Several new vehicle types featured in Chad's annual military parade on 11 August, including a large number of Terrier LT-79 light armoured personnel carriers (APCs) operated by the elite Directorate General of Security Services of the State Institutions (DGSSIE).
Eight of the Ara 2 MRAPs that Nigeria's Proforce delivered to Chad in May. (Proforce)
The LT-79's manufacturer, The Armoured Group, announced in early August that it had shipped 30 of the vehicles to a Central African country it did not identify. Africa Intelligence reported in June that Chad had ordered 60 LT-79s.
Built on a Toyota Land Cruiser 79 chassis, the LT-79 has a combat weight of 5.6 tonnes, features all-round CEN B6-level armouring, and can carry six to eight dismounts depending on the seating arrangement. The Chadian vehicles are fitted with a protected weapon station and armed with 12.7 mm DShK-type heavy machine guns.
The DGSSIE also displayed two Arquus Bastion vehicles that appear to be the same APC variant that the European Union has delivered to Mali and Burkina Faso as part of its support for the G5 Sahel Joint Force, which includes Chad.
The Division of Special Anti-Terrorist Groups (DGSAT), which has been heavily committed to operations against militants in the Lake Chad area, also paraded two Bastions of the same variant, one of which featured several antennas, possibly indicating it is used as a command post.
The DGSAT column featured two Ejder Yalçin mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles made by the Turkish company Nurol Makina in their first official presentation to the public. Chadian soldiers serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali have previously been seen operating Ejder Yalçins.
Six Nigerian-made Proforce Ara 2 MRAPs also featured in the DGSAT's armoured component. Proforce told Janes
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