, image = , alt = , caption = , image2 = , alt2 = , caption2 = , motto = , founded = 1975 , current_form = , disbanded = , branches = Surinamese Land Forces
Roundel of Suriname

Suriname Air Force
Suriname Coast Guard , headquarters =

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname' ...

, flying_hours = , website = https://defense.gov.sr/ , commander-in-chief = Chan Santhokhi , commander-in-chief_title = Commander-in-chief , chief minister = , chief minister_title = , minister = Krishna Mathoera , minister_title = Minister of Defense , chief_of_staff = , chief_of_staff_title = , commander =

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Werner Kioe A Sen , commander_title = Commander of the Armed Forces , age = 18 , conscription = , manpower_data = 2021 , manpower_age = 18–49 , available = 134,105 , available_f = , fit = 79,122 , fit_f = , reaching = 3,086 , reaching_f = , active = 2,000 , ranked = , reserve = , deployed = , amount = US$60,000,000 , percent_GDP = 0.7% , domestic_suppliers = , foreign_suppliers = * * * * , imports = , exports = , history =

1980 Surinamese coup d'état The 1980 Surinamese coup d'état, usually referred to as the Sergeants' Coup (), was a military coup in Suriname which occurred on 25 February 1980, when a group of 16 sergeants () of the Surinamese Armed Forces (SKM) led by Dési Bouterse ...

Surinamese Interior War , ranks = Military ranks of Suriname After the creation of the Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Royal Netherlands Army was entrusted with the defence of Suriname, while the defence of the Netherlands Antilles was the responsibility of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The army set up a separate

Netherlands Armed Forces in Suriname The Netherlands Armed Forces in Suriname (''Troepenmacht in Suriname''; TRIS, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of Suriname (later known as the constituent country of Suriname), in the are ...

( nl, Troepenmacht in Suriname, TRIS). Upon independence in 1975, this force was turned into the Surinamese Armed Forces (, SKM). On February 25, 1980, a group of 15 non-commissioned officers and one junior

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

, under the leadership of

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in th ...

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's ''de fact ...

, staged a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

and overthrew the Government. Subsequently, the SKM was rebranded as the National Army (, NL). The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

has provided limited military assistance to the Surinamese armed forces since the election of a democratic government in 1991. In recent years, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

has provided training to military officers and

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

makers to promote a better understanding of the role of the military in a civilian government. Also, since the mid-1990s, the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

has been donating military equipment and logistical material to the Surinamese Armed Forces, as has

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Organization

Suriname's National Armed Forces are composed of some 2,500 personnel, the majority of whom are deployed in the Army of Suriname. Surinamearmy

Army

Light Infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

(33ste Bataljon der Infanterie) Formed in 1987. *A Special Forces Corps. *A Support Arm. () *A

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

Corps.

Air Force

In 1982 a small air arm was formed within the Suriname defense force called "Surinaamse Luchtmacht" in short also called LUMA. The first military aircraft of the young air force was a Hughes 500 - Model 369D helicopter, simply registered SAF-100 and being used for light observation tasks. Unfortunately the aircraft was written off in March 1982 killing all five occupants (Major Henk Fernandes, second lieutenant Norman de Miranda, soldier Tjon a Kon and soldier Kowid and American pilot Foster Ford), but from May of the same year the Suriname Air Force was being equipped with four (Pilatus) Britten Norman BN-2B Defenders. Registered with the numbers SAF-001, SAF-002, SAF-003 and SAF-004. Later on during the decade a

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.Cessna 206 ''(SAF-200)'' and in 1993 a Cessna T303 Crusader ''(SAF-008)'' was acquired. The first official Suriname Air Force Commander from 1983 until 1989 was air force

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Eddie Alenso Savalie Djoe. He was one of the passenger victims of the Surinam Airways Flight 764 accident in June 1989, by then he was already promoted to the rank of Major. All aircraft of the Suriname Air Force undertake border patrols, utility transport and SAR (Search & Rescue) missions from the main base at Paramaribo - Zorg en Hoop and are occasionally detached to Zanderij -

Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport , also known as Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, and locally referred to simply as JAP, is an airport located in the town of Zanderij and hub for airline carrier Surinam Airways, south of Par ...

