Eswatini Military - 2024

Military and security forces

Umbutfo Eswatini Defense Force (UEDF): Army (includes a small air wing); the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) (2023)

Military expenditures

1.7% of GDP (2021 est.)
1.8% of GDP (2020 est.)
1.9% of GDP (2019 est.)
2.1% of GDP (2018 est.)
2.1% of GDP (2017 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 3,000 active-duty personnel (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the UEDF is lightly armed with mostly older equipment from Europe, South Africa, and the US (2023)

Military service age and obligation

18-30 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription (2023)

Military - note

the UEDF’s primary mission is external security but it also has domestic security responsibilities, including protecting members of the royal family; the king is the UEDF commander in chief and holds the position of minister of defense, although the UEDF reports to the Army commander and principal undersecretary of defense for day-to-day operations; the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) is responsible for maintaining internal security as well as migration and border crossing enforcement; it is under the prime minister, although the king is the force’s titular commissioner in chief; the UEDF was originally created in 1973 as the Royal Swaziland Defense Force (2023)