Cameroon

Personnel & posture

Active personnel

30k

Mobilization window

~14 days to full field army

Alliance

France / US partner

GDP (est.)

$44B

Order of battle

• Cameroon Armed Forces

  • Active personnel30,000 – 35,000

    Including BIR

  • Rapid intervention battalions6 – 10

    Presidential elite

  • Motorized infantry brigades8 – 12

    Conventional force

  • Rapid intervention6 – 10

    Presidential elite

• Cameroon Air Force

  • Su-25 Frogfoot4 – 6

    Garoua-based

  • Mi-24/35 Hind8 – 12

    COIN operations

• Cameroon Navy

  • Patrol vessels12 – 20

    Douala and Limbe

• Boko Haram

  • Far North fighters (est.)500 – 2,000

    Cross-border with Nigeria

  • Separatist militias2,000 – 5,000

    Northwest/Southwest

  • Far North500 – 2,000

    Lake Chad

  • Separatist militias2,000 – 5,000

    Anglophone crisis

• Partner forces

  • French/US training access1

    Garoua hub

Bases & infrastructure (11)

• Ministry of Defence Yaoundé

  hub

  Cameroon Armed Forces HQ.

  command

• Yaoundé Nsimalen Airport

  airport

  Air force transport hub.

  air

• Port of Douala

  port

  Primary trade and naval access.

  naval

• Garoua Air Base

  airport

  Northern COIN and Chad ops.

  air

• Maroua Far North sector

  military base

  Boko Haram frontier.

  army

• Limbe naval base

  port

  Gulf of Guinea patrol.

  naval

• Bamenda anglophone sector

  military base

  Ambazonia insurgency.

  army

• Bertoua eastern garrison

  military base

  CAR/DRC border.

  army

• Kribi deep-water port

  port

  Chinese-built export terminal.

  trade

• Waza national park sector

  military base

  Lake Chad basin infiltration.

  army

• Nlongkak BIR barracks (Yaoundé)

  military base

  BIR headquarters area.

  command

Deployable units (8)

• BIR rapid intervention battalionarmy · Bataillon d'intervention rapide
• BIR Far North task forcearmy · Boko Haram theater
• Su-25 Frogfoot squadronair · Northern ground attack
• Mi-24 Hind gunship flightair · COIN gunships
• Douala patrol boat squadronnavy · Maritime security
• Ambazonia separatist columnarmy · Anglophone crisis
• Boko Haram infiltration cellarmy · Far North sector
• French Op Barkhane liaisonfacility · Garoua partner access

Theater glossary

BIR

Bataillon d'intervention rapide — Cameroon's elite rapid intervention force.

Far North

Extrême-Nord — Boko Haram infiltration zone bordering Nigeria.

Ambazonia

Anglophone separatist movement — Northwest and Southwest regions.

Garoua

Northern air base — COIN hub for Lake Chad basin.

Douala

Commercial capital and primary port.

Chokepoint

Narrow sea or land passage where trade or military traffic can be blocked.

Rare earth

Elements used in magnets, motors, and precision weapons — China dominates refining.

SPR

Strategic Petroleum Reserve — emergency crude stockpile.

TSMC

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing — advanced logic fab cluster.

Hormuz

Strait of Hormuz — ~20% of global oil transits.

Malacca

Strait of Malacca — busiest shipping lane between Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Suwałki corridor

Poland–Lithuania land bridge — NATO logistics vulnerability.

Cobalt belt

DRC–Zambia mining corridor — battery supply chain.

Lithium triangle

Chile–Argentina–Bolivia brine deposits — EV battery input.

Grain corridor

Black Sea / Danube export routes — global food security.

Red Sea corridor

Bab el-Mandeb through Suez — Houthi interdiction risk.

Taiwan Strait lane

Kaohsiung–Busan chip & container sea lane under blockade exercise.

Black Sea grain lane

Odesa/Danube export routes under missile and mine threat.

Horn access lane

Djibouti–Massawa–Assab Red Sea port competition axis.