TO ensure that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is fully equipped to meet contemporary security challenges the government of Guyana will soon conclude an arrangement to expand its air fleet, President Dr. Irfaan Ali has said.
The Head of State made the disclosure during the commissioning of a new marine vessel, the ‘GDFS Shahoud on Tuesday.

While delivering remarks at the event, President Ali noted that the government has been making strategic investments to strengthen the country’s defence capabilities.
“We have also concluded an arrangement in the expansion and acquisition of new assets in our air defence system and very soon we are hoping to conclude arrangement where our fleet will be expanded to meet the immediate needs and requirement of the Guyana defence force,” the Head of State said.
He further disclosed that between 2020 and 2023, the government has expended $11.4 billion to recapitalise the GDF. During that same period, more than $8 billion was invested for major acquisitions and infrastructure of the air corps and the coast guard.
In 2024, GDF expenditure has increased from $3.7 billion in 2023 to $20 billion.

Concurrently the government has been investing in the GDF’s human resources. Several junior and senior ranks are benefitting from training programmes in partnership with bilateral partners such as the United States of America, France and India.
“Our human resources capability, our ability to respond to modern day threat and the modern day infrastructure is being enhanced with the capability that we are building up in our human resource capacity.”
Recently, the President made public his plans to integrate the country’s security institutions. A notable initiative is the establishment of a marine and aviation division within the Guyana Police Force (GPF), a first for Guyana.
He had disclosed then that the government was in the process of obtaining state-of-the art assets to facilitate the integration of the Guyana Police Force with other security institutions.

“We are building out, for the first time, a marine division that would be capable of utilising our river asset in crime fighting and proactive intelligence work. So, right now, we are in the process of acquiring state-of-the-art marine assets to support the work of the Guyana Police Force,” the President said.
As it relates to the introduction of the aviation division, the President explained that the aim is to build air capacity and capability for the Guyana Police Force that will be integrated with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
“We are going to move a lot of our air capacity and capability to the new hangar at Ogle that the Guyana Defence Force is constructing and rehabilitating right now. We hope in that hangar to not only add to the air capability and capacity of the Guyana Defence Force, but to add two modern pieces of equipment to support the air division of the Guyana Police Force,” Dr. Ali said.
According to the President, these include choppers with drone capability. He said that the government was creating a cohesive base for the Joint Services as it relates to assets.