Editing Chadian National Army

{{short description|Combined military forces of Chad}}
{{Infobox national military
| name                     = Chadian National Army
| native_name              = {{native name|ar|الجيش الوطني التشادي}}<br/>{{native name|fr|Armée nationale tchadienne}}
| image                    = Flintlock 2017 closing ceremony in Chad 170316-A-CJ298-005.jpg
| alt                      = 
| caption                  = Flag of the Chadian National Army
| image2                   = 
| alt2                     = 
| caption2                 = 
| motto                    = ''Honneur et fidélité'' ("Honor and fidelity")
| founded                  = 1961
| current_form             = 
| disbanded                = 
| branches                 = {{plainlist| 
*[[Chadian Ground Forces|Ground Forces]]
*[[Chadian Air Force|Air Force]]
*[[Chadian National Gendarmerie|Gendarmerie]]}}
| headquarters             = [[N'Djamena]]
| flying_hours             = 
| website                  = <!--{{URL|example.mil}}-->
<!-- Leadership -->
| commander-in-chief       = [[Mahamat Déby]]
| commander-in-chief_title = [[List of Presidents of Chad|Commander-in-Chief]]
| chief minister           = 
| chief minister_title     = 
| minister                 = Dago Yacouba<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kindzeka |first=Moki Edwin |title=Chad Installs Defense Minister Amidst Calls to End Military Impunity |date=24 October 2023 |work=[[Voice of America]] |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/chad-installs-defense-minister-amidst-calls-to-end-military-impunity-/7324978.html }}</ref>
| minister_title           = Minister of Defence
| commander                = Lt. Gen. [[Abakar Abdelkerim Daoud]]
| commander_title          = [[Chief of the General Staff (Chad)|Chief of the General Staff]]
<!-- Manpower -->
| age                      = 18 years of age<ref name="CIA" />
| conscription             = Yes<ref name="CIA" />
| manpower_data            =  
| manpower_age             = 
| available                = 
| available_f              = 
| fit                      = 
| fit_f                    = 
| reaching                 = 
| reaching_f               = 
| active                   = 37,750 (2024){{sfn|IISS|2024|pages=481—482}}
| reserve                  = 
| deployed                 = 
<!-- Financial -->
| amount                   = [[United States dollar|US$]]352 million (2023){{sfn|IISS|2024|page=481}}
| percent_GDP              =  2.9 (2023)<ref name="CIA" />
<!-- Industrial -->
| domestic_suppliers       = 
| foreign_suppliers        = 
| imports                  = 
| exports                  = 
<!-- Related articles -->
| history                  = {{collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title = [[Military history of Chad]]:
|[[Chadian Civil War (1965–1979)]]<br />[[Chadian–Libyan conflict]]<br />[[Second Congo War]]<br />[[Chadian Civil War (2005–2010)]]<br />[[Mali War]]<br />[[Chadian intervention in northern Mali]]<br />[[Boko Haram insurgency]]<br />[[Insurgency in Northern Chad]]<br />[[2021 Northern Chad offensive]]}}
| ranks                    = [[Military ranks of Chad]]
}}

The '''Chadian National Army''' ({{langx|ar|الجيش الوطني التشادي|Al-Jaish al-Watani at-Tshadi}}; {{langx|fr|Armée nationale tchadienne}}, '''ANT''') consists of the five Defence and Security Forces listed in Article 185 of the [[Chadian constitution of 2018|Chadian Constitution]] that came into effect on 4 May 2018. These are the National Army (including [[Chadian Ground Forces|Ground Forces]] and [[Chadian Air Force|Air Force]]), the [[Chadian national gendarmerie|National Gendarmerie]], the National Police, the [[National and Nomadic Guard]] (GNNT), and the Judicial Police. Article 188 of the Constitution specifies that National Defence is the responsibility of the Army, Gendarmerie and GNNT, whilst the maintenance of public order and security is the responsibility of the Police, Gendarmerie and GNNT.<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Republic of Chad enacted 4 May 2018 |url=https://www.presidence.td/fr-page-86-La_Constitution.html |website=Official Site of the Presidency of the Republic of Chad |publisher=Presidency of the Republic of Chad |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526205554/https://presidence.td/fr-page-86-La_Constitution.html |archive-date=26 May 2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref> There is also the [[General Directorate of the Security Services of State Institutions]] (DGSSIE), with the functions of presidential security, [[military intelligence]], and [[counterterrorism]]; it answers directly to the [[president of Chad]].<ref name="AFSS2021" /> 

