Chad vs. Central African Republic
Military
| Chad | Central African Republic | |
|---|---|---|
| Military branches | Chadian National Army (Armee Nationale du Tchad, ANT): Ground Forces (l'Armee de Terre, AdT), Chadian Air Force (l'Armee de l'Air Tchadienne, AAT), General Direction of the Security Services of State Institutions (Direction Generale des Services de Securite des Institutions de l'Etat, GDSSIE); National Gendarmerie; National Nomadic Guard of Chad (GNNT) (2021) note(s): the GDSSIE, formerly known as the Republican Guard, is the presidential guard force and considered Chad's elite military unit; the Chadian Army also includes the Special Anti-Terrorist Group (SATG; aka Division of Special Anti-Terrorist Groups (DGSAT)) | Central African Armed Forces (Forces Armees Centrafricaines, FACA): Army (includes an air squadron, Escadrille Centrafricaine), General Directorate of Gendarmerie Inspection (DGIG); National Police (2020) |
| Military service age and obligation | 20 is the legal minimum age for compulsory military service, with a 3-year service obligation; 18 is the legal minimum age for voluntary service; no minimum age restriction for volunteers with consent from a parent or guardian; women are subject to 1 year of compulsory military or civic service at age 21 (2019) | 18 years of age for military service; no conscription (2019) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.2% of GDP (2019 est.) 2.3% of GDP (2018) 2.2% of GDP (2017) 1.8% of GDP (2016) 2% of GDP (2015) | 1.5% of GDP (2019 est.) 1.4% of GDP (2018 est.) 1.4% of GDP (2017 est.) 1.5% of GDP (2016 est.) 1.7% of GDP (2015 est.) |
| Military - note | the ANT is chiefly focused on counterinsurgency/counter-terrorist operations against Boko Haram (BH) and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) in the Lake Chad Basin area (primarily the Lac Province) and countering the terrorist threat in the Sahel; in 2020, it conducted a large military operation against BH in the Lake Chad region; that same year, Chad sent troops to the tri-border area with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to combat ISWA militants (it also contributes a large force to the UN MINUSCA mission in Mali); the ANT has frequently conducted counter-insurgency operations (COIN) against internal anti-government militias and armed dissident groups | the FACA is currently assessed as unable to provide adequate internal security for the country; the military was dissolved following the 2013 rebel seizure of the government and has struggled to rebuild in the years of instability since; France, Russia, the UN, and the European Union are providing various levels of security assistance the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has operated in the country since 2014; its peacekeeping mission includes providing security, protecting civilians, facilitating humanitarian assistance, disarming and demobilizing armed groups, and supporting the country's fragile transitional government; in November 2019, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the MINUSCA peacekeeping mission another year; as of January 2021, MINUSCA had nearly 15,000 total personnel, including about 11,000 troops and 2,000 police the European Union Training Mission in the Central African Republic (EUTM-RCA) has operated in the country since 2016; the EUTM-RCA contributes to the restructuring of the country's military and defense sector through advice, training, and educational programs |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | limited and varied information; approximately 30,000 active personnel (20-25,000 Ground Forces; 300 Air Force; 5-10,000 General Direction of the Security Services of State Institutions); 5,000 National Gendarmerie; 3,500 National Nomadic Guard of Chad (2021) | information varies; approximately 10,000 active troops, including an air component of 100-200 and up to 2,000 Gendarmerie (2020) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the ANT is mostly armed with older or second-hand equipment from Belgium, France, Russia, and the former Soviet Union; since 2010, it has received equipment, including donations, from a variety of countries, including China, Italy, Ukraine, and the US (2020) | the FACA is lightly and poorly armed with mostly outdated weapons; since 2010, it has received small amounts of second-hand equipment from China, Russia, and Ukraine (2020) note: since 2013, CAR has been under a UNSC arms embargo; the embargo bans all supplies of arms and related materiel to the country except to the CAR security forces if approved in advance by the relevant UN Sanctions Committee |
Source: CIA Factbook