, Nieuw Nickerie - Major Fernandes Airfield,

Albina Airstrip Albina Airstrip is an airport serving Albina, the capital of the Marowijne District of Suriname. It is one of the oldest airports in Suriname, in use since 1953, when the Piper Cub (PZ-NAC) of Kappel-van Eyck named "Colibri" landed there from Z ...

and Moengo Airstrip. In 1986 anti-government guerrilla activity prompted the government to acquire a pair of Aérospatiale SA.316B Alouette III ''(SAF-400 & SAF-500)'' helicopters from the Portuguese Air Force (''Portuguese: Força Aérea Portuguesa''), formerly registered ''FAP9350'' & ''FAP9386''. In the same year also three

Pilatus PC-7 The Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer is a low-wing tandem-seat training aircraft designed and manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The aircraft is capable of all basic training functions including aerobatics, instrument, tactical and n ...

's ''(SAF-111, SAF-112 & SAF-113)'' were ordered in Switzerland for COIN (Counter-Insurgency) missions. One of the Alouettes crashed and both delivered PC-7s were returned to Switzerland but one was later re-delivered. In 1987 a

Bell 205 The Bell 204 and 205 are the civilian versions of the UH-1 Iroquois single-engine military helicopter of the Huey family of helicopters. They are type-certificated in the transport category and are used in a wide variety of applications, inc ...

Iroquois ''(SAF-300)'' was acquired from Venezuela and used as a gunship for five years prior to sale to the US as N6594S in 1991. It crashed in July 1987 due to a mechanical failure killing the American pilot Billy Pearson, seriously injuring the American mechanic and four other Surinamese crewmembers. The helicopter was later repaired and back in action. Two CASA 212-400s Aviocar transports ''(SAF-212 & SAF-214)'' Garret AiResearch TPE331-10HR turbo-prop engined aircraft were delivered in 1999. One of these two Spanish built CASA 212-400s is a Maritime Patrol Aircraft version ''(SAF-214)'' which was modified for the maritime patrol role with a Bendix RDR-1500 surveillance radar. Lack of spares and funding has hampered maintenance and sometimes grounding much of the SAF fleet. In 2012 six experts from Venezuela made an assessment for the Suriname Air Force on the rehabilitation of the Casa 212 airplanes and now the Suriname Air Force has sold them to Fayard Enterprises in the USA. Three single engined Indian

HAL Chetak HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fig ...

helicopters were ordered in 2009. In a deal worth US$13.4 million with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited AL facilitated through a line of credit from India. The deal was previous rumoured to include the more modern twin engined HAL Dhruv helicopters, but this proved to be wrong. On 26 December 2012 ten technical personnel of the Suriname Air Force left to India to be trained to become certified helicopter mechanics. In 2014 eight helicopter pilots from the Suriname Air Force were trained on operating the HAL Chetak helicopters in Bangalore, India. In 2014 it was announced that Suriname's order for helicopters from India was in fact for HAL Chetak and not the HAL Dhruv even as the Chetak production line was planned to be shut down. Rumours aside, by the end of January 2015 the three Indian Chetak helicopters were assembled and delivered in Suriname as SAF-H001 ''(c/n AH-350)'', SAF-H002 ''(c/n AH-351)'' & SAF-H003 ''(c/n AH-352)''. These registrations later changed to SAF-153, SAF-303 and SAF-811 when operational training started. The plan is to have one helicopter each based at the city of Paramaribo (

Zorg en Hoop Airport Zorg en Hoop Airport is an airport serving general aviation in the city of Paramaribo, Suriname. It is west of the Suriname River, between the city quarters of Zorg en Hoop and Flora. The runway length includes a displaced threshold on Run ...