As of 2024, there were an estimated 27,500 soldiers in the Ground Forces, 350 in the Air Force, and 4,500 in the Gendarmerie. There were also 5,400 in the DGSSIE, for a total strength of 37,750 personnel.{{sfn|IISS|2024|pages=481–482}} Other estimates put the total strength of the Chadian National Army, including the DGSSIE, somewhere between 35,000 and 40,000 personnel.<ref name="CIA">{{Cite web |title=Chad - Military and Security |work=[[CIA World Factbook]] |access-date=24 February 2025 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/chad/#military-and-security }}</ref>

Historically, Chad's military was known as the [[Chadian Armed Forces]] (FAT) from independence until 1983, when [[Hissène Habré]] took power from the [[Transitional Government of National Unity (Chad)|transitional government]], and then as the [[Chadian National Armed Forces]] (FANT) from then until Habré was overthrown by [[Idriss Déby]] in 1990. The military is known for being involved in the country's politics. After the death of President Idriss Déby in 2021 during a [[2021 Northern Chad offensive|rebel offensive]], his son [[Mahamat Déby]], who was a military commander, took office as his successor, initially as the leader of the [[Transitional Military Council (Chad)|Transitional Military Council]]. The Chadian National Army has been focused on counterinsurgency operations against rebel groups within the country and Islamic insurgents that are located in the [[Lake Chad]] region.

Chad has an essential role in regional security, with its army often described as the most capable in the [[Sahel]], and it is an active member of the [[G5 Sahel]] and the [[Multinational Joint Task Force]]. It was also the largest contributor to [[MINUSMA]], the [[United Nations]] mission in [[Mali]].<ref name="AFSS2020">{{Cite web |last=Eizenga |first=Daniel |title=Chad and the Escalating Fight against Boko Haram |publisher=Africa Center for Strategic Studies |date=20 April 2020 |url=https://africacenter.org/spotlight/chad-escalating-fight-against-boko-haram/ }}</ref> The Chadian military has combat experience in recent decades from fighting domestic rebel groups, protecting Chad's borders during instability in [[Libya]] and [[Sudan]], and combat tours in Mali, [[Nigeria]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Niger]], and the [[Central African Republic]].<ref name="AFSS2021">{{Cite web |last=Eizenga |first=Daniel |date=3 May 2021 |title=Chad's Ongoing Instability, the Legacy of Idriss Déby |publisher=Africa Center for Strategic Studies |url=https://africacenter.org/spotlight/chads-ongoing-instability-the-legacy-of-idriss-deby/ }}</ref> France had a military presence in Chad from its independence in 1960 until 2025, when the last French base was given over to the Chadian National Army.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Roger |first1=Benjamin |last2=Vincent |first2=Elise |title=Departure of last French soldiers from Chad brings an end to a 'special relationship' |date=2 February 2025 |work=[[Le Monde]] |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2025/02/02/chad-departure-of-the-last-french-soldiers-brings-an-end-to-a-special-relationship_6737701_124.html }}</ref> The [[French Armed Forces]] had a significant role in training some Chadian units.{{sfn|IISS|2024|pages=481—482}}

==History==
{{Main|Military history of Chad}}
===Founding and early conflicts===
The first president of Chad, [[François Tombalbaye]], established the nation's military on 27 May 1961.{{sfn|Hansen|2023|page=121}} From independence through the period of the presidency of Félix Malloum (1975–79), the official national army was known as the [[Chadian Armed Forces]] (''Forces Armées Tchadiennes''—FAT).<ref name=":02">{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite encyclopedia|title=Chad: A Country Study|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/89600373/|date=1990|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|editor-last=Collelo|editor-first=Thomas|isbn=0-16-024770-5|edition=2nd|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=175}}}}</ref> Composed mainly of soldiers from southern Chad, FAT had its roots in the army recruited by France and had military traditions dating back to World War I.<ref name=":02" /> FAT lost its status as the legal state army when Malloum's civil and military administration disintegrated in 1979.<ref name=":02" /> Although it remained a distinct military body for several years, FAT was eventually reduced to the status of a regional army representing the south.

