Tanzania Military - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Tanzania People's Defense Forces (TPDF or Jeshi la Wananchi la Tanzania, JWTZ): Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force, National Building Army (Jeshi la Kujenga Taifa, JKT), People's Militia (Reserves); Ministry of Home Affairs paramilitary forces: Police Field Force (2021)

note: the National Building Army is a paramilitary organization under the Defense Forces that provides six months of military and vocational training to individuals as part of their two years of public service; after completion of training, some graduates join the regular Defense Forces while the remainder become part of the People's (or Citizen's) Militia

Military expenditures

1.3% of GDP (2019)

1.3% of GDP (2018)

1.1% of GDP (2017)

1.1% of GDP (2016)

1.1% of GDP (2015)

Military and security service personnel strengths

the Tanzania People's Defense Forces (TPDF) have an estimated 26,000 active personnel (22,000 Land Forces; 1,000 Naval Forces; 3,000 Air Force) (2020)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the TPDF inventory includes mostly Soviet-era and Chinese equipment; since 2010, China is the leading supplier of arms to the TPDF (2020)

Military deployments

450 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 775 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 120 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 330 Sudan (UNAMID) (Jan 2021)

Military service age and obligation

18-25 years of age for voluntary military service; 6-year commitment (2-year contracts afterwards); selective conscription for 2 years of public service (2021)

Maritime threats

the International Maritime Bureau reports that shipping in territorial and offshore waters in the Indian Ocean remain at risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships

Military - note

as of late 2020, the TPDF had deployed additional troops to its border with Mozambique to prevent a spillover of the growing violence in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado

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