Armed Forces of the United Republic of the Congo (URC)



The Armed Forces of the United Republic of the Congo (French: Forces Armées de la République Unie du Congo; FARUC) are the armed forces of the United Republic of the Congo (URC), consisting of an army, navy, air force, and republican guard. It numbered to about 210,000 personnel (144,000 army, 30,000 navy, 30,000 air force, 6,000 republican guard) as of 2018.

Army
The Army of the United Republic of the Congo (URC) was the land component of FARUC, and the largest branch, with 144,000 personnel out of the total 210,000. The first president of the URC, Joseph Khamisi, was a major general in the army before the 2016 Congolese coup d'etat, and viewed it as the most important aspect of the military. Much of the military budget went to the army during the first few years of the URC, tough much of it eventually ended up going to the navy and air force.

The army was led by the chief of army staff, usually a lieutenant general. Under him were the commanders of the military districts, usually major generals. Under those were commanders of the brigades, usually brigadier generals or senior colonels. There were some special forces units and other units outside of the normal chain of command, however, the majority of units were brigades that fell into this chain of command. The army received, like the rest of the branches, mass reformations following the creation of the URC. Most of the URC's military was formed from the FARDC, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The FARUC army used a variety of vehicles, many of them shipped in from Russia and other Eastern European states, such as Belarus and Ukraine. Those included T-90 tanks, T-80 tanks, T-72 tanks, MTAS tank destroyers, and BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, among others.

Air force
The Air Force of the United Republic of the Congo (URC) was the aerial warfare branch of the FARUC, being tied for second largest branch with the navy, with 30,000 personnel. The air force of DR Congo, it's predecessor, was in a very poor state, so President Joseph Khamisi received help of European and Asian nations in rebuilding the Air Force from the ground up. With funding from the vastly improved economy of the URC, the air force received many new aircraft, and more advanced training centers were built.

The Air Force received more funding as the years passed, as less was given to the army and more to it and the navy.

Republican guard
The Republican Guard of the United Republic of the Congo (URC) was the presidential guard division of the FARUC. It numbered to roughly 6,000 elite commandos, trained by instructors of the Russian spetsnaz in a partnership program in 2018. The Guard was present in Kinshasa, where 3,000 of them guarded important government installations. Another 3,000 were present in other places around the URC that the president or another official were known to visit, especially at airports.

Navy
The Navy of the United Republic of the Congo (URC) was the maritime branch of the FARUC, with 30,000 personnel and several vessels. The Navy was in a state of disarray by the time of the creation of the URC, like the Air Force, and was created from the ground up with help from other countries. By 2018, the Navy had four destroyers, seven corvettes, and 22 patrol boats. The destroyers and three of the corvettes were on the Atlantic coast, with 10 patrol boats, while four cruisers and 12 patrol boats were on Lake Tinagaye.

Districts
The FARUC was organized into ten military districts, each led by a major general.
 * 1st Military Region/Bandundu
 * 2nd Military Region/Bas-Congo
 * 3rd Military Region/Equateur
 * 4th Military Region/Kasai-Occidental
 * 5th Military Region/Kasai Oriental
 * 6th Military Region/Katanga
 * 7th Military Region/Maniema
 * 8th Military Region/North Kivu
 * 9th Military Region/Province Orientale
 * 10th Military Region/South Kivu