After Habré consolidated his authority and assumed the presidency in 1982, his victorious army, the [[Armed Forces of the North]] (Forces Armées du Nord—FAN), became the nucleus of a new national army.<ref name=":02" /> The force was officially constituted in January 1983, when the various pro-Habré contingents were merged and renamed the [[Chadian National Armed Forces]] (''Forces Armées Nationales Tchadiennes''—FANT).<ref name=":02" />

The military of Chad was dominated by members of [[Toubou]], [[Zaghawa people|Zaghawa]], [[Kanembu people|Kanembou]], [[Hadjerai]], and [[Masa people|Massa]] ethnic groups during the presidency of [[Hissène Habré]]. Later [[Chad]]ian president [[Idriss Déby]] revolted and fled to the [[Sudan]], taking with him many Zaghawa and Hadjerai soldiers in 1989.

===Déby administrations===
[[File:Chadian Eland Mk7.jpg|thumb|Chadian [[Eland Mk7]] armoured car in [[Bangui]], Central African Republic, in 2013]]
[[File:Hélicoptère de combat de l'armée tchadienne à l'aéroport de Diffa VOA.jpg|thumb|Chadian Air Force [[Mil Mi-24]] at [[Diffa Airport]], [[Niger]], in 2015]]
[[File:Chadian soldiers at Chad-Sudan border 3.png|thumb|Chadian troops at the border with Sudan as refugees flee the [[Sudanese civil war (2023–present)|Sudanese civil war]] in 2023]] 
Chad's armed forces numbered about 36,000 at the end of the Habré regime, but swelled to an estimated 50,000 in the early days of Déby's rule. With [[France|French]] support, a reorganization of the armed forces was initiated early in 1991 with the goal of reducing its numbers and making its ethnic composition reflective of the country as a whole. Neither of these goals was achieved, and the military is still dominated by the Zaghawa.

In 2004, the government discovered that many of the soldiers it was paying did not exist and that there were only about 19,000 soldiers in the army, as opposed to the 24,000 that had been previously believed. Government crackdowns against the practice are thought to have been a factor in a failed military mutiny in May 2004.

Renewed conflict, in which the Chadian military is involved, came in the form of [[Chadian Civil War (2005–2010)|a civil war]] against Sudanese-backed rebels. Chad successfully managed to repel many rebel movements, albeit with some losses (see [[Battle of N'Djamena (2008)]]). The army used its [[artillery]] systems and tanks, but well-equipped insurgents probably managed to destroy over 20 of Chad's 60 [[T-55]] tanks, and probably shot down a [[Mi-24 Hind]] [[gunship]], which bombed enemy positions near the border with [[Sudan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN032261.html|title=Reuters - Rebels down a Chadian gunship|access-date=2008-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703225620/http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN032261.html|archive-date=2008-07-03|url-status=dead}}</ref> In November 2006 [[Libya]] supplied Chad with four [[Aermacchi SF.260|Aermacchi SF.260W]] light attack planes. They were used to strike enemy positions by the Chadian Air Force, but one was shot down by rebels.<ref>[http://www.siai-marchetti.nl/sf260mil.html siai-marchetti.nl - SF.260 military customers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030031356/http://www.siai-marchetti.nl/sf260mil.html |date=2006-10-30 }}</ref> During the 2008 battle of [[N'Djamena]], gunships and tanks were put to good use, pushing armed militia forces back from the Presidential palace.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-09-16|title=Chadian Army Helicopters, Tanks Battle Rebels Besieging Presidential Palace|url=http://voanews.com/english/archive/2008-02/2008-02-03-voa4.cfm|access-date=2021-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916071739/http://voanews.com/english/archive/2008-02/2008-02-03-voa4.cfm|archive-date=2008-09-16}}</ref> The battle impacted the highest levels of the army leadership, as [[Daoud Soumain]], its [[Chief of Army Staff (Chad)|Chief of Staff]], was killed.<ref>[[Radio Netherlands Worldwide]]: [https://archive.today/20080208040019/http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/international/5627058/Chad-rebels-kill-army-chief-of-staff Chad rebels kill army chief of staff]</ref>

