Ethiopia vs. Somalia
Military
| Ethiopia | Somalia | |
|---|---|---|
| Military branches | Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF): Ground Forces, Ethiopian Air Force (Ye Ityopya Ayer Hayl, ETAF) (2020) note(s): in January 2020 the Ethiopian Government announced it had re-established a navy, which was disbanded in 1996; in March 2019 Ethiopia signed a defense cooperation agreement with France which stipulated that France would support the establishment of an Ethiopian navy, which will reportedly be based out of Djibouti in 2018, Ethiopia established a Republican Guard for protecting senior officials; the Republican Guard is a military unit accountable to the Prime Minister | Somali National Security Forces: Somali National Army (SNA), Somali National Police (SNP, includes a maritime unit), National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) (2021) note: Somalia has numerous militia formations operating throughout the country; these formations include ones that are clan- and warlord-based, semi-official paramilitary and special police forces (aka darwish), and externally-sponsored militias; the SNA is attempting to incorporate some of these militia units |
| Military service age and obligation | 18 years of age for voluntary military service; no compulsory military service, but the military can conduct callups when necessary and compliance is compulsory (2019) | 18 is the legal minimum age for compulsory and voluntary military service (2019) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.7% of GDP (2019 est.) 0.7% of GDP (2018 est.) 0.7% of GDP (2017 est.) 0.7% of GDP (2016 est.) 0.7% of GDP (2015 est.) | 1.3% of GDP (2017 est.) 1.3% of GDP (2016 est.) 1.3% of GDP (2015 est.) 1.2% of GDP (2014 est.) 1.1% of GDP (2013 est.) |
| Military - note | each of the nine states has a regional and/or a "special" paramilitary security forces that report to regional civilian authorities; local militias operate across the country in loose and varying coordination with these regional security and police forces, the Ethiopian Federal Police (EFP), and the Ethiopian military; the EFP reports to the Ministry of Peace, which was created in October of 2018
| as of 2021, a significant portion of the SNA was comprised of militia forces that lacked the discipline, structure, weapons, and overall capabilities for effective military operations; of the SNA's approximately 13 brigades, the most effective were assessed to be the US-trained Danab ("Lightning") Advanced Infantry Brigade and those of the Turkish-trained Gorgor ("Eagle") Special Division; in 2020, the Danab Brigade conducted most of the SNA's offensive operations in Somalia and nearly all counterterrorism operations against the al-Shabaab terrorist group; as of early 2021, it numbered about 1,000 troops with an eventual projected strength of 3,000, while the Gorgor Division was estimated to have 4,500-5,000 trained troops AMISOM has operated in the country with the approval of the United Nations (UN) since 2007; AMISOM's peacekeeping mission includes assisting Somali forces in providing security for a stable political process, enabling the gradual handing over of security responsibilities from AMISOM to the Somali security forces, and reducing the threat posed by Al-Shabaab and other armed opposition groups; as of late 2020, AMISOM had about 20,000 military troops from six African countries deployed in Somalia; in February 2021, the UN Security Council AMISOM renewed AMISOM's mandate until December 2021 (note - in 2017, the Somali Government drafted a Somalia Transition Plan that called for the gradual transfer of security responsibilities from AMISOM to the Somali security forces by 2021)UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) is mandated by the Security Council to work with the Federal Government of Somalia to support national reconciliation, provide advice on peace-building and state-building, monitor the human rights situation, and help coordinate the efforts of the international community the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) is responsible for providing logistical field support to AMISOM, UNSOM, the Somali National Army, and the Somali Police Force on joint operations with AMISOM the European Union Training Mission in Somalia (EUTM-S) has operated in the country since 2010; the EUTM provides advice and training to the Somali military; the US and Turkey maintain separate unilateral military training missions in Somalia |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | information varies; approximately 150,000 active duty troops, including about 3,000 Air Force personnel (no personnel numbers available for the newly-established Navy) (2020) | estimates for the size of the Somali National Army (SNA) vary widely, from a low of about 10,000 to a high of some 25,000 due to inconsistent internal reporting and the ongoing attempts to integrate various militias (2021) note(s): in 2017, the Somali Government announced a plan for the SNA to eventually number about 18,000 troops; the same plan called for 32,000 federal and regional police; estimates for the number of militia forces operating in the country run as high as 50,000 |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the ENDF's inventory is comprised mostly of Soviet-era equipment from the 1970s; since 2010, Russia and Ukraine are the leading suppliers of largely second-hand weapons and equipment to the ENDF, followed by China and Hungary; Ethiopia has a modest industrial defense base centered on small arms and production of armored vehicles (2020) | the SNA is lightly armed with an inventory that includes a variety of older, second-hand equipment largely from Italy, Russia, South Africa, and the UK; since 2015, it has received small quantities of second-hand equipment from up to 10 different countries, usually as aid/donations (2021) |
Source: CIA Factbook
