Ghana’s Modernisation Drive Goes Beyond Vehicles: New Warships and Helicopters on Order
Beyond the 45 utility vehicles Ghana’s army took delivery of last month, new details show the Ghana Armed Forces modernisation drive also runs through the navy and air wing — two patrol ships already commissioned, a VIP jet and four more helicopters on order from Airbus and Dassault.
Photo: Ghana Armed Forces soldiers of the President’s Own Guard Regiment rehearse for the African Land Forces Summit 2025 in Accra. Credit: U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Aaliyah Craven, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Ghana’s defence budget has climbed sharply under President John Dramani Mahama, and a fuller picture of where the money is going emerged this week in a defenceWeb round-up of the Ghana Armed Forces’ (GAF) equipment programme. Defence spending reportedly rose about 61.3% year on year in 2024/2025 and is budgeted to reach 10.77 billion cedis (roughly $927 million) in 2026.
Vehicles Already Delivered
The Ghanaian Army’s piece of the programme is the one already covered on this site: 15 Kia KLTV utility vehicles, 15 4×4 KMTV troop carriers and 15 6×6 KMTV troop carriers, handed over in October to improve troop transport and response times for the Army’s roughly 12,000–15,000 active personnel.
Two Patrol Ships Already in Service
The Ghana Navy’s additions are further along than the vehicle delivery. GNS Pru (P47), a 42-metre Flex Fighter-class vessel built by Singapore’s Penguin Shipyard, was commissioned on 10 February at Sekondi Naval Base; Deputy Defence Minister Ernest Brogya Genfi said it would strengthen maritime patrols and protect Ghana’s offshore resources. GNS Achimota (P46), a 65-metre vessel built in 1999 and previously operated by Japan’s Fisheries Agency as the Aratsu, was handed over to Ghana in December 2025.
The Navy says more is coming: a fisheries patrol vessel, 72-metre offshore patrol vessels, six fast attack craft, 11 interceptor boats, several smaller patrol boats, 30 riverine boats and six V-BAT unmanned aerial systems were all listed in a mid-October GAF statement, though without firm delivery dates.
Helicopters and a VIP Jet From Europe
On the aviation side, Ghana received an Airbus H175 in March and has orders in for two H175Ms (the military variant), one corporate-configured ACH175 and one ACH160, most likely destined for VIP transport. Parliament approved a €125 million agreement with Airbus Helicopters and a separate $60 million deal with Dassault Aviation in December 2025 for a Falcon 6X business jet. One more helicopter and the Falcon 6X are expected before the end of this year, with two further helicopters due in 2027.
Why It Matters for Africa
Ghana’s build-out stands out in West Africa for how it is split across three services rather than concentrated in one. Nigeria and Senegal have both leaned heavily on armoured vehicles and drones; Ghana’s navy spending — patrol ships from Singapore and a repurposed Japanese vessel in the same 12 months — reflects a Gulf of Guinea security picture dominated by piracy, illegal fishing and offshore oil protection rather than land-border insurgency. A VIP jet and corporate-configured helicopters sitting alongside combat-capable patrol boats also show a pattern common across the region: procurement programmes that mix force-protection hardware with head-of-state transport in the same budget line, a combination that will likely draw scrutiny from Ghanaian lawmakers as the 2026 defence budget comes under review.
Sources
- defenceWeb — “Ghana Armed Forces retool”
- DefenceMENA — Ghana Armed Forces Take Delivery of 45 Utility and Troop-Carrying Vehicles Under Retooling Programme
