Eritrean Defense Forces: Eritrean Ground Forces, Eritrean Navy, Eritrean Air Force (includes Air Defense Force) (2021)
Djibouti Armed Forces (FAD): Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie; Djibouti Coast Guard (2021)
Military service age and obligation
18-40 years of age for male and female voluntary and compulsory military service (18-27 for female conscription); 18-month conscript service obligation, which includes 6 months of military training and one-year of military or other national service (military service is most common); note - in practice, military service reportedly is often extended indefinitely (2020)
18 years of age for voluntary military service; 16-25 years of age for voluntary military training; no conscription (2020)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
5.1% of GDP (2017 est.)
5.1% of GDP (2016 est.)
5.2% of GDP (2015 est.)
5.1% of GDP (2014 est.)
5% of GDP (2013 est.)
4.9% of GDP (2017 est.)
3.9% of GDP (2016 est.)
3.7% of GDP (2015 est.)
4% of GDP (2014 est.)
4.3% of GDP (2013 est.)
Military and security service personnel strengths
limited available information; estimated 150,000-200,000 personnel, including about 2,000 in the naval and air forces (2021)
the Djibouti Armed Forces (FAD) have approximately 10,500 active troops (8,000 Army; 250 Naval; 250 Air; 2,000 Gendarmerie) (2020)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the Eritrean Defense Forces inventory is comprised primarily of older Russian and Soviet-era systems; Eritrea was under a UN arms embargo from 2009 to 2018; from the 1990s to 2008, Russia was the leading supplier of arms to Eritrea, followed by Belarus; in 2019, Eritrea expressed interest in purchasing Russian arms, including missile boats, helicopters, and small arms; in January 2020, Russia announced it would provide two helicopters by the end of the year (2020)
the FAD is armed largely with older French and Soviet-era weapons systems; since 2010, it has received limited amounts of mostly second-hand equipment from a variety of countries, including Canada, China, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and the US (2020)
