Tajikistan Military - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan: Land Forces, Mobile Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces; National Guard; Ministry of Internal Affairs: Internal Troops (reserves for Armed Forces in wartime), police; State Committee on National Security: Border Guard Forces (2023)

Military expenditures

1.1% of GDP (2022 est.)

1.2% of GDP (2021 est.)

1% of GDP (2020 est.)

2.1% of GDP (2019 est.)

2.1% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 9,500 active duty troops (8,000 Land and Mobile Forces; 1,500 Air and Air Defense Forces) (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the military's inventory is comprised of older Russian and Soviet-era equipment; it has received limited quantities of weapons systems in recent years, most of which was secondhand material from Russia (2021)

Military service age and obligation

18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service for men; women may volunteer; 24-month conscript service obligation; in August 2021, the Tajik Government began allowing men to pay a fee in order to avoid conscription (2023)

Military - note

Tajikistan is the only former Soviet republic that did not form its armed forces from old Soviet Army units following the collapse of the USSR in 1991; rather, Russia retained command of the Soviet units there while the Tajik government raised a military from scratch; the first ground forces were officially created in 1993 from groups that fought for the government during the Tajik Civil War

the military is a small and limited force equipped largely with Soviet-era weapons; its primary concerns are terrorism, border security, territorial defense, and instability in neighboring countries; following the 2021 Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, Tajikistan deployed thousands of troops to the Afghan border and conducted exercises focused on border-related scenarios; since 2012, Tajikistan has had more than 100 border-related clashes with Kyrgyzstan, triggered mostly by disputes over water, roads, or land along a poorly-defined frontier; the most recent in September 2022 saw the use of armored vehicles and artillery and resulted in about 100 killed; the Tajik Land and Mobile Forces have together an estimated 5 combat brigades of mechanized infantry, light/mountain infantry, air assault and special forces, and artillery; the Air and Air Defense force has a small number attack and multipurpose helicopters

Russia is Tajikistan’s primary security partner; approximately 5-7,000 Russian soldiers are stationed in the country, primarily at the 201st military base, which is leased until at least 2042; the Russian forces include combat troops and combat aircraft; Russia and Tajikistan have a joint air defense system and they conduct periodic joint exercises; Tajikistan has been a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) since 1994 and contributes troops to CSTO's rapid reaction force (2023)

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