), Nickerie ( Major Henk Fernandes Airport) and Albina (

). Finally on 13 March 2015 the helicopter fleet of three Chetaks was officially handed over by the Indian ambassador Subashini Murgesan to the Minister of Defence of Suriname Lamuré Latour in a ceremony at Zorg en Hoop. On the same day and occasion the Minister announced that a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter was about to be added to the airfleet of the Suriname Air Force shortly, with pilots already in training. Because of the financial crisis in Suriname, the Air Force has had to decommission one of its Chetaks.

Current inventory

Retired aircraft

Previous aircraft operated by the Air Wing include the Cessna 206,

, and Britten-Norman Islander. Helicopters included the

and Alouette III.

Navy and Coast Guard

In 1977 the Navy (Marine) of Suriname received three large patrol vessels from the Dutch, built by De Vries Scheepsbouw. With a length of 32 meters each ship had two Paxman 12YHMC diesel engines of 1200HP performing a maximum speed of 20 knots. Delivery was between February 1977 and 1978 and the hull numbers were S-401, S-402 and S-403. Now all three are out of service, the last one S-401 later P-401 is still moored at the Marine Harbor. One was re-built as a luxurious yacht. All ships had their base at the Marine harbor on the Suriname river. Today most of the fleet of the navy are based at Boxel, close to the resort town of

Domburg Domburg is a seaside resort on the North Sea, on the northwest coast of Walcheren in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Veere, and lies about 11 km northwest of the city of Middelburg, the provincial capital ...

in the

Wanica District Wanica is a district of Suriname located in the north of the country. Wanica's capital city is Lelydorp, the second-largest city in Suriname. Wanica has a population of 118,222 and an area of 443 km2. Following neighbouring Paramaribo, Wani ...

on the Suriname river. In November 2012 The Ministry of Defense bought three patrol vessels for the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

. This order was worth 16 million euros. These patrol vessels will be used for fishery protection and to counterattack piracy in Surinamese waters. The first Fast Patrol Boat (P201), a 32 meters long, 6,3 meters wide FPB 98 type, was delivered in June 2013. The first boat arrived in Paramaribo with a container vessel from the port of Saint-Nazaire, France. The vessels can reach speeds of 30 knots. Delivery of the remaining two vessels (P101 & P102), FPB 72 types (24 meters long), occurred by the end of July, 2013. The Surinamese Government ordered the three vessels, accelerating planning to set up a coast guard for Suriname that will be deployed to conduct patrol duties and fight maritime crime activities like

illegal fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries. Illegal fishing takes ...

, drug trafficking, and piracy. The coast guard is a branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Soldiers were transferred from the Navy, to form the initial coast guard staff. The Maritime Authority of Suriname (MAS) is currently training 16 students from the Nature Technical Institute (NaTIn) and Technical Faculty of University of Suriname on how to conduct technical maintenance of the vessels. While the first three boats will barely be sufficient to patrol Suriname's territorial waters and combat maritime crime activities such piracy, rapid reaction is now possible. The unit has its own base on the banks of the Suriname River in

, with posts at the border with Guyana (in western District Nickerie) and

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

(in eastern District Marowijne). Legislation on which the coast guard will be founded is almost finished. It will soon be tabled in the Council of Ministers and the Council of State, after which it will head for the National Assembly for approval. The new unit is a civil organisation, with authority to enforce the law in Suriname territorial waters. The Surinamese government does not intend to make cuts to the Navy (Marine), once the Coast Guard is fully operational. The Navy will keep operating in the high seas outside the zone.

