Brazilian Armed Forces: Brazilian Army (Exercito Brasileiro, EB), Brazilian Navy (Marinha do Brasil, MB, includes Naval Aviation and Marine Corps (Corpo de Fuzileiros Navais)), Brazilian Air Force (Forca Aerea Brasileira, FAB); Public Security Forces (2021)
Armed Forces Command (Commando de las Fuerzas Militares): Army (Ejercito), Navy (Armada, includes marines), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea) (2021)
Military service age and obligation
18-45 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation is 10-12 months; 17-45 years of age for voluntary service; an increasing percentage of the ranks are "long-service" volunteer professionals; women were allowed to serve in the armed forces beginning in early 1980s, when the Brazilian Army became the first army in South America to accept women into career ranks; women serve in Navy and Air Force only in Women's Reserve Corps (2019)
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation is 12 months for Army, 24 months for Navy; volunteers for the Air Force must be younger than 22 years of age with a secondary school diploma (2016)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
1.5% of GDP (2019)
1.5% of GDP (2018)
1.4% of GDP (2017)
1.3% of GDP (2016)
1.4% of GDP (2015)
1% of GDP (2019)
0.9% of GDP (2018)
0.9% of GDP (2017)
1% of GDP (2016)
1.1% of GDP (2015)
Military - note
the military's primary role is enforcing border security, particularly in the Amazon states; it also assists with internal security operations with a focus on organized crime
Brazilian police forces are divided into Federal Police (around 15,000 personnel), Military Police (approximately 400,000 personnel), and Civil Police (approximately 125,000 personnel); the Federal Police serve under the Ministry of Justice, while the Military and Civil police are subordinate to the state governments; the National Public Security Force (Forca Nacional de Seguranca Publica or SENASP) is a national police force made up of Military Police from various states; all state Military Police are classified as reserve troops and ancillary forces of the Brazilian Army
as of late 2020, the armed forces were principally focused on the Paraguayan People's Army (Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo, EPP), a Marxist-nationalist insurgent group operating in the rural northern part of the country
Military and security service personnel strengths
the Brazilian Armed Forces have approximately 360,000 active personnel (215,000 Army; 75,000 Navy; 70,000 Air Force) (2021)
the Armed Forces of Paraguay have approximately 14,000 active personnel (9,000 Army; 3,000 Navy; 2,000 Air Force) (2021)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the Brazilian military's inventory consists of a mix of domestically-produced and imported weapons, largely from Europe and the US; since 2010, France, Germany, the UK, and the US are the leading suppliers of military equipment to Brazil; Brazil's defense industry is capable of designing and manufacturing equipment for all three military services and for export; it also jointly produces equipment with other countries (2020)
the Paraguayan military forces inventory is comprised of mostly older equipment from a variety of foreign suppliers, particularly Brazil and the US; since 2010, Paraguay has acquired small quantities of mostly second-hand military equipment from Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Taiwan, and the US (2020)
