict
CAR Civil War
Boko Haram insurgency
Anglophone Crisis
RanksMilitary ranks of Cameroon

The Cameroon Armed Forces (French: Forces armées camerounaises (FAC)) are the military of the Republic of Cameroon. The armed forces number 40,000[3] personnel in ground, air, and naval forces. There are approximately 40,000 troops in the army across three military regions. Approximately 1,300 troops are part of the Cameroonian Navy, which is headquartered at Douala. Under 600 troops are part of the Air Force. There is an additional 12,500 paramilitary troops that serve as a gendarmerie (policing force) or reconnaissance role.[1]

The Cameroonian armed forces have bases spread all over Cameroon, including in Ngaoundéré. Air Force bases are located in Garoua, Yaoundé, Douala and Bamenda.

It has generally remained loyal to the government and acted to ensure the stability of the regime, and not acted as an independent political force.[4][5] Traditional dependence on the French defense capability, although reduced, continues to be the case as French military advisers remain closely involved in preparing the Cameroonian forces for deployment to the contested Bakassi Peninsula.

  1. ^ a b International Institute for Strategic Studies. (2014). Chapter Ten: Country comparisons - commitments, force levels and economics. The Military Balance, 114(1), 471–492. doi:10.1080/04597222.2014.871887
  2. ^ a b defenceWeb (14 February 2013). "Cameroon". Defence Web. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  3. ^ "2024 Cameroon Military Strength". www.globalfirepower.com. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  4. ^ "Emerging military-society interaction and political change in Cameroon". ACCORD. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  5. ^ Harkness, Kristen A. (2020-12-17). "Cameroon: The Military and Autocratic Stability". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1800. ISBN 978-0-19-022863-7. Retrieved 2022-04-19.