Mongolia Military - 2024

Military and security forces

Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF): Mongolian Ground Force (aka General Purpose Troops), Mongolian Air/Air Defense Force, Cyber Security Forces, Special Forces, Civil Engineering Forces, Civil Defense Forces (2023)

note: the National Police Agency and the General Authority for Border Protection, which operate under the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, are primarily responsible for internal security; they are assisted by the General Intelligence Agency under the prime minister; the MAF assists the internal security forces in providing domestic emergency assistance and disaster relief

Military expenditures

0.6% of GDP (2022 est.)
0.8% of GDP (2021 est.)
0.8% of GDP (2020 est.)
0.7% of GDP (2019 est.)
0.7% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military and security service personnel strengths

information varies; approximately 9,000 active duty troops (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the MAF's inventory is comprised largely of Soviet-era and Russian equipment (2024)

Military service age and obligation

18-25 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service (can enter military schools at age 17); 12-month conscript service obligation for men in the army, air forces, or police (can be extended 3 months under special circumstances); conscription service can be exchanged for a 24‐month stint in the civil service or a cash payment determined by the Mongolian Government; after conscription, soldiers can contract into military service for 2 or 4 years; volunteer military service for men and women is 24 months, which can be extended for another two years up to the age of 31 (2024)

Military deployments

860 South Sudan (UNMISS) (2023)

note: from 2003 to July 2021, some 3,300 Mongolian troops served in Afghanistan, including about 1,300 under the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission (2015 to 2021); since 2002, Mongolia has deployed more than 19,000 peacekeepers and observers to UN operations in more than a dozen countries

Military - note

the MAF does not face a significant external military threat and focuses instead on counterterrorism, disaster response, and international peacekeeping; the Ground Force is the military’s primary service and is centered on a motorized infantry brigade equipped largely with Soviet-era equipment; it also has a battalion devoted to peacekeeping duties and hosts an annual international peacekeeping exercise known as “Khaan Quest”; Mongolia’s primary military partner is Russia, and in addition to receiving Russian military equipment, the MAF participates in Russia’s large “Vostok” exercise, which is conducted every four years 

Mongolia has been engaged in dialogue and cooperation with NATO since 2005 and is considered by NATO to be a global partner; Mongolia supported the NATO-led Kosovo Force from 2005-2007 and contributed troops to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan from 2009-2014, as well as to the follow-on Resolute Support Mission that provided training, advice, and other assistance to the Afghan security forces (2015-2021) (2023)