Command structure

Then president 300px The President of the Republic is the head of the armed forces, with the title of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (''Opperbevelhebber van de Strijdkrachten'').The President is assisted by the Minister of Defence in his role over the armed forces. Beneath the President and Minister of Defense is the Commander of the Armed Forces (''Bevelhebber van de Strijdkrachten''),

Hedwig Gilaard, whose headquarters is in Paramaribo, was followed-up after three years by

Ronni Benschop, who in turn was promoted to Brigade General in February 2014. This is the highest-ranked officer in the Armed Forces of Suriname ever. The Commander called "Bevelhebber", is the Military Chief, charged with command over the different Military Branches. The Military Branches and regional Military Commands report to the Commander.

Commanding officers of the Suriname Armed Forces at present

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Chan Santokhi Supreme Commander-in-Chief * Krishna Mathoera, Minister of Defence * Abdoelrahman S., Director of the Ministry of Defence *

Henri van Axeldongen, Commander of the Armed Forces * Lieutenant Colonel Werner Kioe A Sen, Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces * Lieutenant Colonel Bob Mangal, Chief of Staff * Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Blokland, Commander of the Navy * Lieutenant Colonel Marven van Huisduinen, Commander of the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

(Luchtmacht) * Lieutenant Colonel Ashok Jagdew, Commander of the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

(Landmacht) * Lieutenant Colonel Petrus Wasimin, Commander of the Military Police Corps * Lieutenant Colonel Lea Hynes-Parris, Inspector General of the Armed Forces * Major Radjoe Bhola, Acting Director of the Coast Guard,

Commanders of the Suriname Armed Forces

The Armed Forces is headquartered in Paramaribo. The task of the national army of Suriname is defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Suriname against foreign armed military aggression. That is, the defense of not only the territory but also the territorial waters and the airspace above it. The Ministry of Defence consists of the Policy Centre and the operational part (the national army) that makes up the Defence Organization. The Ministry of Defence has no departments. There are various services and units. The Policy Centre is responsible for the care of the armed forces so that timely and adequate it can perform the duties or missions assigned to it by law in an efficient and effective manner. Providing assistance to international organizations, if and to the extent that command is given for that purpose by the relevant authority. This is e.g. for humanitarian operations of the United Nations. Also providing assistance in the preparation and implementation of projects related to the socio-economic development of Suriname There are several military installations, barracks and detachments in the various districts including the

Memre Boekoe barracks The Memre Boekoe barracks (Dutch: Memre Boekoe-kazerne) is a military installation in Paramaribo, Suriname. It was constructed during World War II as barracks for the American soldiers stationed in Suriname. It was originally named ''Kampement Ge ...

(Paramaribo), the Naval Marine base (

), the Air Force Luma base ( Zorg en Hoop, Paramaribo), the training centre for recruits namely the and the detachment Zanderij, the eastern border post, the Akontoe Velantie Kazerne at Albina, in Nickerie the western border post, the Professor Dr. Ali Kazerne and on the Kennedy Highway to Concordia the 1st Sgt Martowidjojo Kazerne. There are also various detachments and the so-called small stations throughout Suriname in the districts Sipaliwini, Saramacca, Brokopondo and Para. But also the protection of important objects such as the Afobaka Dam or the bridge over the

Coppename River The Coppename is a river in Suriname (South America) in the district of Sipaliwini, forming part of the boundary between the districts of Coronie and Saramacca. Course The Coppename river begins in the Wilhelmina Mountains. Its tributaries ar ...

Bitagron Witagron (or Bitagron) is a Kwinti village in Suriname on the Coppename River at the crossing of the Southern East-West Link from Paramaribo to Apoera in West-Suriname. In the local language ''Bitagron'' means 'Land of my forefathers'. Witagron ...

belong to the protective task of the National Army of Suriname.

