List of equipment of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces

This is a list of equipment of the Ecuadorian Army. Historically, the Ecuadorian Army depended on a wide variety of foreign suppliers like India, the United States and Germany for virtually all of its equipment needs. The rotary wing of the Ecuadorian Army depends on HAL Dhruv helicopters from India. Only in the 1980s did it begin to develop a modest domestic arms industry as the Directorate of Army Industries manufactured rifle ammunition, uniforms, boots, and other consumable items. The Army's present day equipment is mostly of Western origin.

Army

Armoured fighting vehicles

Model Image Origin Quantity Details
Light tanks
AMX-13  France ~108[1][dubious – discuss] In 1988, Ecuador upgraded its fleet of 108 AMX-13 light tanks armed with 105 mm guns. SOPELEM supplied the basic day version of its SOPTAC 18 fire-control system with laser rangefinder and its control unit. Fives-Cail Babcock provided kits to modify the 105 mm gun and its ammunition system to allow APFSDS rounds to be fired. Work on upgrading the AMX-13s started in Ecuador late in 1988 and was completed in 1990.
Reconnaissance vehicle
EE-3 Jararaca  Brazil ~10 [2]
EE-9 Cascavel ~32 [2]
Armoured personnel carriers
AMX-VCI  France ~82 [2]
M113  United States ~20 [2]
EE-11 Urutu  Brazil ~17 [2]
UR-416  West Germany ~32 [2]
Cobra II  Turkey ~20 [3]

Artillery

Model Image Origin Caliber Quantity Details
Mortar
M29  United States 81mm ~357 [2]
Towed
Model 56 pack  Italy 105mm ~24 [2]
M101  United States ~36 [2]
M2A2 ~24 [2]
M114 155mm ~12 [2]
M198 ~10 [2]
Self-propelled
Mk F3  France 155mm ~5 [2]
Multiple rocket launchers
BM-21 Grad  Soviet Union 122mm ~18 [2]
RM-70  Czechoslovakia ~6 [3]

Air defence

Model Image Origin Caliber Quantity Details
Man-portable air-defense systems
9K32 Strela-2  Soviet Union 72mm n/a [2]
9K38 Igla n/a [2]
Blowpipe  United Kingdom 76mm n/a [2]
Towed anti-aircraft guns
ZPU-1  Soviet Union 14.5mm ~128 [2]
ZPU-2 [2]
M-1935   Switzerland 20mm ~28 [2]
M167 Vulcan  United States ~10 [2]
L/70  Sweden 40 × 365mm ~30 [2]
Self-propelled
M163 Vulcan  United States 20mm ~44 [2]

