Chadian National Army (Armee Nationale du Tchad, ANT): Ground Forces (l'Armee de Terre, AdT), Chadian Air Force (l'Armee de l'Air Tchadienne, AAT), General Direction of the Security Services of State Institutions (Direction Generale des Services de Securite des Institutions de l'Etat, GDSSIE); National Gendarmerie; National Nomadic Guard of Chad (GNNT) (2021)
note(s): the GDSSIE, formerly known as the Republican Guard, is the presidential guard force and considered Chad's elite military unit; the Chadian Army also includes the Special Anti-Terrorist Group (SATG; aka Division of Special Anti-Terrorist Groups (DGSAT))
note - in transition; the Government of National Accord (GNA) has various ground, air, and naval/coast guard forces under its command; the forces are comprised of a mix of semi-regular military units, militias, civilian volunteers, and foreign troops and mercenaries
forces under Khalifa HAFTER, known as the Libyan National Army (LNA), also include various ground, air, and naval units comprised of semi-regular military personnel, militias, and foreign troops and mercenaries (2020)
Military - note
the ANT is chiefly focused on counterinsurgency/counter-terrorist operations against Boko Haram (BH) and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) in the Lake Chad Basin area (primarily the Lac Province) and countering the terrorist threat in the Sahel; in 2020, it conducted a large military operation against BH in the Lake Chad region; that same year, Chad sent troops to the tri-border area with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to combat ISWA militants (it also contributes a large force to the UN MINUSCA mission in Mali); the ANT has frequently conducted counter-insurgency operations (COIN) against internal anti-government militias and armed dissident groups
as of the Fall of 2020, there were at least 10,000 foreign mercenaries and proxy forces estimated to be deployed in Libya to bolster both GNA- and LNA-aligned forces (2020)
Military and security service personnel strengths
limited and varied information; approximately 30,000 active personnel (20-25,000 Ground Forces; 300 Air Force; 5-10,000 General Direction of the Security Services of State Institutions); 5,000 National Gendarmerie; 3,500 National Nomadic Guard of Chad (2021)
not available
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the ANT is mostly armed with older or second-hand equipment from Belgium, France, Russia, and the former Soviet Union; since 2010, it has received equipment, including donations, from a variety of countries, including China, Italy, Ukraine, and the US (2020)
both the forces of the Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army are largely equipped with weapons of Russian or Soviet origin; as of 2020, Russia, Turkey, and the UAE were reportedly providing weapons and military equipment to the forces in Libya (2020)
