Since the mountainous kingdom is completely landlocked by South Africa, in practice the country's external defence is guaranteed by its larger neighbour, so the armed forces are mainly used for internal security.

[4] On 30 August 2014, an alleged military coup took place, forcing then-Prime Minister Tom Thabane to flee to South Africa for three days.

[5][6] A brief crisis occurred in September 2017 when Lieutenant General Khoantle Motsomotso (then-commander of the LDF) was assassinated by some junior officers, leading to an intervention by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

After the January 1986 military coup that brought General Justin Lekhanya to power, the army was renamed the Royal Lesotho Defence Force.

Officials reported it hit power lines and crashed in mountainous terrain near Thaba Putsoa, killing two of the soldiers and critically injuring the other two passengers, both of whom later died in hospital from their injuries.