Azerbaijan Military - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Land Forces (Combined Arms Army), Air Forces, Navy Forces; Ministry of Internal Affairs: State Border Service (includes Coast Guard), Internal Security Troops (2021)

Military expenditures

4% of GDP (2019)

3.6% of GDP (2018)

3.8% of GDP (2017)

3.7% of GDP (2016)

5.5% of GDP (2015)

Military and security service personnel strengths

information varies; approximately 65,000 total active troops (55,000 Army; 2,000 Navy; 8,000 Air Force); approximately 15,000 Ministry of Internal Affairs troops (2020)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the inventory of the Azerbaijan military is comprised mostly of Russian and Soviet-era weapons systems with a smaller mix of equipment from other countries; since 2010, Russia is the leading supplier of arms to Azerbaijan, followed by Israel and Turkey (2020)

Military deployments

120 Afghanistan (NATO) (2021)

Military service age and obligation

18-35 years of age for compulsory military service; service obligation 18 months or 12 months for university graduates; 17 years of age for voluntary service; 17 year olds are considered to be on active service at cadet military schools (2020)

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 Azerbaijan 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 Azerbaijan 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Azerbaijan 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.