Saint Kitts and Nevis Military - 2024

Military and security forces

Ministry of National Security: St. Kitts and Nevis Defense Force (SKNDF), St. Kitts and Nevis Coast Guard, the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (2024)

note: the Nevis Police Force includes the paramilitary Special Services Unit

Military and security service personnel strengths

less than 500 active personnel (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the SKNDF is lightly armed with equipment from Belgium, the UK, and the US (2023)

Military service age and obligation

18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (under 18 with written parental permission); no conscription (2023)

Military - note

SKNDF's missions included defense of the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty, protecting natural resources, interdicting narcotics trafficking, and providing humanitarian relief as needed

St. Kitts joined the Caribbean Regional Security System (RSS) in 1984; RSS signatories (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) agreed to prepare contingency plans and assist one another, on request, in national emergencies, prevention of smuggling, search and rescue, immigration control, fishery protection, customs and excise control, maritime policing duties, protection of off-shore installations, pollution control, national and other disasters, and threats to national security (2024)