Military profile
DR Congo Military Strength
DR Congo ranks #72 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 140,000 active personnel. It spent $1.2 billion on its military in 2025 (1.4% of GDP).
DR Congo armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 140,000#34 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 10,000#66 of 145
- Army personnel
- 140,000#29 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 4,000#83 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 6,700#54 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 46#92 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 1#94 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 4#57 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 32#76 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 8#53 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 214#60 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 16#80 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 125#60 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 57#50 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 0#56 of 113
- Corvettes
- 0#47 of 113
- Submarines
- 0#44 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 16#57 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 0#53 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $1.2 billion#80 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 1.4%#94 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $95.0 billion#87 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
DR Congo military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of DR Congo grew by 567% between 2010 and 2025, from $184 million to $1.2 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 1.4% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of DR Congo
Branches and forces
Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Forces d'Armees de la Republique Democratique du Congo, FARDC): Land Forces (Forces Terrestres), National Navy (La Marine Nationale), Congolese Air Force (Force Aerienne Congolaise, FAC); Republican Guard (Garde Républicaine, GR) Ministry of Interior: Congolese National Police (Police Nationale Congolaise, PNC) (2025)
Personnel
estimated 100-150,000 active FARDC (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-35 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; 18-45 years of age for compulsory military service for men; it is unclear how much conscription is used (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the FARDC is equipped mostly with Soviet-era and older French armaments; in recent years, it has received some more modern equipment, such as armored vehicles and armed drones, from China, South Africa, Turkey, and the UAE (2025)
Good to know
the FARDC’s primary focus is internal security and conducting operations against rebels and other illegal armed groups (IOGs) operating in the DRC, particularly in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, where more than 15 significant and cohesive IOGs operate; there is also IOG-related violence in Maniema, Kasai, Kasai Central, and Tanganyika provinces; some estimates place over 100 IOGs operating in the country, including organized militias, such as the Nduma Defense of Congo-Renewal (NDC-R), which controls a large portion of North Kivu; Mai Mai groups (local militias that operate variously as self-defense networks and criminal rackets); and foreign-origin groups seeking safe haven and resources, such as the Ugandan-origin Allied Democratic Forces (ADF; aka Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in the DRC), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), multiple groups originating from Burundi, the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), and the March 23 Movement (aka M23 or Congolese Revolutionary Army), which Rwanda has been accused of supporting militarily; the FARDC incorporates some non-state armed groups and has been accused of collaborating with some IOGs, such as the NDC-R the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has operated in the central and eastern parts of the country since 1999; its mandate had been extended to the end of 2026; MONUSCO includes a Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), the first ever UN peacekeeping force specifically tasked to carry out targeted offensive operations to neutralize and disarm groups considered a threat to state authority and civilian security (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 1.2% · 2023: 1.2% · 2022: 0.7% · 2021: 0.7% · 2020: 0.7%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
DR Congo compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| DR Congo | #72 | $1.2 billion |
 Angola | #55 | $1.5 billion |
 Zambia | #89 | $406 million |
 Republic of the Congo | #122 | $205 million |
 Central African Republic | #136 | $74 million |
 Uganda | #83 | $1.3 billion |
 South Sudan | #116 | $178 million |
 Tanzania | #101 | $1.0 billion |
 Burundi | — | $227 million |
 Rwanda | — | $191 million |