Namibia’s military has displayed several new acquisitions during its 35th anniversary parade, including Milkor Bushcat armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and ASN-209 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Footage from the parade at Grootfontein Air Base on 2 June showed what appears to be an ASN-209 UAV (possibly also known as the KVD-001 and BZK-006) mounted on the back of a launch truck. The ASN-209 has a twin-boom configuration with a pusher propeller and is launched from a truck-mounted rail using a rocket booster and recovered using a parachute, with skids helping to absorb the impact. Range is about 200 km and endurance ten hours. Although originally designed and built in China for the People’s Liberation Army, the ASN-209 has been license-built in Egypt, and also appears to be in Algerian service. Another truck was observed during the anniversary parade carrying two smaller twin-boom UAVs, but it is not clear what their origin is.
Another new addition to the Namibia Defence Force (NDF) inventory is Milkor’s Bushcat 4×4 armoured personnel carrier. It was first spotted in February carrying the remains of the late Founding President Sam Nujoma during his state funeral. Several vehicles were subsequently seen in a parade in March, where they were fitted with remotely operated weapon stations (ROWS) equipped with machineguns.
At the 35th anniversary parade, four Bushcats were seen fitted with remotely operated machineguns, and one with an electro-optical surveillance or targeting system on the roof. All of the vehicles were festooned with antennas, indicating a command and control or electronic warfare role.
The Bushcat is based on an Iveco truck chassis for ease of maintenance and spares and features NATO STANAG Leve 3A and 3B blast and Level 2 ballistic protection. Gross vehicle mass is 12 000, allowing for the carriage of two crew and eight passengers. Maximum speed is 110 km/h and range 1 000 km. It comes in various versions, such as APC, Police riot control, Police special operations, command vehicle, border surveillance, and field ambulance.
Other vehicles observed during the parade included Brazilian Agrale Marrua vehicles (141 were acquired a decade ago), fitted with roof-mounted 7.62 mm machineguns; Toyota Land Cruisers equipped with machineguns; WZ-523 infantry fighting vehicles (at least ten were acquired from China a decade ago); locally manufactured Wolf armoured personnel carriers; Dongfeng EQ2050 (HMMWV copy) vehicles fitted with light artillery guns; BM-21 rocket launchers; towed howitzers; and RG32 armoured personnel carriers fitted with remotely operated machineguns (eight were acquired from South Africa around 2017).
Also spotted were FB-6A short-range air defence systems mounted on Shaanxi SX2190 off-road trucks. The Chinese-built FB-6A typically comprises a Command Vehicle (CV), Firing Vehicle (FV) and FN-6 surface-to-air missile. The system is designed to intercept low-flying aircraft and drones at ranges between 500 and 6 000 metres.
On the combat support side, 6×6 Wolf recovery vehicles, Unimog ambulances, diesel and water bowsers, a Ural mobile field workshop, and a MAN truck carrier rounded out the vehicle parade.
For the flypast, one Mi-24, one SA 315 Cheetah, two SA 316 Chetak, and one Z-9 aircraft comprised the rotary wing fleet. They were followed by a Shaanxi Y-9 and three K-8s, as well as two F-7 jets. Namibia has a dozen K-8s in service, along with two Z-9s, two Mi-24s, and a dozen F-7NM/TF-7NM jets acquired from China. Two Y-9E transport aircraft were delivered in November 2024, making Namibia the first export customer for the type.
Speaking during the NDF’s 35th anniversary celebration, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said the military has been transformed into a formidable force ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
She noted Namibia’s long history of contributing to peacekeeping missions, notably to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique, and UN mission in South Sudan.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said the NDF continues to participate in SADC joint planning training, and will participate in an upcoming exercise with the Botswana Defence Force to ensure readiness for future missions.
She concluded by saying the NDF must plan for modernisation in a fast-changing world. “There is a need to ensure contemporary fighting capability…so we continue to have a professional defence force able to serve us at home and internationally.”
