South Sudan People's Defence Forces

South Sudan People's Defence Forces
Flag of the South Sudan People's Defence Forces
Founded1983
Current form2018
Service branchesGround Force
Air Force and Air Defence
Riverine/Navy[1]
HeadquartersBilpham, Central Equatoria
Malual-Chaat, Bor
Wunyiek, Northern Bahr el Ghazal
Mapel, Western Bahr el Ghazal
Leadership
Commander-in-chiefSalva Kiir Mayardit
Minister of Defence and Veterans AffairsChol Thon Balok
Chief of Defense ForcesGeneral Santino Deng Wol (since 11 April 2021)[2]
Personnel
Military age18
Active personnel185,000[3]
Expenditure
Budget£10,240,750,031 SSP ($78,615,712) [2016/17] [citation needed]
Percent of GDP0.86% (2015 est.)
Industry
Domestic suppliersMilitary Industry Corporation
Related articles
HistoryMilitary history of South Sudan

(SPLM)

RanksMilitary 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, 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, the SSPDF comprised the Ground Force, Air Force, Air Defence Forces and Presidential Guard.

  1. ^ "SPLA renamed South Sudan Defense Force in a major army shake up". Eye Radio Network. 16 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  2. ^ "South Sudan's president appoints new army chief". Reuters. 11 April 2021. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  3. ^ IISS 2019, pp. 491