African Armed Forces Analysis & Geopolitics East Africa

Sudan Army Ranks: The SAF Rank Ladder in Arabic and English, with NATO Codes and the RSF Difference

Sudan army ranks follow a British-pattern ladder with Arabic titles: eleven officer grades from Mulazim (second lieutenant) to Mushir (field marshal), then six warrant, NCO and soldier grades. This page sets out the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) rank structure in Arabic script, transliteration and English with NATO OR/OF codes, names the publicly stated command appointments with their dates, and explains in a separate section why the Rapid Support Forces’ self-styled ranks are not part of an internationally recognised military structure.

Quick answer

The Sudanese Armed Forces list 11 officer ranks, from Mulazim (second lieutenant, OF-1) to Mushir (field marshal, OF-10), and six warrant, NCO and soldier grades, from Jundi to Mosa’id (Armed Forces Act 2007; Ministry of Defence list, archived 2019). Top commanders are reported as Fariq awwal, “General” (Reuters, 2 April 2026). Field marshal may go only to a military President or the Commander-in-Chief (Act 2007, s.20).

Data as of 27 October 2026. Figures are open-source estimates; see “A note on the numbers”.

How the SAF rank system is built

Sudan’s rank structure is British in shape, a legacy of the Anglo-Egyptian period, but the titles are Arabic and shared in large part with Egypt. The Armed Forces Act 2007 sets the legal frame: section 20 lists the disciplined ranks of officers and, separately, of non-commissioned officers and soldiers, and leaves the “military titles” to regulations. The Ministry of Defence rank list supplies the Arabic titles, and reference rank tables show the army, navy and air force using the same ladder. One historical detail matters for anyone reading older sources: before 1970 Fariq (lieutenant-general) was the highest rank, and the grades above it were added later (Library of Congress country study, 1992).

The English glosses are where readers get confused. The official English translation of the 2007 Act renders Fariq awwal as “First Lieutenant-General”, a literal reading of “first lieutenant-general”. News agencies shorten it to “General”, which is the natural NATO equivalent (OF-9). Both are used below, and the table marks the equivalence as indicative, because Sudan is not a NATO member and has published no OF/OR mapping of its own.

Sudan army officer ranks (OF-1 to OF-10)

Sudanese Armed Forces commissioned officer ranks, 2026
Arabic	Transliteration	English (Armed Forces Act 2007, s.20)	Common press / NATO-style name	NATO code (indicative)
مشير	Mushir	Field Marshal	Field Marshal	OF-10
فريق أول	Fariq awwal	First Lieutenant-General	General	OF-9
فريق	Fariq	Lieutenant-General	Lieutenant General	OF-8
لواء	Liwa	Major-General	Major General	OF-7
عميد	Amid	Brigadier	Brigadier	OF-6
عقيد	Aqid	Colonel	Colonel	OF-5
مقدم	Muqaddam	Lieutenant-Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	OF-4
رائد	Ra’id	Major	Major	OF-3
نقيب	Naqib	Captain	Captain	OF-2
ملازم أول	Mulazim awwal	First Lieutenant	Lieutenant	OF-1
ملازم	Mulazim	Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant	OF-1

Arabic titles are from the Ministry of Defence rank list as transcribed in the reference works cited in the sources; the English column is the wording of the 2007 Act. The Act’s “Lieutenant” is the entry grade, equal to a British second lieutenant, and the Act’s “First Lieutenant” equals a British lieutenant; that is an equivalence by position in the ladder, not a quoted definition. Arabic-language press often adds ركن after an officer’s rank, as in الفريق أول ركن. It is a suffix, not a separate rank, and is customarily understood to mark a staff-qualified officer; we found no definition in the Act, so treat that reading as common usage rather than a verified rule.

Warrant officers, NCOs and soldiers

Sudanese Armed Forces warrant, NCO and soldier ranks, 2026
Arabic	Transliteration	English (Act 2007, s.20(3), by position)	NATO code (indicative range)
مساعد	Mosa’id	Warrant Officer	OR-8 to OR-9 (disputed)
رقيب أول	Raqib awwal	Sergeant-Major	OR-6 to OR-8 (disputed)
رقيب	Raqib	Sergeant	OR-5 to OR-6 (disputed)
عريف	‘Arif	Corporal	OR-4
وكيل عريف	Wakil ‘arif	Lance Corporal	OR-2 to OR-3
جندي	Jundi	Soldier	OR-1

