Home

Bulgaria vs. Serbia

Military

BulgariaSerbia
Military branchesBulgarian Armed Forces: Land Forces (Army), Naval Forces, Bulgarian Air Forces (Voennovazdushni Sili, VVS), Joint Special Forces; Ministry of Interior: Border Guards (2021)Serbian Armed Forces (Vojska Srbije, VS): Land Forces (includes Riverine Component, consisting of a river flotilla on the Danube), Air and Air Defense Forces, Serbian Guard; Ministry of Interior: Gendarmerie (2021)

note: the Guard is a brigade-sized unit that is directly subordinate to the Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff
Military service age and obligation18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription ended in 2007; service obligation 6-9 months (2019)18 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription abolished January 2011 (2021)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP1.6% of GDP (2020 est.)

3.15% of GDP (2019)

1.45% of GDP (2018)

1.23% of GDP (2017)

1.25% of GDP (2016)		2.4% of GDP (2020 est.)

2.2% of GDP (2019)

1.6% of GDP (2018 est.)

1.8% of GDP (2017 est.)

1.7% of GDP (2016)
Military and security service personnel strengthsthe Bulgarian Armed Forces have approximately 30,000 active duty personnel (16,000 Army; 4,000 Navy; 7,000 Air Force; 3,000 other, joint staff, support) (2021)information varies; approximately 25,000 active duty troops (15,000 Land Forces; 5,000 Air/Air Defense; 5,000 other) (2020)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitionsthe Bulgarian Armed Forces inventory consists primarily of Soviet-era equipment, although in recent years Bulgaria has procured limited amounts of more modern weapons systems from Western countries, including France, Italy, Norway, and the US (2020)the inventory of the Serbian Armed Forces consists of Russian and Soviet-era weapons systems; since 2010, most of its weapons imports have come from Russia (2020)
Military deployments120 Afghanistan (NATO) (2021)200 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (March 2021)

Source: CIA Factbook