Gabon Military - 2024

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Gabonese Armed Forces (Force Armées Gabonaise or FAG; aka Gabonese Defense and Security Forces): Land Forces (Army), National Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie (includes Coast Guard), Corps of Firemen; Republican Guard (2024)

note: the National Police Forces, under the Ministry of Interior, and the National Gendarmerie, under the Ministry of Defense, are responsible for law enforcement and public security; elements of the armed forces and the Republican Guard, an elite unit that protects the president under his direct authority, sometimes perform internal security functions

Military expenditures

1.3% of GDP (2022 est.)
1.7% of GDP (2021 est.)
1.8% of GDP (2020 est.)
1.6% of GDP (2019 est.)
1.6% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 6,500 active-duty troops including the Republican Guard and Gendarmerie (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the Gabonese military is lightly armed with a mix of equipment from a variety of suppliers including Brazil, China, France, Germany, and South Africa (2023)

Military service age and obligation

18-26 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2023)

Military - note

the Gabonese military is a small and lightly-armed force that is responsible for both external and internal security; in August 2023, it seized control of the government in a coup; some members of the military attempted a failed coup in 2019; the Army’s core forces are the Republican Guard and an airborne infantry battalion, which are supported by several small regionally-based infantry units; the Gendarmerie has regionally-based “legions,” as well as mobile forces, a national parks security unit, and a special intervention group; the Air Force has a small number of older French-made fighter aircraft and some combat helicopters, also mostly of French origin; the Navy has a small force of patrol boats (2023)

NOTE: The information regarding Gabon on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Gabon 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Gabon 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.