Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr): Army (Heer), Navy (Deutsche Marine, includes naval air arm), Air Force (Luftwaffe, includes air defense), Joint Support Service (Streitkraeftebasis, SKB), Central Medical Service (Zentraler Sanitaetsdienst, ZSanDstBw), Cyber and Information Space Command (Kommando Cyber- und Informationsraum, Kdo CIR) (2021)
17-23 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; conscription ended July 2011; service obligation 8-23 months or 12 years; women have been eligible for voluntary service in all military branches and positions since 2001 (2019)
18-26 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription (abolished 1969); Luxembourg citizen or EU citizen with 3-year residence in Luxembourg (2021)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
1.56% of GDP (2020 est.)
1.36% of GDP (2019)
1.25% of GDP (2018)
1.23% of GDP (2017)
1.2% of GDP (2016)
0.57% of GDP (2020 est.)
0.54% of GDP (2019)
0.5% of GDP (2018)
0.51% of GDP (2017)
0.39% of GDP (2016)
Military - note
the Federal Republic of Germany joined NATO in May 1955; with the reunification of Germany in October 1990, the states of the former German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany in its membership of NATO
Luxembourg is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) in 1949
Military and security service personnel strengths
the German Federal Armed Forces have approximately 180,000 active duty personnel (62,000 Army; 16,000 Navy; 28,000 Air Force; 27,000 Joint Support Service; 20,000 Medical Service, 13,000 Cyber and Information Space Command; 14,000 other) (2020)
note - Germany in 2020 announced it planned to increase the size of the military to about 200,000 troops by 2024
the Luxembourg Army has approximately 900 active personnel (2021)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the German Federal Armed Forces inventory is mostly comprised of weapons systems produced domestically or jointly with other European countries and Western imports; since 2010, the US is the leading foreign supplier of armaments to Germany; Germany's defense industry is capable of manufacturing the full spectrum of air, land, and naval military weapons systems, and is one of the world's leading arms exporters (2020)
the inventory of Luxembourg's Army is a small mix of European and US equipment; since 2010, it has received small quantities of equipment from Germany, Norway, and Sweden (2020)
