Angola Military - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Angolan Armed Forces (Forcas Armadas Angolanas, FAA): Army, Navy (Marinha de Guerra Angola, MGA), Angolan National Air Force (Forca Aerea Nacional Angolana, FANA; under operational control of the Army)

Ministry of Interior: National Police, Border Guard Police  (2023)

Military expenditures

1.3% of GDP (2022 est.)

1.4% of GDP (2021 est.)

1.7% of GDP (2020 est.)

1.8% of GDP (2019 est.)

2.1% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 101,000 active troops (95,000 Army; 1,000 Navy; 5,000 Air Force); estimated 10,000 Rapid Reaction Police (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

most Angolan military weapons and equipment are of Russian or of Soviet-era origin; in recent years, Russia has been the principal supplier of military hardware to Angola (2023)

Military service age and obligation

20-45 years of age for compulsory and 18-45 years for voluntary military service for men (registration at age 18 is mandatory); 20-45 years of age for voluntary service for women; 24-month conscript service obligation; Angolan citizenship required; the Navy is entirely staffed with volunteers (2023)

Military deployments

in 2023, Angola agreed to send 500 troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for 12 months as part of an African regional force to assist with security in the eastern part of the country where the DRC military is combating a rebel group known as M23

Military - note

the Angolan Armed Forces were created in 1991 under the Bicesse Accords signed between the Angolan Government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA); the current force is responsible for country’s external defense but also has some domestic security responsibilities, including border protection, expulsion of irregular migrants, and small-scale counterinsurgency operations against groups like the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda separatists in Cabinda; the Army is one of the largest in the region with 6 infantry divisions spread amongst 6 military regions; it is also one of the better equipped, with a significant portion of its units being motorized and supported by approximately 300 Soviet-era tanks, largely acquired in the 1980s and 1990s; the Air Force is also one of the largest and best equipped in the region with a fleet of approximately 100 combat aircraft, plus a substantial inventory of transport aircraft and helicopter gunships; while naval modernization has received more attention in recent years, the Navy remains a small force of fast attack and coastal patrol craft (2023)

Maritime threats

the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of Angola are a risk for armed robbery against ships; in 2022, five attacks against commercial vessels were reported, an increase from the four attacks in 2021; most of these occurred in the main port of Luanda while ships were berthed or at anchor

NOTE: The information regarding Angola on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Angola 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Angola 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.