On March 23, 2020, a Chadian army base was ambushed by fighters of the jihadist insurgent group [[Boko Haram]]. The army lost 92 servicemen in one day. In response, President Déby launched an operation dubbed "Wrath of Boma".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ahmed|first=Kaamil|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/apr/01/fears-for-civilians-in-chad-after-army-suffers-devastating-boko-haram-attack|title=Fears for civilians in Chad after army suffers devastating Boko Haram attack|date=2020-04-01|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-04-28|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> According to Canadian counter terrorism St-Pierre, numerous external operations and rising insecurity in the neighboring countries had recently overstretched the capacities of the Chadian armed forces.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://magazine.zenith.me/en/politics/security-and-jihadism-lake-chad-region|title=Boko Haram is back|date=2020-04-21|website=magazine.zenith.me|language=en|access-date=2020-04-28}}</ref>

After the death of President Idriss Déby on 19 April 2021 in fighting with [[Front for Change and Concord in Chad|FACT]] rebels, his son [[Mahamat Déby Itno|General Mahamat Idriss Déby]] was named interim (and, later, permanent) president and head of the armed forces.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Nako|first1=Madjiasra|last2=Ramadane|first2=Mahamat|date=April 21, 2021|title=Chad in turmoil after Deby death as rebels, opposition challenge military|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chad-deby/chad-in-turmoil-after-deby-death-as-rebels-opposition-challenge-military-idUSKBN2C818G|url-status=live|access-date=21 April 2021|website=Reuters|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421152012/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chad-deby/chad-in-turmoil-after-deby-death-as-rebels-opposition-challenge-military-idUSKBN2C818G |archive-date=2021-04-21 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=21 April 2021|title=Explainer-Who are the rebels threatening to take Chad's capital?|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-chad-security-rebels-idUSKBN2C8231|access-date=21 April 2021|website=Reuters}}</ref>

==Structure and organization==
The Chadian General Staff of the Army Headquarters is located in [[N'Djamena]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abanda |first=Solomon |title=Knowledge exchange: U.S., Chad militaries compare stories |date=7 February 2023 |publisher=U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa|url=https://www.setaf-africa.army.mil/article/30785/knowledge-exchange-us-chad-militaries-compare-stories }}</ref>

The training institution of the Chadian National Army is the ''Groupement des écoles militaires interarmées du Tchad''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Insigne du GEMIA (Groupement des écoles militaires interarmées) de l'ANT (armée nationale du Tchad), avec sa devise "former pour servir", sur un pupitre dans une salle de classe, pendant un cours dispensé par un instructeur du DIO français, du GTB Edelweiss (groupement tactique blindé). |publisher=French Armed Forces |date=2016 |url=https://imagesdefense.gouv.fr/fr/insigne-du-gemia-groupement-des-ecoles-militaires-interarmees-de-l-ant-armee-nationale-du-tchad-avec-sa-devise-former-pour-servir-sur-un-pupitre-dans-une-salle-de-classe-pendant-un-cours-dispense-par-un-instructeur-du-dio-francais-du-gtb-edelweiss-groupem }}</ref>

===Budget===
The CIA World Factbook estimates the military budget of Chad to be 4.2 percent of GDP as of 2006. Given the then GDP ($7.095 bln) of the country, military spending was estimated to be about $300 million. This estimate however dropped after the end of the [[Civil war in Chad (2005–2010)]] to 2.0% as estimated by the [[World Bank]] for the year 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS|title=Military expenditure (% of GDP)}}</ref> Between 2020 and 2023, Chad's military budget consistently remained between 2.5 and 2.9 percent of GDP.<ref name="CIA" />

==External deployments==
===Current===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; width:100%;"
|-
! style="text-align:center; width:15%;" |Location
! style="text-align:center; width:10%;" |Dates
! style="text-align:center; width:75%;" |Details
|-
! [[Western Sahara]]
| {{center|?–present}}
| [[United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara|MINUSRO]]: One Chadian military observer as of 2024.{{sfn|IISS|2024|pages=481—482}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=MINURSO's peacekeepers: National Day of Chad |date=11 August 2024 |publisher=MINURSO |url=https://minurso.unmissions.org/minurso%E2%80%99s-peacekeepers-national-day-chad-1 }}</ref>
|}

