The Djiboutian Armed Forces (FAD) displayed a single Norinco WMA301 Assaulter tank destroyer during the country’s independence day parade on 27 June.
The Assaulter is comprised of the hull of a WZ551 6×6 armoured personnel carrier armoured with a 105 mm gun mounted in a three-person turret. It has similar firepower to a tank, but is more affordable and easier to maintain, albeit at the expense of armour protection.
The FAD does not currently have any tanks, but has Ratel-90 and AML-90 armoured vehicles that can be used in the fire-support role.
The Assaulter is already in service with Cameroon and Chad, both of which deployed them during operations against the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram.
The FAD also displayed M109 self-propelled howitzers and Cougar mine-resistant, ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, both of which were seen for the first time in the 2014 parade.
