Tanzania has been celebrating the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF). Military exercises dubbed ‘Ulinzi Miaka 40’ (40 Years of Defence) took place at Msata in the Coast Region on August 31 last year. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces President Mkapa pledged to provide new equipment for the force to enable it to defeat any intruder. “We have no enemies at the moment, but it doesn’t mean we cannot be provoked. If anyone attacks us we will use modern weaponry; we cannot confront the enemy using 1940’s military hardware…….Today’s world is unpredictable. Scientific changes are taking place. Military training must go hand in hand with acquiring and deploying modern weaponry,” Mkapa stressed.
The military exercises, conducted by 302 Brigade, involved attacks by four jet fighters. A barrage of artillery and ballistic missiles attacking ‘the enemy’ swung into action as the infantry, led by tanks, charged towards the enemy’s position, until the latter was completely overpowered and destroyed.
The President added that the army had shown a heroic performance against the late Iddi Amin of Uganda, when he was about to annex part of Tanzania in 1979. Mkapa also inspected some arms including a 23mm anti-air missile, a tank, a ballistic missile (BM 21) and a T 54 missile – Guardian.