Honduras Military - 2024

Military and security forces

Honduran Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas de Honduras, FFAA): Army (Ejercito), Honduran Naval Forces (Fuerzas Naval Hondurena, FNH; includes marines), Honduran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Hondurena, FAH), Honduran Military Police of Public Order (Policía Militar del Orden Público or PMOP) (2024)

note 1: the National Police of Honduras (Policía Nacional de Honduras, PNH) are under the Secretariat of Security and responsible for internal security; some larger cities have police forces that operate independently of the national police and report to municipal authorities 

note 2: the PMOP supports the PNH against narcotics trafficking and organized crime; it is subordinate to the Secretariat of Defense/FFAA, but conducts operations sanctioned by civilian security officials as well as by military leaders 

note 3: the National Interinstitutional Security Force is an interagency command that coordinates the overlapping responsibilities of the HNP, PMOP, and other security organizations such as the National Intelligence Directorate and the Public Ministry (public prosecutor), but exercises coordination, command, and control responsibilities only during interagency operations involving those forces

Military expenditures

1.4% of GDP (2022 est.)
1.5% of GDP (2021 est.)
1.6% of GDP (2020 est.)
1.6% of GDP (2019 est.)
1.6% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 16,000 active personnel (7,500 Army; 1,500 Navy, including about 1,000 marines; 2,000 Air Force; 5,000 Military Police of Public Order); approximately 18,000 National Police (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the FFAA's inventory is comprised of mostly older imported equipment from Israel, the UK, and the US; in recent years, it has received limited amounts of military equipment from several countries, including Colombia and Israel (2023)

Military service age and obligation

18-22 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; 24-36 month service obligation; no conscription (2024)

note: as of 2023, women made up about 9% of the active duty military

Military - note

the Honduran Armed Forces (FFAA) are responsible for maintaining the country’s territory, defending its sovereignty, providing emergency/humanitarian assistance, and supporting the National Police (PNH); the FFAA’s primary focus is internal and border security, and since 2011 a considerable portion of it has been deployed to support the PNH in combating narcotics trafficking and organized crime; military support to domestic security included the creation of the Military Police of Public Order (PMOP) in 2013 to provide security in areas controlled by street gangs to combat crime and make arrests; the PMOP also has sent personnel to reinforce security operations along the country’s border as part of a tri-national security task force with El Salvador and Guatemala; the FFAA has received military equipment, training, humanitarian, and technical assistance from the US military; the US military maintains a joint service task force co-located with the FFAA at Soto Cano Air Base

the Army’s combat forces include five infantry brigades, a special operations group, and approximately eight military police battalions; the Navy is a small force focused on coastal and riverine security that operates an ocean-going patrol vessel acquired in 2019 and supported by small flotillas of coastal and riverine patrol boats, as well as a small naval infantry force; the Air Force has a handful of older US-made jet fighters and light ground attack aircraft (2023)