Central African Republic Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Central African Armed Forces (Forces Armees Centrafricaines, FACA): Army (includes an air squadron, Escadrille Centrafricaine); Ministry of Interior: National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale), National Police (2022)

note: in 2019-2021, the CAR created three Mixed Special Security units (Unités Spéciales Mixtes de Sécurité or USMS), regionally based battalion-sized units comprised of about 40% government and 60% rebel soldiers created to provide security along transportation corridors and at mining sites; the units are intended to be transitional in nature with a scheduled deployment time of two years

Military expenditures

1.8% of GDP (2021 est.)

1.8% of GDP (2020 est.)

1.7% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $50 million)

1.4% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $40 million)

1.4% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $40 million)

Military and security service personnel strengths

information varies; approximately 8,000 FACA troops; up to 2,000 Gendarmerie; approximately 2,000 Mixed Special Security Units (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the FACA is lightly and poorly armed with mostly outdated weapons; since 2010, it has received small amounts of second-hand equipment from China, Russia, and Ukraine (2021)

note: since 2013, CAR has been under a UNSC arms embargo; the embargo bans all supplies of arms and related materiel to the country except to the CAR security forces if approved in advance by the relevant UN Sanctions Committee

Military service age and obligation

18 years of age for military service; no conscription (2021)

Military - note

the 2013 coup resulted in the institutional collapse of the FACA; its forces were overwhelmed and forced to flee to neighboring countries; it has been estimated that only 10% of the FACA returned after the coup, and it has struggled to rebuild in the years of instability since; the European Union, France, Russia, the UN, and the US have provided various levels of security assistance

in 2018, the UN Security Council approved Russian security assistance for the CAR to help train and advise FACA personnel, as well as transport them to operational areas, provide logistical support, and assist with medical evacuation; Russia sent private military contractors, and as of early 2022, as many as 2,000 were providing assistance to the FACA, as well as performing other security roles such as guarding mines and government officials; some Russian contractors and the CAR forces they supported have been accused of carrying out indiscriminate killings, using excessive force against civilians, and looting

the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has operated in the country since 2014; its peacekeeping mission includes providing security, protecting civilians, facilitating humanitarian assistance, disarming and demobilizing armed groups, and supporting the country’s fragile transitional government; in November 2019, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the MINUSCA peacekeeping mission another year; as of mid-2022, MINUSCA had nearly 15,000 total personnel

the European Union Training Mission in the Central African Republic (EUTM-RCA) has operated in the country since 2016, providing advice, training, and educational programs to the country's security forces (2022)

NOTE: The information regarding Central African Republic 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 Central African Republic 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Central African Republic 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.