Gabon Military - 2024

Military and security forces

Gabonese Armed Forces (Force Armées Gabonaise or FAG; aka Gabonese Defense and Security Forces): Land Forces (Army), National Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie (includes Coast Guard), Corps of Firemen; Republican Guard (2024)

note: the National Police Forces, under the Ministry of Interior, and the National Gendarmerie, under the Ministry of Defense, are responsible for law enforcement and public security; elements of the armed forces and the Republican Guard, an elite unit that protects the president under his direct authority, sometimes perform internal security functions

Military expenditures

1.3% of GDP (2022 est.)
1.7% of GDP (2021 est.)
1.8% of GDP (2020 est.)
1.6% of GDP (2019 est.)
1.6% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 6,500 active-duty troops including the Republican Guard and Gendarmerie (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the Gabonese military is lightly armed with a mix of equipment from a variety of suppliers including Brazil, China, France, Germany, and South Africa (2023)

Military service age and obligation

18-26 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2023)

Military - note

the Gabonese military is a small and lightly-armed force that is responsible for both external and internal security; in August 2023, it seized control of the government in a coup; some members of the military attempted a failed coup in 2019; the Army’s core forces are the Republican Guard and an airborne infantry battalion, which are supported by several small regionally-based infantry units; the Gendarmerie has regionally-based “legions,” as well as mobile forces, a national parks security unit, and a special intervention group; the Air Force has a small number of older French-made fighter aircraft and some combat helicopters, also mostly of French origin; the Navy has a small force of patrol boats (2023)