Gafat Armament Engineering Complex is an Ethiopian
arms industry and one of the military production facilities of the
Metals and Engineering Corporation
METEC (acronym for Metals and Engineering Corporation) is an Ethiopian arms industry, arms and machinery industry founded in 2010. It is the state largest military industrial complex, responsible for the production of military equipment and civi ...
.
With its headquarters in
Bishoftu, it specializes in producing wide range of infantry equipment that meet the requirement of the
Ethiopian National Defense Force
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) () is the combined military force of Ethiopia. ENDF is consisted of 10 command forces which is controlled by the Chief of General Staff.
Commanders of the Military
Supreme Commander – Taye At ...
.
History
It was established in January 1986 as the Gafat Engineering Factory to fulfill the need for local manufacture of basic infantry equipment. It initially produced
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
automatic rifles and light machine guns, as well as maintenance. It was later expanded to manufacture
PK machine gun
The PK (, transliterated as ''Pulemyot Kalashnikova'', or "Kalashnikov's machine gun"), is a belt-fed general-purpose machine gun, chambered for the 7.62×54mmR rimmed cartridge. The modernized and most commonly known variant, known as the PKM ...
s, and automatic weapons attached on armoured vehicles and helicopters.
To fully utilize its manufacturing capacity, the complex has diversified by supplying various items for civilian use.
It is often believed that North Korean advisors assisted with manufacturing of small arms.
Products
Military products include: various types of automatic rifles and machine guns; 40 mm grenade launchers; various types of guns such as hand guns, strike dispensing guns, etc.; and sniper scopes.
Civilian products include: various plastic products; various products for different industries in construction; and various kitchen wares and household utensils.
See also
*
Gafat people
The Gafat language is an extinct Ethio-Semitic language once spoken by the Gafat people along the Blue Nile in Ethiopia, and later, speakers pushed south of Gojjam in what is now East Welega Zone. Gafat was related to the Harari language and Ea ...
, an extinct ethnic group that historically provided military support to the Ethiopian
Solomonic dynasty
*
Sebastopol, a cannon produced in the Gafat foundry northeast of
Debre Tabor
Debre Tabor (, lit. "Mount Tabor") is a town and woreda in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, about 100 kilometers southeast of Gondar and 50 kilometers east of Lake Tana, this historic town has a lat ...
, set up by
Tewodros II
Tewodros II (, once referred to by the English cognate Theodore; baptized as Kassa, – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to ...
to manufacture modern arms
References
FDRE Defence Industry, May 2008
Military industrial facilities of Ethiopia
Oromia
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