Vehicles and small arms

Model Image Origin Type Versions In service Notes
Armoured personnel carrier/Infantry mobility vehicles
BLR  Spain Armoured personnel carrier (wheeled) 35 Status unknown. 4x4[4]
Otokar Ural  Turkey Tactical wheeled armoured vehicle 15[5]
Light armored vehicles
Agrale Marruá  Brazil Transport and recognition AM10
AM20		 130 First lot bought by Ecuador in February 2009 as a reconnaissance variant.[6]
Second lot bought in August 2009 as transport variant.[7][8]
AIL Storm  Israel Utility M-240 Storm Mark I 280 4x4[9]
Tiuna  Venezuela Utility UR-53AR50 4 Donated by Venezuela in April 2009.[10]
Humvee  United States Transport
Anti-tank
Anti-aircraft		 820[11] 118 Humvees were donated by US NAS in 2003. The Israeli MAPATS anti-tank version was created in 2009. Other anti-tank variants include the Chinese HJ-8 system. In 2013, 107 new units were acquired. Less reliable sources suggest that 500 Humvees are currently in use within the Armed Forces.
Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle  United States Commercial utility cargo vehicle CUCV II 200 The CUCV II was procured by the Ecuadorian military in limited quantities.[12]
Truck
M939 Truck  United States 6×6 truck Transport 76 Donated by the US NAS program in 2003.[13]
M35  United States truck Transport ?
Hino  Japan truck Transport 15 Donated by the US NAS program in 2010.[14]
Unimog  West Germany
 Germany		 4×4 truck Anti-aircraft warfare ? Equipped with Anti-tank or Anti-aircraft weapon-systems.
Engesa EE-25  Brazil 6×6 truck Transport 35 In the process of recovery.[15]
Sinotruk HOWO  China 6×6 truck Transport 293 Multipurpose Trucks.[16]
Sinotruk HOWO  China 4x4 truck Transport 226 Multipurpose Trucks.[16]
Sinotruk HOWO 336  China 6×4 truck Water tank 28 [16]
Sinotruk HOWO 336  China 6×4 truck Fuel tank 20 [16]
Sinotruk HOWO A7  China 6×4 heavy tractor Tank transporter 27 Head Truck 30T.[16]
Sinotruk HOWO A7  China 6×4 tractor Transport 35 Mule-type truck 22T.[16]
Sinotruk HOWO 371  China 6×4 tractor Dump truck 11 12m Cubic.[16]
Sinotruk HOWO  China 4x4 truck Transport 99 Multipurpose Trucks 3.5T[16]
Sinotruk HOWO  China 4x4 truck Transport 20 Van truck 5T.[16]
Anti-material warfare
Spike  Israel Shoulder-launched missile 170mm ATGM 244 Some units are mounted on vehicles. Deliveries started in October 2009.[17]
MAPATS  Israel Shoulder-launched missile 155mm ATGM ? Some units are mounted on vehicles.
Euromissile HOT  France
 West Germany /
 Germany		 Missile launchers 150mm ATGM ? Mounted on Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters.
MILAN  France
 West Germany /
 Germany		 Shoulder-launched missile 125mm ATGM ? Some units are mounted on vehicles.
C90-CR (M3)  Spain Shoulder-launched missile 90mm RPG ? [18]
M72 LAW  United States Shoulder-launched missile 66mm RPG
(M-72A-3 LAW)		 ?
RPG-7  Soviet Union Shoulder-launched missile 40mm RPG ? Used by the Marine Corps.
Anti-aircraft warfare
ZU-23-2  Soviet Union Towed
Mounted		 2 × 23 mm Anti-Aircraft Twin Autocannon
Type 85		 34 AA System.
Some units are mounted on vehicles.[19]
Mobile surface-to-air missile system
9K33 Osa  Soviet Union Mobile 6x6 amphibious self-propelled 200 mm SAM system 10[20]
Surface-to-air missile
MBDA Mistral  France Man-portable air-defense system 90 mm Surface-to-air missile ? Some are mounted on vehicles. Also used by Marine Corps.[citation needed]
HN-5  China Man-portable air-defense system 72 mm Surface-to-air missile
HN-5A		 ? [19]
Small arms[21]
Browning Hi-Power  Belgium 9mm Pistol ? [22]
M1911  United States .45 Pistol ? [21]
Glock-17  Austria 9mm Pistol ?
Type 56  China 7.62mm Assault rifle 10,000 They will be used for conscript training. Donated by China.[23]
FN FAL  Belgium 7.62mm Battle rifle 50,000 Former standard rifle of the Army, it was replaced by the HK 33 since 1994, the FN FAL is still used by some units such as Jungle Infantry where the 7.62mm round has its advantages.[24]
SIG SG 540   Switzerland 5.56mm Battle rifle ?
M16A2  United States 5.56mm Assault rifle ? Colt M16A1, M16A2 & CAR-15A1 (M16A1 carbine delivered.
M4 carbine  United States 5.56mm Carbine ? M4s sold as a 2008 Foreign Military Sales package.[25]
Steyr AUG  Austria 5.56mm Bullpup assault rifle ? Used also by Ecuadorian UN operatives and jungle warfare units. Delivered between 1987 and 1989.
Daewoo K2  South Korea 5.56mm Assault rifle ?
HK 33  West Germany 5.56mm Assault rifle 33,000+ Used also by Ecuadorian Naval Infantry, Ecuadorian UN operatives, paramilitary units, and the 9th Special Forces Brigade. 30,000 units (produced in England) were delivered in 1994. A further 3,000 units were acquired through Chile. An unknown quantity was purchased from Turkey (HK-33A-2 and HK-33A-3).[24]
HK MP5A5  West Germany
 West Germany		 9mm Submachine gun ? Used (also) by: Ecuadorian Naval Infantry, Air Force Infantry detachments and the Counter-terror unit GEO. Night-vision and SD versions available.
Uzi  Israel 9mm Submachine gun 5.000 Used (also) by: Air Force Infantry
PSG-1  West Germany 7.62mm Sniper rifle ?
M24 SWS  United States 7.62mm Sniper rifle ?
FN MAG  Belgium 7.62mm General-purpose machine gun ?
Heckler & Koch HK21  West Germany 5.56mm General-purpose machine gun ? [26][27]
FN Minimi  Belgium 5.56m Squad automatic weapon ?
Daewoo K3  South Korea 5.56m Light machine gun ?
Milkor MGL  South Africa
 South Africa		 40mm Infantry support weapon ? [citation needed]
AGS-17  Soviet Union 30mm Infantry support weapon ?
Colt M203  United States 40mm GL
HK-79A-1  West Germany 40mm GL
M1919  United States .30-6 Infantry support ?
M2HB  United States .50 BMG Anti-material
Infantry support		 ?