===Former===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; width:100%;"
|-
! style="text-align:center; width:15%;" |Location
! style="text-align:center; width:10%;"  |Dates
! style="text-align:center; width:75%;" |Details
|-
! [[Central African Republic]]
| {{center|?–2014}}
| [[Economic Community of Central African States#MICOPAX|MICOPAX]] and [[MISCA]]: As of 2010, there were 121 Chadian military personnel deployed in the Central African Republic for a peacekeeping mission in the framework of ECOWAS.<ref name="IISS2010">{{Cite book |author=IISS |author-link=International Institute for Strategic Studies |date=2010 |title=The Military Balance 2010 |pages=300–301 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-85743-557-3 }}</ref> Chad continued its involvement when the mission was replaced by the African Union-led MISCA, but it chose to withdraw after its soldiers were accused of shooting into a marketplace, unprovoked, in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26884196|title=CAR crisis: UN says Chad troops fired into market|work=BBC News|date=4 April 2014}}</ref>
|-
! [[Ivory Coast]]
|
| [[United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire|UNOCI]]: One Chadian military observer as of 2010.<ref name="IISS2010" />
|-
! [[Mali]]
| {{center|2013–2023}}
| [[Chadian intervention in northern Mali|FATIM]] and [[United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali|MINUSMA]]: Chad has been the largest contributor of troops to the United Nations mission in [[Mali]].<ref name="AFSS2020" /> Before that, from 2013 to 2014, Chad took part in [[Operation Serval]] alongside France.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chad's new strongman emerges from father's shadow |date=21 April 2021 |work=[[France24]] |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210421-chad-s-new-strongman-emerges-from-father-s-shadow }}</ref> In the last year of the mission, 2023, there were 1,449 Chadian soldiers deployed.<ref name="IISS2023">{{Cite book |author=IISS |author-link=International Institute for Strategic Studies |date=2023 |title=The Military Balance 2023 |pages=442–443 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-032-50895-5 }}</ref> As of 2022 Chad had lost a total of 74 soldiers killed as part of the UN mission in Mali.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Secretary-General Honours Peacekeepers' Courage, at Dag Hammarskjöld Medal Ceremony, Presents Military Gender Advocate Award to Champion for South Sudanese Women |date=26 May 2022 |publisher=United Nations |url=https://press.un.org/en/2022/sgsm21298.doc.htm }}</ref>
|-
! [[Nigeria]]
| {{center|2015}}
| [[Multinational Joint Task Force|MNJTF]]: Chad deployed 1,000 soldiers into Nigeria's [[Borno State]] in 2015 to attack Boko Haram.<ref name="AFSS2020" />
|}

==See also==
* [[Chadian Armed Forces]]
* [[Chadian National Armed Forces]]
* [[Nomad and National Guard]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
*{{Cite book |last=Hansen |first=Ketil Fred |chapter=Chad: An Armed Intelligence Culture |editor-last=Shaffer |editor-first=Ryan |title=The Handbook of African Intelligence Cultures |date=2023 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=London |isbn=978-1-5381-5998-9 }}
*{{Cite book |author=IISS |author-link=International Institute for Strategic Studies |date=2024 |title=The Military Balance 2024 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-032-78004-7 }}
*{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Tartter|first=Jean R.|chapter=National Security; Principal Armed Factions, 1975–1987 |title=Chad: A Country Study|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/89600373/|date=1990|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|editor-last=Collelo|editor-first=Thomas|isbn=0-16-024770-5|edition=2nd|location=Washington, D.C.}}

{{CIA World Factbook}}

== Further reading ==
*R. Hure "L'Armee d' Afrique 1830–1962"
*John Keegan "World Armies" {{ISBN|0333172361}}
*"Economic Development and the Libya-Chad Wars," Chapter 12 in Kenneth Pollack, ''Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness,'' [[Oxford University Press]], New York, 2019.
*{{cite book|author=Mahamat Saleh Yacoub|title=Tchad : des rebelles aux seigneurs de guerre : la désagrégation de l'armée nationale|publisher=Editions Al-Mouna|place=N'Djaména, Tchad|date=2005|language=French}}
* {{cite book| last1 = Brachet| first1 = Julien| last2 = Scheele| first2 = Judith| title = The Value of Disorder : Autonomy, Prosperity, and Plunder in the Chadian Sahara| publisher = Cambridge University Press| date = 2019| location = Cambridge| isbn = 9781108428330}}

==External links==
*[https://www.africaintelligence.com/central-africa/2024/11/14/boko-haram-attack-calls-into-question-pilot-training,110339371-gra Chad: Boko Haram attack calls into question pilot training], Africa Intelligence, 14 November 2024 (requires free registration)

{{Chad topics}}
{{Military of Africa}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Military Of Chad}}
[[Category:Military of Chad| ]]
[[Category:Chadian Civil War (2005–2010)]]