Armed and insecure

1 MiG-29/Fulcrum-A Fighter aircraft
1 BTR-70 Armoured Personnel Carrier
2011
2012
Second-hand
Second-hand, possibly modernised
Unknown
(120) 9M33/SA-8 Surface-to-air
missiles (SAM)
(4) 9K33 Osa/SA-8 mobile SAM systems
2014
Probably second-hand, possibly
modernised
Second-hand, possibly modernised
2014
Source: SIPRI’s Arms Transfers Database: http://www.sipri.org/databases/armstransfers (data generated in June 2016)
SIPRI only covers ‘major conventional weapons’ excluding e.g. small arms and artillery under 100mm calibre and their ammunition, unguided rockets and
missiles, free-fall aerial munitions, as well as military trucks.
Note: data between brackets are unconfirmed.
TRUCKS 89
In June 2015, the Dutch VPRO radio revealed that military trucks had been supplied to Sudan
by Van Vliet Trucks Holland BV. While they were said to have been ‘demilitarised’ and sold to
a private company, at least four of the very same trucks had been captured from Sudan’s army
by SPLM/A-N rebels in South Kordofan. The story originated in a 2013 report detailing how
MAN military trucks, shipped from Europe in 2010 and 2011, were seen in South Kordofan. 90
Labels still visible on the trucks revealed that Van Vliet had supplied the trucks, which they had
previously bought from VEBEG, part of Germany’s Ministry of Finance that manages sales of
Bundeswehr surplus stockpiles. The trucks were shipped from Antwerp on 26 June 2010 and
from Amsterdam on 27 October 2011. One shipment offloaded in Port Sudan contained 99 exmilitary
trucks. So far, neither the Dutch authorities nor Van Vliet have revealed the volume of
the second shipment, nor any further transfers of ex-military equipment.
The trucks are used for the transport of troops and to supply arms and ammunition, and
are thus strategically important to the SAF. Furthermore, one Van Vliet truck was found with
Séléka rebels fighting in the Central African Republic, as investigations by Conflict Armament
Research revealed. 91 It has not been established how it got there, nor how many more there
are in that country. Germany has since introduced new measures, requiring foreign companies
to ask permission whenever they resell equipment bought through VEBEG and to show an
end-user certificate, regardless of whether authorities in the trader’s country would require a
permit for such exports. In June 2015, Van Vliet said it was ceasing its business with Sudan
as a consequence of the negative media attention and for fear of US sanctions. Nearly a year
later, the Dutch government also changed its policy, requiring a licence for the export of former
military vehicles, demilitarised or not.
SMALL ARMS AND LIGHT WEAPONS
Besides an abundance of decades-old stocks circulating in the region, Sudan’s imports of new
89 This section is based on PAX, ‘Export control strengthened after Sudan truck scandal’, May 2016, https://wapenfeiten.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/exportcontrol-strengthened-after-sudan-truck-scandal/.
90 Small Arms Survey, ‘New War, Old Enemies: Conflict Dynamics in South Kordofan’, HSBA, March 2013, http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/about-us/highlights/
highlight-hsba-wp29.html.
91 Conflict Armament Research, ‘Groupes Armés Non Étatiques en République Centrafricaine - Types et sources d’armes et de munitions identifiées’, January 2015.
PAX ! Armed and insecure
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