4 Artillery Brigade (pronounced as ''Four Artillery Brigade''), colloquially known as "Gunners", is the

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

arm of the

Namibian Army The Namibian Army is the ground warfare branch of the Namibian Defence Force. History Development of Namibia's army was the fastest of the three arms of service. The first units of the Army were deployed as early as 1990. The Army was formed ...

based at

Otjiwarongo Otjiwarongo (Herero language, Herero for "beautiful place") is a city of 49,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Otjiwarongo Constituency, Otjiwarongo electoral constituency and also the capital ...

. It functions as the Army's artillery Formation and hosts all the Artillery regiments of the Army.

History

The brigade was formed in 1999. It is the controlling entity of all artillery units in the Army. Shortly after its formation the Brigade received G2 towed artillery from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The prefix "4" is taken from 4 May 1978, the date on which the

SADF The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...

attacked a

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

refugee camp in

Cassinga Cassinga or Kassinga is a town and commune in the municipality of Jamba, province of Huíla, Angola. It is situated on an old and important two-track road from Jamba to Huambo. Established as an ore mine and during the Civil War allegedly ...

Equipment

The Brigade uses the following equipment: * BL 5.5 *

Ordnance QF 25 pounder The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, with a calibre of 3.45 inches (87.6 mm), was a piece of field artillery used by British and Commonwealth forces in the Second World War. Durable, easy to operate and versatile, ...

152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20) The 152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20) (), is a Soviet Union, Soviet heavy gun-howitzer. The gun was developed by the design bureau of the plant no 172, headed by Fyodor Petrov, F. F. Petrov, as a deep upgrade of the 152-mm gun M1910/34, in ...

BM-21 Grad The BM-21 "Grad" () is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-S ...

* Grad-P *

Type 81 (rocket launcher) The PHL-81 is a truck-mounted self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher (SPMRL) produced by the People's Republic of China for the People's Liberation Army Ground Force. The PHL-81 is being replaced by the modernised version PHL-11. ...

* 9P138 Grad-1 *

Type 63 multiple rocket launcher The Type 63 multiple rocket launcher is a towed, 12-tube, 107mm rocket launcher produced by the People's Republic of China in the early 1960s and later exported and manufactured globally. Although no longer serving with active infantry units, the ...

Units

*12 Artillery Regiment -Attached to 12 Motorised Infantry Brigade *44 Artillery Regiment *46 Artillery Regiment *21 Artillery Regimenthttp://www.mod.gov.na/pdfs/oct-dec%202013.pdf -Attached to 21 Motorised Infantry Brigade *26 Artillery Regiment -Attached to

26 Motorised Infantry Brigade 26 Motorised Infantry Brigade (pronounced as ''Two Six Motorised Infantry Brigade'') is a brigade of the Namibian Army based at Grootfontein. The prefix "26" is taken from 26 August 1966, the day on which SWAPO guerrillas first encountered the ...

* School of Artillery -Based at

Ondangwa Ondangwa (earlier spelling ''Ondangua'') is a town in the Oshana Region of northern Namibia, bordering the Oshikoto Region. It had a population of 30,364 people in 2023. Ondangwa was first established as a mission station of the Finnish Missi ...

the school trains students to specialize them as gunners through the Artillery Ordnance Operators Course.Article title
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Gallery

Artillery battery firing G-2 Guns and MRLS

Leadership

References

{{reflist Military of Namibia Artillery brigades Military units and formations established in 1999 1999 establishments in Namibia