| Military branches | Tunisian Armed Forces (Forces Armees Tunisiens, FAT): Tunisian Army (includes Tunisian Air Defense Force), Tunisian Navy, Republic of Tunisia Air Force; Ministry of Interior: Tunisian National Guard (2021) |
| Military service age and obligation | 20-23 years of age for compulsory service, 1-year service obligation; 18-23 years of age for voluntary service (2019) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.5% of GDP (2019) 2.1% of GDP (2018) 2.1% of GDP (2017) 2.4% of GDP (2016) 2.3% of GDP (2015) |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | the Tunisian Armed Forces (FAT) have approximately 36,000 active personnel (27,000 Army; 5,000 Navy; 4,000 Air Force); est. 10,000 National Guard (2021) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the Tunisian military's inventory includes mostly older or secondhand US and European equipment; since 2010, the Netherlands and US are the leading suppliers of arms to Tunisia (2020) |
| Military - note | the Tunisian military’s primary operational areas of focus are counter-terrorism, counterinsurgency, and border security; it conducts counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency operations against al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Islamic State of ash-Sham (ISIS)-linked militants who have been fighting a low-intensity insurgency against the government, mostly in the mountainous region along the border with Algeria, particularly the Chaambi Mountains near the city of Kasserine; the Tunisian military routinely conducts joint operations with Algerian security forces against these groups, as well to counter smuggling and trafficking activities; the Tunisian military in recent years also has increased its role in securing the southern border against militant activity, smuggling, and trafficking from war-torn Libya; the Tunisian Government has constructed a complex structure of berms, trenches, and water-filled moats, complemented by electronic surveillance equipment such as motion detectors, ground surveillance radars, and infrared sensors along the 220-kilometer border with Libya; in the more populace northern border area, the Tunisian Army backs up Ministry of Interior security forces (Customs and the National Guard), while in the more remote southern sections of the frontier a military exclusion or buffer zone has been created, with the Tunisian Army having the lead in conducting patrols, interdiction, and making arrests |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