This is the weakest part of any Sudanese rank table, and it is labelled as such. The Act names the English categories (Warrant Officer, Sergeant-Major, Sergeant, Corporal, Lance Corporal, Soldier) and the Ministry of Defence list gives the Arabic titles; the two lists have six entries each and run in the same order, so pairing them by position is reasonable but is our inference, not a published table. NATO OR codes are even less certain: a British “sergeant-major” can be a warrant officer, while Sudan uses the word for a grade below its warrant rank. Where sources place a rank differently, the range above shows the spread. Any extra private or “first-class” titles that appear in non-official lists are not included, because the Ministry list as transcribed shows Jundi as the single soldier grade.

Who commands the Sudanese Armed Forces: dated appointments

Under the 2007 Act the Commander-in-Chief is appointed by the President of the Republic and appoints the Chief and members of the Joint Staff Headquarters, with the Minister of Defence responsible for policy and budget (sections 9 to 12). In current practice Burhan is described as both army chief and chairman of the Sovereignty Council (The National, 7 September 2023). Only appointments that were publicly reported with a date are listed; unit locations, deployments and operational commands are deliberately omitted.

Publicly reported SAF command appointments
Post	Holder (rank as reported)	Date	Status
Commander-in-Chief / head of the Sovereignty Council	General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan	Described in this role in reports of 7 September 2023 and 2 April 2026; no appointment date verified here	Reported
Chief of Staff	General Yassir al-Atta (also a Sovereignty Council member and assistant to Burhan)	2 April 2026, succeeding Mohamed Othman al-Hussein, chief since 2019	Reported by Reuters and others
Inspector General	Major General Mutasim Abbas al-Tom Ahmed	Announced 18 August 2025; post had been vacant since 2023	Reported
Minister of Defence (civilian-government post)	Lieutenant General Hassan Daoud Kabroun	Named 24 June 2025; sworn in 28 June 2025	Reported; holder as of 27 October 2026 not re-verified
Air force and air defence commanders	New commanders installed in the August 2025 reshuffle	18 August 2025	No verified public names in the sources reached
Senior retirements and promotions	Burhan retired senior officers and promoted others; Sudan Tribune reported 21 major generals among those retired	11 April 2026	Single-source count, described by the army as routine administration

Two other dated decisions shape how ranks and command fit together. In the reshuffle of 18 August 2025 Burhan also placed all armed groups fighting alongside the army under his direct command, and a separate report says those forces were made subject to the Armed Forces Law of 2007 and its amendments. The April 2026 change of chief of staff was described by Reuters as the most significant personnel shift of the war and, in the words of the same report, gave al-Atta tighter control of the armed forces with less of a political role.

How officers are commissioned and promoted

The 2007 Act is explicit on the route. Officer selection is by “free competition” relying on merit; candidates can come from university, higher institutes and technical colleges, from the ranks of non-commissioned officers, or from other professions the regulations specify (section 15). Selected candidates are qualified at military colleges, institutes and schools, and a person who completes qualification is awarded a commission by decision of the President of the Republic and takes the oath of allegiance (sections 15 and 16). Promotion of officers is likewise by presidential decision, while promotion of other ranks is approved by a body specified in the regulations (section 21). Recruitment of other ranks is carried out by the Chief of Joint Staff or his delegate (section 17). The Act sets an entry age of at least 18 and requires Sudanese nationality by birth (section 14). This is the 2007 text as published in English translation; it was amended in 2013 and we did not review the amended wording.

Rank comparison with neighbours

Egypt’s officer titles are identical to Sudan’s, and the two differ only in the NCO grades (Egypt has Mosa’id awwal; Sudan has Wakil ‘arif). Ethiopia, which borders Sudan to the east, created the rank of Field Marshal in January 2022 and uses Amharic titles for the grades from major down to second lieutenant. The table covers the officer grades only. South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea and Libya are not shown because no official rank list could be verified for this draft.

Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia officer ranks compared
NATO code	Sudan (SAF)	Egypt	Ethiopia (ENDF)
OF-10	Mushir	Mushir	Field Marshal (since 8 January 2022)
OF-9	Fariq awwal	Fariq awwal	General
OF-8	Fariq	Fariq	Lieutenant General
OF-7	Liwa	Liwa	Major General
OF-6	Amid	Amid	Brigadier General
OF-5	Aqid	Aqid	Colonel
OF-4	Muqaddam	Muqaddam	Lieutenant Colonel
OF-3	Ra’id	Ra’id	Shalek’a (Major)
OF-2	Naqib	Naqib	Shamibel (Captain)
OF-1	Mulazim awwal; Mulazim	Mulazim awwal; Mulazim	Yemeto alek’a; Mikitil yemeto alek’a

For the wider picture – Mali, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and the French-tradition armies – see our African military ranks comparison and the sister page on Mali army ranks. For force size, aircraft and money, see Sudan military strength, Sudan air force aircraft and Sudan defence budget.

The RSF’s self-styled ranks: why they differ

This section describes legal status and recognition only. DefenceMENA takes no side in the war between the SAF and the RSF.

The Sudanese parliament passed an RSF Act in January 2017 that integrated the force into the state’s structure and placed its commander under the President’s appointment. Reference rank lists show the RSF using the same Arabic vocabulary as the army from Fariq awwal down to Mulazim, but without Mushir and with its own insignia set. The names are shared; the structure behind them is not. In the SAF, ranks come from the Armed Forces Act 2007: commission and officer promotion are by decision of the President of the Republic, through the formal military college and staff system. The RSF commander’s own rise was outside that route: The National reported on 7 September 2023 that Omar al-Bashir gave Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo the rank of general although he did not attend the military academy, and other profiles describe a jump from major general to lieutenant general. Sources disagree on the title, which shows how hard it is to check RSF ranks against a register.

Three developments separate the RSF’s ranks from a recognised military hierarchy. First, in decrees reported on 7 September 2023 Burhan dissolved the RSF and repealed the 2017 law (The National), so under the SAF-controlled state’s own legal order any rank the RSF has awarded since sits outside the Armed Forces Act. Second, the RSF and its allies set up a parallel administration in 2025 (“Tasis”), naming Hemedti head of a presidential council in Nyala; the African Union’s Peace and Security Council urged states not to recognise that body. Third, there is no published promotion list, academy output or ministry gazette for the RSF that an outside analyst can check. Practical rule for readers: when a news report calls an RSF figure “Lieutenant General” or “Major General”, treat it as the RSF’s own styling or a media convention, not as a rank verified by any state. For related reporting on RSF commanders, see RSF commander defects to Sudan’s army: what is confirmed.

Sudan army ranks: short answers

What is the highest rank in the Sudanese army?

On paper, Mushir (Field Marshal). The Act reserves it for the President of the Republic if he is military, or for the Commander-in-Chief. An AFP report carried by Sudan Tribune (date not verified) said Omar al-Bashir had been promoted field marshal; we found no report that Burhan has been, and Reuters calls him General.

Is Fariq awwal a four-star general?

Sudan does not publish a star count. Fariq awwal is ranked immediately below Mushir and is the equivalent of NATO OF-9 (General). Do not infer star numbers from French or American practice.

Where does Sudan rank among African armies?

That is a power ranking, not a rank structure. Global Firepower (an unofficial index) placed Sudan 66th worldwide and 9th in Africa in 2026; see Africa’s strongest militaries and which African country has the biggest army, and note that during the war any force structure is hard to verify. The UN arms embargo context is in UN Darfur arms embargo renewal, and the drone dimension in drones in the Sudan war.

A note on the numbers

This page has no headcounts or budget figures; the only quantitative claims are rank counts, dates and the Global Firepower position. Official: the English rank titles and the promotion route come from the Armed Forces Act 2007 (section 20 for ranks, 15–16 and 21 for commissioning and promotion). The Arabic titles come from the Ministry of Defence rank list; the archived web page was not opened directly for this draft, so the Arabic is taken from reference works that cite it. Estimated or inferred: every NATO OF/OR code, and the pairing of Arabic NCO titles with the Act’s English glosses. Contradicted between sources: whether Fariq awwal is translated “General” or “First Lieutenant-General”, and the title and date of the RSF commander’s early promotions. Not verified: the current Minister of Defence as of 27 October 2026, the names of the air force and air defence commanders appointed in August 2025, the 2013 amendment to the Act, and any single official insignia plate. Insignia are not described in words here because we could not check them against an official plate.

Sources

Topics :

Adrian Cole Administrator All articles

Africa defence and security correspondent at DefenceMENA, covering procurement, defence industry and armed forces across the continent.

445 Post

Related coverage

Get the DefenceMENA briefing

Africa defence news, three times a day, in your inbox.