Armed Forces of Burkina Faso (FABF): Army of Burkina Faso (L'Armee de Terre, LAT), Air Force of Burkina Faso (Force Aerienne de Burkina Faso, FABF), National Gendarmerie; Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (a civilian defense force established in 2019 to act as auxiliaries to the military in the fight against militants) (2021)
note: the National Gendarmerie officially reports to the Ministry of Defense, but usually operates in support of the Ministry of Security and the Ministry of Justice; Gendarmerie troops are typically integrated with Army forces in anti-terrorism operations; for example, Gendarmerie, Army, and police forces were combined to form a 1,500-member task force known as the Groupement des Forces Anti-Terroristes (GFAT) to address terrorist activities along the country's northern border in 2013
Benin Armed Forces (Forces Armees Beninoises, FAB): Army, Navy, Air Force; Ministry of Interior and Public Security: Republican Police (Police Republicaine, DGPR) (2021)
Military service age and obligation
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; women may serve in supporting roles (2019)
18-35 years of age for selective compulsory and voluntary military service; a higher education diploma is required; both sexes are eligible for military service; conscript tour of duty - 18 months (2019)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
2.4% of GDP (2019)
2.1% of GDP (2018)
1.4% of GDP (2017)
1.2% of GDP (2016)
1.3% of GDP (2015)
0.7% of GDP (2019)
0.9% of GDP (2018)
1.3% of GDP (2017)
1.1% of GDP (2016)
1.1% of GDP (2015)
Military - note
since at least 2016, the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso have been actively engaged in combat operations with terrorist groups linked to al-Qa'ida and ISIS; military operations have occurred in the Centre-Est, Centre-Nord, Est, Nord, and Sahel administrative regions
Burkina Faso is part of a five-nation anti-jihadist task force known as the G5 Sahel Group, set up in 2014 with Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger; it has committed 550 troops and 100 gendarmes to the force; the G5 force is backed by the UN, US, and France; G5 troops periodically conduct joint operations with French forces deployed to the Sahel under Operation Barkhane; in early 2020, G5 Sahel military chiefs of staff agreed to allow defense forces from each of the states to pursue terrorist fighters up to 100 km into neighboring countries (2021)
Benin participates in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram along with Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria; the Benin military contingent is in charge of MNJTF garrison duties (2020)
Military and security service personnel strengths
the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso (FABF) have approximately 12,000 personnel (7,000 Army; 500 Air Force; 4,500 National Gendarmerie) (2021)
the Benin Armed Forces (FAB) are comprised of approximately 7,000 active duty troops; est. 5,000 Republican Police (2021)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the FABF has a mix of foreign-supplied weapons; since 2010, it has received limited amounts of mostly donated second-hand equipment from more than 10 countries (2020)
the FAB is equipped with a small mix of mostly older French and Soviet-era equipment (2021)
