Guinea Military - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

National Armed Forces: Army, Guinean Navy (Armee de Mer or Marine Guineenne), Guinean Air Force (Force Aerienne de Guinee), Presidential Security Battalion (Battailon Autonome de la Sécurité Presidentielle, BASP), Gendarmerie (2023)

note: the National Gendarmerie is overseen by the Ministry of Defense, while the National Police is under the Ministry of Security; the Gendarmerie and National Police share responsibility for internal security, but only the Gendarmerie can arrest police or military officials

Military expenditures

1.8% of GDP (2022 est.)

1.5% of GDP (2021 est.)

1.4% of GDP (2020 est.)

1.6% of GDP (2019 est.)

1.8% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 12,000 active personnel (9,000 Army; 400 Navy; 800 Air Force; 300 BASP; 1,500 Gendarmerie) (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the inventory of the Guinean military consists largely of aging and outdated (mostly Soviet-era) equipment; in recent years, it has received small amounts of equipment from China, France, and South Africa (2023)

Military service age and obligation

Voluntary and selective conscripted service, 9-24 mos (2022)

Military deployments

670 Mali (MINUSMA) (May 2022)

Military - note

the Guinean military is a small and lightly armed force that is responsible for external defense, but also has some domestic security responsibilities and has historically been involved in suppressing public protests; the military has undergone some attempts at reform since 2010, but in 2021 the Army’s special forces led a successful coup; the Army has a mix of approximately 10 infantry, light armor, commando, and special forces battalions, as well as a presidential guard force; piracy and natural resource protection in the Gulf of Guinea are key areas of concern for the small Navy, which possesses only a few patrol boats; the Air Force has a handful of serviceable aircraft, including helicopter gunships (2023)

Maritime threats

the International Maritime Bureau reported no incidents in the territorial and offshore waters of Guinea in 2022; the offshore waters of the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea remain a very high risk for piracy and armed robbery of ships; past incidents have been reported where vessels were attacked and crews kidnapped; these incidents showed that the pirates / robbers in the area are well armed and violent; pirates have robbed vessels and kidnapped crews for ransom; in the past, product tankers were hijacked and cargo stolen; the Maritime Administration of the US Department of Transportation has issued a Maritime Advisory (2023-001 - Gulf of Guinea-Piracy/Armed Robbery/Kidnapping for Ransom) effective 3 January 2023, which states in part, "Piracy, armed robbery, and kidnapping for ransom continue to serve as significant threats to US-flagged vessels transiting or operating in the Gulf of Guinea"

NOTE: The information regarding Guinea 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 Guinea 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Guinea 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.