Bangladesh Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Armed Forces of Bangladesh (aka Bangladesh Defense Force): Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force; Ministry of Home Affairs: Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Bangladesh Coast Guard, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Ansars, Village Defense Party (VDP) (2022)

note 1: the Armed Forces of Bangladesh are jointly administered by the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and the Armed Forces Division (AFD), both under the Prime Minister's Office; the AFD has ministerial status and parallel functions with MOD; the AFD is a joint coordinating headquarters for the three services and also functions as a joint command center during wartime; to coordinate policy, the prime minister and the president are advised by a six-member board, which includes the three service chiefs of staff, the principal staff officer of the AFD, and the military secretaries to the prime minister and president

note 2: the RAB, Ansars, and VDP are paramilitary organizations for internal security; the RAB is a joint task force founded in 2004 and composed of members of the police, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Border Guards seconded to the RAB from their respective units; its mandate includes internal security, intelligence gathering related to criminal activities, and government-directed investigations

Military expenditures

1.1% of GDP (2022 est.)

1.2% of GDP (2021 est.)

1.3% of GDP (2020)

1.4% of GDP (2019) (approximately $5.12 billion)

1.4% of GDP (2018) (approximately $4.57 billion)

Military and security service personnel strengths

information varies; approximately 165,000 total active personnel (135,000 Army; 15,000 Navy; 15,000 Air Force) (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

much of the military's inventory is comprised of Chinese- and Russian-origin equipment, with a smaller mix from a variety of other suppliers; since 2010, China has been the leading provider of arms to Bangladesh; as of 2022, Bangladesh was undertaking a large defense modernization program, with a focus on naval acquisitions (2022)

Military service age and obligation

16-21 years of age for voluntary military service; Bangladeshi nationality and 10th grade education required; officers: 17-21 years of age, Bangladeshi nationality, and 12th grade education required (2022)

Military deployments

1,375 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 1,625 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO; plus about 190 police); 120 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,100 Mali (MINUSMA; plus about 280 police); 1,600 South Sudan (UNMISS); 180 Sudan (UNISFA) (May 2022)

Military - note

the military’s chief areas of focus are border, economic exclusion zone, and domestic security; the Army maintains a large domestic security presence in the Chittagong Hills area where it conducted counterinsurgency operations against tribal guerrillas from the 1970s until the late 1990s; since 2009, the military has been in a force-wide expansion and modernization program known as Forces Goal 2030 (2022)

Maritime threats

the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of Bangladesh remain a risk for armed robbery against ships; there were no attacks reported in 2021 as opposed to four ships that were boarded in 2020

NOTE: The information regarding Bangladesh on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bangladesh 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bangladesh 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.