Military profile
Estonia Military Strength
Estonia ranks #104 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 4,000 active personnel. It spent $1.6 billion on its military in 2025 (3.4% of GDP).
Estonia armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 4,000#137 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 230,000#21 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 16,000#52 of 145
- Army personnel
- 6,100#131 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 1,570#103 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 500#101 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 6#128 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 0#138 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 0#115 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 0#107 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 0#98 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
- 2#102 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 4#32 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $1.6 billion#70 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 3.4%#20 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $45.0 billion#111 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Estonia military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Estonia grew by 374% between 2010 and 2025, from $332 million to $1.6 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 3.4% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Estonia
Branches and forces
Estonian Defense Forces: Land Forces, Navy, Air Force; Estonian Defense League Ministry of Interior: Police and Border Guard Board, Internal Security Service (2025)
Personnel
approximately 7,500 active-duty military personnel (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-27 for compulsory military or governmental service for men; conscript service requirement 8-11 months depending on education; non-commissioned officers, reserve officers, and specialists serve 11 months; women can volunteer, and as of 2018 could serve in any military branch (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the Estonian military has a mix of Soviet-era and more modern, Western-origin weapons and equipment; suppliers in recent years include France, Israel, South Korea, Sweden, Türkiye, and the US (2025)
Good to know
Estonia’s defense policy aims to guarantee the country’s independence and sovereignty, protect its territorial integrity, including waters and airspace, and preserve constitutional order; Estonia’s main defense goals are developing and maintaining a credible deterrent to outside aggression and ensuring the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) can fulfill their commitments to NATO and interoperate with the armed forces of NATO and EU member states; the EDF’s primary external focus is Russia; since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Estonia has boosted defense spending, sent arms to Ukraine, and sought to boost the EDF’s capabilities in such areas as air defense, artillery, personnel readiness, and surveillance Estonia has been a member of NATO since 2004, is fully integrated within the NATO structure, and relies on its NATO partners for defense; since 2017, Estonia has hosted a UK-led multinational NATO ground force battlegroup as part of the Alliance’s Enhanced Forward Presence initiative; as the EDF Air Force does not have any combat aircraft, NATO has provided airspace protection for Estonia since 2004 through its Baltic Air Policing mission; NATO member countries that possess air combat capabilities voluntarily contribute to the mission on four-month rotations; NATO fighter aircraft have been hosted at Estonia’s Ämari Air Base since 2014; Estonia also hosts a NATO cyber security center; it cooperates closely with the EU on defense issues through the EU Common Security and Defense Policy and is a member of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, a pool of high-readiness military forces from 10 Baltic and Scandinavian countries designed to respond to a wide range of contingencies in the North Atlantic, Baltic Sea, and High North regions; Estonia also has close defense ties with its Baltic neighbors and has bilateral military agreements with a number of European countries, as well as Canada and the US (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2025: 3.4% · 2024: 3.4% · 2023: 3% · 2022: 2.2% · 2021: 2%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Latvia
Russia