Congo Democratic Republic of the Military - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Forces d'Armees de la Republique Democratique du Congo, FARDC): Land Forces, National Navy (La Marine Nationale), Congolese Air Force (Force Aerienne Congolaise, FAC); Republican Guard (2020)

note - the Republican Guard is under the direct control of the president

Military expenditures

0.7% of GDP (2019 est.)

0.7% of GDP (2018)

0.7% of GDP (2017)

1.3% of GDP (2016)

1.4% of GDP (2015)

Military and security service personnel strengths

information varies widely because of inconsistent and unreliable data, as well as the ongoing integration of various non-state armed groups/militias; approximately 100,000 active troops (mostly Army, but includes several thousand Navy and Air Force personnel, as well as about 10,000 Republican Guard; note -  Navy personnel includes naval infantry) (2020)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the FARDC is equipped mostly with a mix of second-hand Russian and Soviet-era weapons acquired from former Warsaw Pact nations; most equipment was acquired between 1970 and 2000; since 2010, Ukraine is the largest supplier of arms to the FARDC (2020)

Military service age and obligation

18-45 years of age for voluntary and compulsory military service (2019)

Military - note

the modern FARDC was created out of the armed factions of the two Congo wars of 1996-1997 and 1998-2003; as part of the peace accords that ended the last war, the largest rebel groups were incorporated into the FARDC; many armed groups (at least 70 and by some recent estimates more than 100), however, continue to fight; as of late 2020, the FARDC was actively engaged in combat operations against numerous armed groups inside the country, particularly in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, although violence also continues in Maniema, Kasai, Kasai Central, and Tanganyika provinces; the military is widely assessed as being unable to provide adequate security throughout the country due to insufficient training, poor morale and leadership, ill-discipline and corruption, low equipment readiness, a fractious ethnic makeup, and the sheer size of the country and diversity of armed rebel groups

MONUSCO, the United Nations peacekeeping and stabilization force in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has operated in the central and eastern parts of the country since 1999; as of January 2021, MONUSCO comprised around 17,500 personnel, including about 12,500 military troops and 1,400 police; MONUSCO includes a Force Intervention Brigade (FIB; 3 infantry battalions), the first ever UN peacekeeping force specifically tasked to carry out targeted offensive operations to neutralize and disarm groups considered a threat to state authority and civilian security

NOTE: The information regarding Congo Democratic Republic of the 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 Congo Democratic Republic of the 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Congo Democratic Republic of the 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.