Slovakia Military - 2024

Military and security forces

Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (Ozbrojene Sily Slovenskej Republiky): Land Forces (Slovenské Pozemné Sily), Air Forces (Slovenské Vzdušné Sily), Special Operations Forces (Sily Pre Speciálne Operácie)

Ministry of Interior: Slovak Police Force (SPF or Policajný Zbor) (2024)

note: the SPF has sole responsibility for internal and border security

Military expenditures

2.1% of GDP (2023 est.)
1.8% of GDP (2022)
1.7% of GDP (2021)
1.9% of GDP (2020)
1.7% of GDP (2019)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 14,000 active-duty personnel (8,000 Land Forces; 4,000 Air Forces; 2,000 other, including staff, special operations, and support forces) (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the military's inventory consists mostly of Soviet-era platforms; in recent years, it has imported limited quantities of more modern equipment, particularly from Italy and the US (2023)

Military service age and obligation

18-30 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; conscription in peacetime suspended in 2004 (2023)

note: as of 2020, women made up around 12% of the military's full-time personnel

Military deployments

240 Cyprus (UNFICYP); up to 150 Latvia (NATO) (2023)

note: in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, some NATO countries, including Slovakia, have sent additional troops and equipment to the battlegroups deployed in NATO territory in eastern Europe

Military - note

the Slovak military was created from the Czechoslovak Army after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993; it is a small and professional force responsible for external defense and fulfilling Slovakia’s commitments to European and international security; Slovakia has been a member of both the EU and NATO since 2004; a key focus of the Slovak military is fulfilling the country’s security responsibilities to NATO, including modernizing and acquiring NATO-compatible equipment, participating in training exercises, and providing forces for security missions such as NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic States; since 2022, Slovakia has hosted a NATO ground force battlegroup comprised of troops from Czechia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the US as part of the NATO effort to boost the defenses of Eastern Europe since the Russian invasion of Ukraine; Slovakia also contributes to EU and UN peacekeeping missions

the military operates under a General Staff and a Joint Operations Command; the combat units of the subordinate Land Forces are two mechanized infantry brigades, plus separate battalions of artillery and reconnaissance forces; the separate Special Operations Forces include special forces and airborne units; the Air Force has only a handful of fighter aircraft and is assisted by NATO’s air policing mission over Slovakia, which includes fighter aircraft from Czechia and Poland; in 2022, Slovakia signed a defense agreement with the US that allows the US to use two Slovak military air bases; as a landlocked country, Slovakia does not have a naval force (2023)