Armenia Military - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Armenian Armed Forces: Armenian Army (includes land, air, air defense forces) (2021)

Military expenditures

4.3% of GDP (2019)

4.3% of GDP (2018)

3.8% of GDP (2017)

4.1% of GDP (2016)

4.2% of GDP (2015)

Military and security service personnel strengths

the Armenian Armed Forces have approximately 45,000 active troops (42,000 ground; 3,000 air/defense) (2020)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the inventory of the Armenian Armed Forces includes mostly Russian and Soviet-era equipment; since 2010, almost all of Armenia's weapons imports have come from Russia (2020)

Military deployments

120 Afghanistan (NATO); contributes troops to CSTO's Rapid Reaction Force (2021)

Military service age and obligation

18-27 years of age for voluntary or compulsory military service; 2-year conscript service obligation, which can be served as an officer upon deferment for university studies if enrolled in officer-producing program; 17 year olds are eligible to become cadets at military higher education institutes, where they are classified as military personnel (2019)

Military - note

since November 2020, Russia has deployed about 2,000 peacekeeping troops to the area in and around Nagorno-Karabakh as part of a cease-fire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan; fighting erupted between the two countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in September of 2020; Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces (the "Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army") backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994; six weeks of fighting resulted in about 6,000 deaths and ended after Armenia ceded swathes of Nagorno-Karabakh territory

NOTE: The information regarding Armenia on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Armenia 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Armenia 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.