Armée Namibienne

Citation :

Namibia evaluating Chinese Humvee clone - reports



The
Namibia Defence Force (NDF) is believed to be testing a Chinese copy of
the US High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), commonly
known as the Humvee, amid indications that the army intends to acquire
it to boost its vehicle fleet.

According to reports from Walvis
Bay, a vehicle resembling a Humvee with NDF number plates has been
spotted several times on the B2 highway near Usakos and in the city of
Walvis Bay. Although the defence ministry has denied any knowledge of a
Humvee being tested on Namibian soil, a Namibian military source
currently attached to a training programme in Zimbabwe confirmed to
defenceWeb that the NDF is testing the vehicle with the aim of possibly
adopting it.

"The Humvee was spotted and widely appreciated by
the NDF delegation which attended the 2012 Africa Aerospace and Defence
exhibition (AAD) in South Africa two months ago. The NDF believes it is a
vehicle that is well suited for our country's desert terrain as proved
by its widespread use by the US Army as a leading combat vehicle on
rugged terrains in the Iraqi desert and mountainous Afghanistan. Namibia
is a desert country and for that reason, we have good reasons to add
such versatile combat vehicles to our arsenal. My understanding is that
the NDF is impressed and might order a fleet of Humvees very soon," the
source said.

The Namibian defence ministry can plausibly deny
that any HMMWVs are being tested in Namibia because the vehicle on
display at the Africa Aerospace and Defence exhibition outside Pretoria
in September was not in fact an American HMMWV. Rather, it was a China
North Industries Corporation CS/VA1 light strike vehicle, which appears
to be based on the Dongfeng (Eastwind) EQ2050. This HMMWV copy is based
on an imported AM General Hummer H1 chassis and powered by a licence
built Cummins diesel.

If acquired by the NDF, the CS/VA1 or
EQ2050 will join the army's ageing fleet of twenty South African-made
Casspir and thirty Wolf and Wolf Turbo APCs, both built by Namibia-based
Windhoeker Maschinenfabrik. Wolf and Werewolf APC variants include the
Mk I, and Mk II and Mk III Turbo which can be used as troop carriers,
ambulances, water tankers, anti-aircraft gun platforms and logistics and
command vehicles. According to the Military Technology World Defence
Almanac 2012, Namibia also has some WZ523 wheeled armoured personnel
carriers from China, BRDM armoured cars and BTR-12s in service.

In August Last year, the Namibian defence ministry contracted Windhoeker Maschinenfabrik to supply 10 Werewolf Mk II APCs.

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