Namibia army is now operating Chinese FN-6 man-portable surface-to-air missiles that first surfaced in the country early 2016.
The FN-6 is a third-generation infrared-guided man-portable air defense system in service with the People’s Liberation Army and exported to around a dozen countries.
It has been used as the base for several other Chinese surface-to-air missiles, such as the HN and FY series coming with a range of 6 km and altitude of under 4 km.
The FN-6 weapon system consists of combat equipment, testing cabin and training equipment. equipped with a digital infrared seeker with a strong resistance to flares, solar heat and heat from the ground. The infra-red sensor has some ability to distinguish flares, solar heat and ground heat from the target, and is thought to have a 70% hit capability.
The FN-6 is operated by a two-man team and can be equipped with night vision equipment, and can also be equipped with IFF (identification, friend or foe) systems.
A variety of military hardware showcased at the Heroes Days celebration on August 26 held in the Kavango West Region of Namibia included;
- Multiple rocket launchers.
- Howitzers
- A number of Agrale Marrua light vehicles, some fitted with Kord heavy machineguns.
Some years ago, Namibia had received other military hardware from Russia intended for its Marine Corps.
Some of the small arms received from Russia included;
- Kalashnikov AK-103 7.62×39 mm rifles.
- AK-105 5.45×39 mm assault rifles.
- PP-19-01 Vityaz 9×19 mm sub-machineguns.
- SVD-S (based on the Dragunov) sniper rifles.
- PKP Pecheneg 7.62×54 mm machine guns.
- RPK-74M 7.62×39 mm machineguns.
- Kord 12.7×108 mm heavy machineguns.
- AGS-30 30 mm automatic grenade launchers.
- GP-34 40 mm under-barrel grenade launchers.
Namibia had also ordered 9M133 Kornet-E (AT-14) anti-tank missiles from Russia.
