The mechanized forces of the army comprised 1,200 T-54/55, 100 T-62 tanks, and 1,100 armored personnel carriers (APCs), but readiness was estimated to be only about 30 percent operational, because of the withdrawal of financial support, lack of maintenance expertise and parts from the Soviet Union, Cuba, and other nations.
[10]), Western, Central, and Eastern) each acting as corps HQ,[11] there also being a Support Command and a strategic reserve of four divisions and six specialist brigades centred on Addis Ababa.
Many of its major weapons systems stem from the Communist era and are of Soviet and Eastern bloc design.
[13] These shipments, including armored patrol boats, transport and jet fighter aircraft, helicopters, tanks, trucks, missiles, artillery, and small arms have incurred an unserviced Ethiopian debt to the former Soviet Union estimated at more than $3.5 billion.
[18] In November 2007, nearly 1,800 Ethiopian troops serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) were presented with UN service medals for their "invaluable contribution to the peace process.
Many thousands of Ethiopian peacekeepers were also involved in the hybrid United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in western Sudan.
[citation needed] 16 M55 Quad quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns may have been in service from the United States.