Uruguay Military - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Armed Forces of Uruguay (Fuerzas Armadas del Uruguay): National Army (Ejercito Nacional), National Navy (Armada Nacional, includes Coast Guard (Prefectura Nacional Naval or PRENA)), Uruguayan Air Force (Fuerza Aerea); Ministry of Interior: National Police (2023)

note: the National Police includes the paramilitary National Republican Guard or Guardia Nacional Republicana; the National Police maintains internal security, while the National Directorate for Migration is responsible for migration and border enforcement

Military expenditures

1% of GDP (2022 est.)

2.3% of GDP (2021 est.)

2% of GDP (2020 est.)

2.1% of GDP (2019 est.)

2.1% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 22,000 active duty personnel (14,000 Army; 5,000 Navy; 3,000 Air Force) (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the military's inventory includes a wide variety of older or second-hand equipment; in recent years, it has imported limited amounts of military hardware from a variety of countries with Spain as the leading supplier (2022)

Military service age and obligation

18-30 years of age (18-22 years of age for Navy) for voluntary military service for men and women; up to 40 years of age for specialists; enlistment is voluntary in peacetime, but the government has the authority to conscript in emergencies (2023)

note: as of 2023, women comprised nearly 20% of the active military

Military deployments

830 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 210 Golan Heights (UNDOF) (May 2022)

Military - note

the armed forces are responsible for defense of the country’s independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity, as well as protecting strategic resources; it has some domestic responsibilities, including perimeter security for a number of prisons and border security and providing humanitarian/disaster assistance; in 2020, the military deployed more than 1,000 troops to assist the National Police in securing the land border with Brazil and the riverine border with Argentina as part of a border control law passed in 2018; the military trains regularly, including in multinational exercises; it has traditionally held security ties with Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and the US

the Army has 4 regionally based divisions comprised of approximately 8 small brigades of infantry and mechanized cavalry; the Navy includes the Coast Guard, a naval aviation command, and a small naval infantry force; the Navy in recent years has undertaken a modest program to modernize its aging fleet, decommissioning several ships, including its only frigates, and acquiring secondhand patrol vessels from the US Coast Guard; it is also attempting to acquire larger and more modern offshore patrol vessels; the Air Force has a single squadron of light ground attack aircraft (2023)

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