Lao People's Armed Forces
Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox national military
The Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF; Template:Langx) or the Lao People's Army (LPA) is the armed forces of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the institution of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, who are charged with protecting the country.
Active forces
[edit]The army of 29,100 is equipped with 30 main battle tanks. The army marine section, equipped with 16 patrol craft, has 600 personnel. The air force, with 3,500 personnel, is equipped with anti-aircraft missiles and 24 combat aircraft (no longer in service).
Militia self-defence forces number approximately 100,000 organised for local defence. The small arms utilised mostly by the Laotian Army are the Soviet AKM assault rifle, PKM machine gun, Makarov PM pistol, and the RPD light machine gun.
Organization
[edit]The LPAF is divided into four military regions, with its headquarters in Vientiane
- Military Region One (Luang Prabang)
- Military Region Two (Phonsavan)
- Military Region Three (Xépôn)
- Military Region Four (Pakxan)
The LPRP statute states that its political leadership over the military emanates from the LPRP Central Committee's Defence and Public Security Commission (DPSC) and is the highest decision-making institution regarding military and security affairs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
[edit]Until 1975, the Royal Lao Armed Forces were the armed forces of the Kingdom of Laos.
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Serving one of the world's least developed countries, the Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) is small, poorly funded, and ineffectively resourced. Its mission focus is border and internal security, primarily in internal suppression of Laotian dissident and opposition groups.<ref name="cia.gov"/>
This includes the suppression of the 1999 Lao Students Movement of Democracy demonstrations in Vientiane, and in countering ethnic Hmong insurgent groups and other groups of Laotian and Hmong people opposing the one-party Marxist–Leninist LPRP government and the support it receives from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.<ref name="cia.gov"/>
Together with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the government, the Lao People's Army (LPA) is the third pillar of state machinery, and as such is expected to suppress political and civil unrest and similar national emergencies faced by the government in Vientiane. The LPA also has reportedly upgraded skills to respond to avian influenza outbreaks. At present, there is no major perceived external threat to the state and the LPA maintains very strong ties with the neighbouring Vietnamese military (2008).<ref name="cia.gov"/>
According to some journalists, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), humanitarian and human rights organisations, the Lao People's Army has repeatedly engaged in egregious human rights violations and the practice of corruption in Laos.<ref name="auto3">Amnesty International, (23 March 2007), "Lao People's Democratic Republic: Hiding in the jungle – Hmong under threat" Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="auto4">The Centre for Public Policy Analysis, CPPA, Washington, D.C. (1 August 2013), http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org</ref> The LPAF and its military intelligence play a major role in the arrest, imprisonment and torture of foreign prisoners in Vientiane's notorious Phonthong Prison and the communist Lao gulag system where Australians Kerry and Kay Danes were imprisoned and where civic activist Sombath Somphone may be imprisoned following his arrest in December 2012.<ref>Scoop Independent News, Auckland, New Zealand, (19 March 2013) "Laos Officials Criticized for Obstructing Investigation" http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1303/S00169/laos-officials-criticized-for-obstructing-investigation.htm (Archive)</ref>
In 2013, attacks by the Lao People's Army against the Hmong people intensified, with soldiers killing four unarmed Hmong school teachers in addition to engaging in other human rights abuses according to the Lao Human Rights Council, the Centre for Public Policy Analysis and others.<ref>Businesswire, businesswire.com (4 March 2013) "Laos: Attacks Intensify Against Lao, Hmong People" http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130304006755/en/Laos-Attacks-Intensify-Lao-Hmong-People (Archive)</ref>
Equipment
[edit]Tanks, armored vehicles and trucks
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Artillery
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Air defense
[edit]| Photo | Model | Type | Origin | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:SA-3 EP 2006.JPG | S-125 Neva/Pechora | Short-range SAM system | Template:Flag | Unknown | |
| File:9A35 combat vehicle 9K35 Strela-10 - TankBiathlon14part2-37.jpg | 9K35 Strela-10 | Vehicle-mounted SAM system | Template:Flag | Unknown | |
| Yitian anti air system | Surface-to-air missile | Template:Flag | Unknown | ||
| File:ZSU-23-4 Shilka -02.jpg | ZSU-23-4 Shilka | Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun | Template:Flag | Unknown | |
| File:SA-7.jpg | Strela-2 | Surface-to-air missile | Template:Flag | Unknown | Received 100 launchers from Soviet Union in the 80s<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| File:M1939-37mm-hatzerim-1.jpg | 37 mm automatic air defence gun M1939 (61-K) | Air defence gun | Unknown | ||
| File:S-60-57mm-hatzerim-1.jpg | 57 mm AZP S-60 | Automatic anti-aircraft gun | Unknown | ||
| File:14,5-мм счетверенная зенитная пулеметная установка конструкции Лещинского ЗПУ-4 (1).jpg | ZPU | Auto anti-aircraft gun | Unknown | ||
| File:ZU-23-2 in Saint Petersburg.jpg | ZU-23-2 | Anti-aircraft gun | Unknown |
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Weapons
[edit]
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<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="jones2009">Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). Template:ISBN.</ref>
Mortars
[edit]- 81mm<ref name="auto2">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 82mm<ref name="auto2"/>
- 120mm<ref name=":3" />
- Template:Flag M1938 mortar<ref name="auto2"/>
- Template:Flag 120mm: M-43<ref name="auto2"/>
- Template:Flag M2 4.2 inch mortar
Accidents
[edit]On 17 May 2014, Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Douangchay Phichit was killed in a plane crash, along with other top ranking officials.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The officials were to participate in a ceremony to mark the liberation of the Plain of Jars from the former Royal Lao government forces.<ref name="theg_Laos">Template:Cite web</ref> Their Russian-built Antonov AN 74-300 with 20 people on board crashed in Xiangkhouang Province.<ref name="PlaneCrash">Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
[edit]- Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force
- Military ranks of the Lao People's Armed Forces
- Lao Army F.C.
References
[edit]External links
[edit]Template:Association of Southeast Asian Nations Armed Forces Template:Laos topics Template:Military of Asia Template:List of equipment of the Southeast Asian security forces