Jordan Military 2022, CIA World Factbook

Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF): Royal Jordanian Army (includes Special Operations Forces, Border Guards, Royal Guard), Royal Jordanian Air Force, Royal Jordanian Coast Guard; Ministry of Interior: Public Security Directorate (includes national police, the Gendarmerie, and the Civil Defense Directorate) (2022)

note: the armed forces report administratively to the minister of defense and have a support role for internal security; the prime minister serves as defense minister, but there is no separate ministry of defense

Military expenditures

5% of GDP (2021 est.)

5% of GDP (2020 est.)

5.6% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $5.18 billion)

5.6% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $5.14 billion)

5.7% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $5.18 billion)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 94,500 active duty armed forces personnel (80,000 Army; 14,000 Air Force; 500 Coast Guard); approximately 15,000 Gendarmerie Forces (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the JAF inventory is comprised of a wide mix of imported equipment from Europe, some Gulf States, Russia, and the US; since 2010, the Netherlands and the US have been the leading suppliers (2022)

Military service age and obligation

17 years of age for voluntary military service for men (women can volunteer to serve in noncombat military positions in the Royal Jordanian Arab Army Women's Corps and RJAF); initial service term 2 years, with option to reenlist for up to 18 years; conscription was abolished in 1991, but in 2020 Jordan announced the reinstatement of compulsory military service for jobless men aged between 25 and 29 with 12 months of service, made up of 3 months of military training and 9 months of professional and technical training; in 2019, Jordan announced a voluntary 4-month National Military Service program for men and women aged between 18-25 years who have been unemployed for at least 6 months; service would include 1 month for military training with the remaining 3 months dedicated to vocational training in the sectors of construction and tourism (2022)

note: most women serve in the medical service; outside the medical service, women comprised about 1.5% of the military as of 2019

Military deployments

330 Mali (MINUSMA) (May 2022)

Military - note

the Jordanian military traces its origins back to the Arab Legion, which was formed under the British protectorate of Transjordan in the 1920s

due largely to its proximity to regional conflicts in Iraq and Syria, the presence of major terrorist organizations in both of those countries, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the highest priorities of Jordan’s military and security services in 2022 included securing its borders and the potential for domestic terrorist attacks; the terrorist group Hizballah and Iranian-backed militia forces were operating in southwestern Syria near Jordan’s border while fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group continued operating in both Iraq and Syria; ISIS fighters included Jordanian nationals, some of whom have returned to Jordan; meanwhile, individuals and groups sympathetic to Palestine have planned and conducted terrorist attacks in Jordan

Jordan has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US; MNNA is a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation; while MNNA status provides military and economic privileges, it does not entail any security commitments

Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 (2022)

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