Military profile
Belarus Military Strength
Belarus ranks #60 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 45,000 active personnel. It spent $1.9 billion on its military in 2025 (2.4% of GDP).
Belarus armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 45,000#69 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 290,000#17 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 110,000#20 of 145
- Army personnel
- 16,500#100 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 18,200#37 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 0#113 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 191#50 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 38#48 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 67#13 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 60#56 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 21#33 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 862#26 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 488#16 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 330#33 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 253#21 of 145
Finance
- Military spending
- $1.9 billion#67 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 2.4%#44 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $180.0 billion#69 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Belarus military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Belarus grew by 153% between 2010 and 2025, from $768 million to $1.9 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 2.4% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Belarus
Branches and forces
Belarus Armed Forces: Army, Air and Air Defense Force, Special Operations Force, Special Troops, Territorial Defense Forces Ministry of Interior: State Border Troops, Militia, Internal Troops (2025)
Personnel
approximately 50-60,000 active-duty military personnel (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-27 years of age for compulsory military or alternative service; conscript service obligation is 12-18 months, depending on academic qualifications, and 24-36 months for alternative service; 17-year-olds are eligible to become cadets at military higher education institutes, where they are classified as military personnel (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military's inventory is comprised mostly of Russian and Soviet-origin equipment; Belarus's defense industry manufactures some equipment (mostly modernized Soviet designs), including vehicles, guided weapons, and electronic warfare systems (2025)
Good to know
the military of Belarus is responsible for territorial defense; Russia is the country’s closest security partner, and the military conducts joint training exercises with Russian forces; in 2022, Belarus allowed the Russian military to stage on its territory for their invasion of Ukraine; in 2023, Belarus agreed to permit Russia to deploy nuclear weapons on its soil Belarus has been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) since 1994 and has committed an airborne brigade to CSTO's rapid reaction force; the military trains regularly with other CSTO members (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 2% · 2023: 1.8% · 2022: 1.7% · 2021: 1.4% · 2020: 1.5%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Russia
Ukraine
Lithuania
Poland
Latvia