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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Sudan
Index
The navy, formed in 1962, was the smallest branch of the
country's military establishment. Its personnel strength was
uncertain but was estimated at 500 officers and men. Headed by a
brigadier general from headquarters in Port Sudan, the service
was responsible for coastal and riverine defense and for
deterring smuggling along the Red Sea coast. A Nile River patrol
unit was based at Khartoum.
The navy was formed originally around a nucleus of four armed
coastal patrol boats provided by Yugoslavia. Subsequently, river
patrol boats, landing craft, and auxiliary vessels were also
obtained from Yugoslavia, and a Yugoslav training staff was on
hand until 1972. In 1975 the Yugoslav patrol boats were replaced
by two seventy-ton patrol craft and four ten-ton patrol craft
transferred from Iran and armed with machine guns. In 1989 four
new 19.5-ton riverine fast patrol craft armed with 20mm and
7.62mm machine guns were delivered by Yugoslavia for operations
on the White Nile. The purpose of the new craft was to protect
river convoys of supplies and troops to the south. The
operational status of the two large patrol craft was regarded as
uncertain in 1990. The general standard of efficiency of the navy
was considered to be inadequate as a consequence of a lack of
maintenance and spare parts. Most auxiliary vessels had drifted
into a state of total disrepair (see
table 15, Appendix).
The navy was assigned two Casa C-212 aircraft, operated by
air force crews, which had a limited capacity to carry out
maritime reconnaissance over the Red Sea. The airplanes were
unarmed.
Data as of June 1991
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