thanks for that anwser unitedsomalia. so looks like their are starting to rebuild things, but still have a long way to go. lets hope without wars and bloodshed.

Yea they are starting to rebuild, hopefully if many of the former generals and commanders come back from abroad or and those generals that are working with the insurgency rejoin the new military we will have more success.

Who are they rebuilding under?
What equipment are they using?
Are there any orders out for kit?

I flew to these forums/fundraisers for the last 5 days and got back yesterday, they were organized by Somali agencies, diaspora, and leaders to help raise funds for the new UN backed Transitional Federal government's attempt to rebuild the Somali police force and army. The funds raised was remarkable, the amount garnered by these Somali agencies and diaspora so far is above 2 billion dollars and still going.

The UN has already pledged 250 million dollars in an international donors conference in Brussels to help fund the new Somali government, the EU on its own also pledge at least 60 million Euros towards the government. The Arab league and the African Union pledged 80 million for the next 12 months towards Somali police and army equipment and another 24 million the next 12 months for training.

With this amount of money flowing into the government and with persistence and care we can build a capable police force and army. The target goal for the Somali government in the next 12 months is to fully retrain and re-equip a 6,000 man army and 10,000 man police force with coastal marines.

The equipment the government is slated to purchase abroad in the next 12 months does not include any heavy armor, artillery, or any fixed wing aircraft. It is primarily coastal patrol boats, armored vehicles and carriers, bullet proof vests, all purpose helicopters, night vision equipment etc.

The Somali defense minister stated in one of the meetings I went to that the primary goal of the Somali army, police and coastal marines is to combat the warlords and piracy and stabilize Somalia. He said in order to achieve this the Somali government has already launched 2 offensives to dislodge the insurgents (Al Shabab and their allies). He said that the army and police force are outgunned and outnumbered; therefore, with the purchase of these assets we can level the playing field and carry out a nation wide crack down on these criminals.

He said the Somali police and army need these all purpose helicopters, armored vehicles/APC, bullet proof vests, and night vision for the street-to-street fighting the police and army will have to do in order to expel the militias from the cities such as Mogadishu.


"There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris" (McGeorge Bundy)

I hope it works out for the semiaccepted leaders.

Should the weapons fall into the wrong hands the task force to sort the mess out will have to be that much bigger.

But it´s nice to see the Somalis accepting UN money..

For the Somali Army, Police and Coastal Marines I would suggest these equipment would best serve and should be bought in the arms procurement slated for the next 12 month.

Suggestions for patrol craft:

Super Dvora FPB Coast patrol craft


Armidale class patrol boat


Patrol craft MRTP33


Suggestions for attack/transport helicopter:

Mi-24 superhind



Suggestion for heavy lift helicopter:

Mi-26


CH-47 Chinook



Suggestions for armored vehicles/APC:

Upgraded and armored Humvee




"There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris" (McGeorge Bundy)

Lenco



BTR-3E1


Pandur APC


Spartan APC


Grizzly APC



Gurkha



"There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris" (McGeorge Bundy)

Well you'd probably want to keep your stuff affordable so a lot of that stuff you mentioned above would be out of reach.

For a patrol boat the Shanghai III would fit the bill well.

It's got a top speed of 28 knots and is a dedicated gunboat with little ASW capability. All the space used for ASW and mining equipment has been used for additional firepower.
It's got four 37mm cannons and four 14.5mm machine guns. Also has some ASW mortars. All weapons that pirates can learn to fear if used.
The diagram is that of a Shanghai II. I can't seem to find a single photo of a Shanghai III but I'm guessing they look similar.

Mi-24 as the main attack helicopter.

Mi-8s or Mi-17s as standard logistical helicopters.

Any collection of surplus APCs for ground troops.

Somalia isn't going to suddenly have a modern Army. And even if it was given one, it'd squander it anyway. Better to keep things cheap.

The total budget for the army, police and coastal marines is suppose 2 exceed over 3 billion dollars in the next 12 months, their is tremendous amount of funds coming in so any of those things wouldn't be out of reach. The Somalis themselves raised over 2 billion and going strong so far, not including the money being given by the UN, EU, Arab league, and African Union. And that money is suppose 2 be spent on rebuilding the armed forces.


"There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris" (McGeorge Bundy)

Yes they would be out of reach if you consider that you have to not only buy the hardware but also:

- Maintain them.
- Train crews to use them properly.
- Fuel them.

Not only that but let's consider a lot of other expenses that will have to be covered by the 3 billion.
- Paying the soldiers and sailors a wage that would not tempt them into jeapordizing their jobs by helping pirates.
- Food & Water (costs a lot more than you'd think considering the size of the force you'll need).
- Ammunition (constantly have to buy ammo for practice).
- Training (yeah calling in experts to help train the Somali military in conducting their missions will cost money).
- Lots and lots of trucks.
- Uniforms.
- Communications gear (VERY important and also very expensive). Basically rebuilding of a C3I network to coordinate the military. This alone will run you into the millions of dollars.
- Satellite intelligence (No, Somalia will not launch its own satellite, rather buy images off of civilian companies that are engaged in high resolution remote sensing and/or recieve timely donations from cooperating governments. high res images from private companies will cost a lot of money).
- New facilities (new barracks, new bases, new beds, gyms, TVs etc.)
- Military medical services.

Basically what I'm saying is that there is a LOT of ground that 3 billion will have to cover and when the funds will dry up is anyone's guess. Sounds like to me that it's more of a one time payment that won't go on for very long.
Spend wisely.
A military without sufficient transportation and communications is not an Army. It's an uncoordinated list of small units.
Without proper pay, without proper benefits, soldiers/sailors will be more inclined to go bad or corrupt.
I'd rather be sporting 3rd class weapons with good command, control, computers and intelligence backing me up as well as good logistics to make sure my supplies arrived (hopefully on time) and re-enforcements would actually join a fight that I got engaged in.

Start adding body armor and night vision goggles and the price will go soaring.
Worst part is that these are tempting things to put on the black market.