South Sudan People's Defence Forces | |
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![]() 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
(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 army 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.