South African National Defence Force (SANDF): South African Army (includes Reserve Force), South African Navy (SAN), South African Air Force (SAAF), South African Military Health Services (2021)
Namibian Defense Force (NDF): Army, Navy, Air Force; Namibian Police Force: Special Field Force (paramilitary unit responsible for protecting borders and government installations) (2021)
Military service age and obligation
18-26 years of age for voluntary military service; women are eligible to serve in noncombat roles; 2-year service obligation (2021)
18-25 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2021)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
0.9% of GDP (2021 est.)
1% of GDP (2020 est.)
1% of GDP (2019)
1% of GDP (2018)
1% of GDP (2017)
3% of GDP (2019)
3.2% of GDP (2018)
3.4% of GDP (2017)
3.9% of GDP (2016)
4.5% of GDP (2015)
Military and security service personnel strengths
the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is comprised of approximately 75,000 personnel (40,000 Army; 7,000 Navy; 10,000 Air Force; 8,000 Military Health Service; 10,000 other, including administrative, logistics, military police) (2020)
information varies; approximately 12,500 personnel (11,000 Army; 1,000 Navy; 500 Air Force) (2020)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the SANDF's inventory consists of a mix of domestically-produced and foreign-supplied equipment; South Africa's domestic defense industry produced most of the Army's major weapons systems (some were jointly-produced with foreign companies), while the Air Force and Navy inventories include a mix of European, Israeli, and US-origin weapons systems; since 2010, Sweden is the largest supplier of weapons to the SANDF (2020)
the inventory of the Namibian Defense Force consists mostly of Soviet-era equipment; China is the leading supplier of weapons to Namibia since 2010 (2020)