Conflicts

Surinamese Interior War

The Armed Forces of Suriname were engaged in a domestic war against a few hundred freedom fighters who named themselves " Jungle Commandos" led by

Ronnie Brunswijk Ronnie Brunswijk (; born 7 March 1961) is a Surinamese politician, businessman, footballer, convicted drug trafficker, former rebel leader, and the current Vice President of Suriname. Brunswijk served in the early 1980s as the personal bodyguard ...

between 1986 and 1992. Surinamese armed forces also fought against the Resistance Amerindian groups who called themselves " Tucayana Amazonas" and were led by Alex Jubitana and Thomas Sabajo. These Amerindian insurgents fought from 1986 to 1989. They opposed the expropriation of land owned by indigenous people and discrimination by the military regime.

Role

* Defend the territorial integrity of Suriname. * Assist the civil power in the maintenance of law and order when required. * Contribute to the economic development of Suriname. The Army also participated in the Multi-National Force in Haiti in the 90's and were redeployed in 2010.

Army Ranks

Suriname shares a rank structure similar to that of the

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and

enlisted personnel An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States mi ...

Naval Equipment

* 7 patrol boats * River Patrol Boat *

Inflatable boat An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and bow made of flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and hull is often flexible, while for boats longer than , the floor typically consists ...

* Tug T-001 - ex-

East German Navy The ''Volksmarine'' (VM, ; en, People's Navy) was the naval force of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The ''Volksmarine'' was one of the service branches of the National People's Army and primarily performed a coastal d ...

Project 1381 Type 414 Karl Heinz I *Patrol Vessels (5) *P201 (FPB 98 type patrol boat) *P101 ( FPB 72 type patrol boat) *P102 ( FPB 72 type patrol boat)

Future

With latest procurement of three HAL Chetak helicopters from India for the Air Force and three patrol vessels from France for the new Coast Guard the Armed Forces of Suriname should be better equipped to fulfill its roles in the future. On September 12, 2012. The Suriname defense minister, Lamouré Latour, discussed with the Brazilian defense minister the possibility of the Military of Suriname acquiring from two to four Brazilian Embraer AT-29B Super Tucano light attack (COIN) trainer planes, 500 ton light patrol ships and the revitalization of the armoured vehicles supplied from Brazil in 1983.

Equipment

Beretta 92 The Beretta 92 (also Beretta 96 and Beretta 98) is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and manufactured by Beretta of Italy. The Beretta 92 was designed in 1975, and production began in 1976. Many variants in several different calibers c ...

- seen in use during training with U.S. Forces. FN FAL- main rifle used by Army.

FN F2000 The FN F2000 is a 5.56×45mm NATO bullpup rifle, designed by FN Herstal in Belgium. The F2000 made its debut in March 2001 at the IDEX defence exhibition held in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. As of early 2019, the F2000 is removed fro ...

- used by some units.

CETME Model L The Model L is a Spanish 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed in the late 1970s at the state-owned small arms research and development establishment CETME (''Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Materiales Especiales'') located in Madrid. The rifle ...

- seen in a parade.

EE-9 Cascavel The EE-9 ''Cascavel'' (, translated to ''Rattlesnake'') is a six-wheeled Brazilian armoured car developed primarily for reconnaissance. It was engineered by Engesa in 1970 as a replacement for Brazil's ageing fleet of M8 Greyhounds. The vehicle w ...

armoured car (45)

EE-11 Urutu The EE-11 Urutu is a Brazilian amphibious armored personnel carrier. It was based on the drive train and chassis components of the EE-9 Cascavel armored car and initially emerged as part of a project to develop an amphibious troop-carrying counter ...

armoured personnel carrier (16) DAF YP-408 Dutch made 6x8 armoured vehicle (5) DAF YA440 trucks with M-55 anti-aircraft guns

ZPU-1 The ZPU (, meaning "anti-aircraft machine gun mount") is a family of towed anti-aircraft gun based on the Soviet 14.5×114mm KPV heavy machine gun. It entered service with the Soviet Union in 1949 and is used by over 50 countries worldwide. Qua ...

towed anti-aircraft guns

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suriname National Army Military units and formations established in 1975