Aircraft

Aircraft Image Origin Type Versions In service[28] Notes
Trainer aircraft
T-41 Mescalero  United States Primary pilot trainer T-41D 2
Cessna 182  United States Primary pilot trainer 4 [29]
Utility aircraft
Pilatus PC-6   Swiss
 United States		 Light transport Turbo Porter 5 STOL aircraft, the Porter series was produced under license in the States.
Maule M-7  United States Liaison aircraft MT-7-235 Super Rocket 3
Aerial reconnaissance
Cessna Citation II  United States Aerial survey 550 1
Transport
Beechcraft Super King Air  United States Light transport/Utility 3
IAI Arava  Israel Light transport 201 2 STOL aircraft.
PZL M28 Skytruck  Poland Light transport 1 STOL aircraft. Delivered in August 2018 to replace crashed IAI Arava.[30]
CASA C-212 Aviocar  Spain
 Indonesia		 Tactical transport 400 2 STOL aircraft.
CASA C-235  Spain
 Indonesia		 Tactical transport 2
Armed reconnaissance helicopter
Aérospatiale Gazelle  France Light attack helicopter/Observation helicopter SA 342L1 16 [31] In 2003 only 26 were operational.[32] One (no#E-342) crashed on August 1, 2008, killing the crew.[33] Two crashed on January 24, 2007, killing the Defence Minister. All were equipped with HOT missiles between 1982 and 1983. Remaining helicopters been modernized and improved with Israeli technology .[33]
Military helicopter
Mil Mi-17  Soviet Union
 Russia		 Medium lift-transport Mi-17-1V
Mi-171E		 9
1		 [31][33][34][35]
Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma  France Medium lift-transport SA.330L
AS 332B		 6
2
Aérospatiale AS 332 Super Puma  France
 United Kingdom
 Europe		 Medium lift-transport 332M 12 A total of one unit was delivered.[31] Since then only six are in use. Various sources state that one or few units might have been acquired in the AS332M variant. It is being planned to modernise, overhaul and upgrade the remaining helicopters until 2018.[33]
Eurocopter AS532 Cougar  France
 United Kingdom
 Europe		 Medium lift-transport AS532 UL/AL 8
Bell 412  United States
 Canada		 Transport/Utility helicopter 4
Bell 214  United States Transport/Utility helicopter 214B 1
Bell 212  United States
 Canada		 Transport/Utility helicopter 4
Bell 206  United States
 Canada		 Light utility helicopter 9
Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil  France
 Europe		 Light utility helicopter AS350 B
AS 350B2
AS 350B3		 6
1
2
Eurocopter Fennec  France
 Europe		 Light attack helicopter/Light utility helicopter AS550 C3 Fennec
AS555 Fennec 2		 11
7

References

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