Military profile
Malaysia Military Strength
Malaysia ranks #42 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 85,000 active personnel. It spent $4.9 billion on its military in 2025 (1.0% of GDP).
Malaysia armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 85,000#51 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 52,000#46 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 100,000#22 of 145
- Army personnel
- 80,000#44 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 15,000#42 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 15,000#38 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 147#59 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 26#56 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 12#42 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 43#66 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 48#93 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 196#49 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 54#51 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 3#40 of 113
- Corvettes
- 6#16 of 113
- Submarines
- 2#34 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 29#36 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 4#32 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $4.9 billion#51 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 1.0%#114 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $855.6 billion#29 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Malaysia military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Malaysia grew by 28% between 2010 and 2025, from $3.9 billion to $4.9 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 1.0% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Malaysia
Branches and forces
Malaysian Armed Forces (Angkatan Tentera Malaysia, ATM): Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Malaysian Air Force Ministry of Home Affairs: Royal Malaysia Police (RMP or Polis Diraja Malaysia, PDRM), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA; aka Malaysian Coast Guard) (2025)
Personnel
approximately 110,000 active Malaysian Armed Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
17 years 6 months of age for voluntary military service for men and women (younger with parental consent and proof of age); mandatory retirement age 60; no conscription (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military fields a diverse array of mostly older but growing quantities of more modern weapons and equipment; its inventory originates from a variety of suppliers across Europe, Asia, and the US; Malaysia has a domestic defense industry that has some co-production agreements with countries such as France, Germany, and Türkiye in areas such as armored vehicles and naval vessels (2025)
Deployments abroad
825 Lebanon (UNIFIL) (2025)
Good to know
the Malaysian military is responsible for defense of the country's national interests, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; it also has some domestic responsibilities, such as responding to natural disasters; key areas of focus for the military include cyber defense, crime and piracy in the Strait of Malacca, and tensions in the South China Sea; the Army has traditionally been the dominant service, but air and maritime security have received increased emphasis in recent years; Malaysia has undertaken efforts to procure more modern aircraft and ships, improve air and maritime surveillance, expand the Navy’s support infrastructure (particularly bases/ports) and domestic ship-building capacities, and increase cooperation with regional and international partners such as Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and the US Malaysia is a member of the Five Powers Defense Arrangements (FPDA), a series of mutual assistance agreements reached in 1971 embracing Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK; the FPDA commits the members to consult with one another in the event or threat of an armed attack on any of the members and to mutually decide what measures should be taken, jointly or separately; there is no specific obligation to intervene militarily (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 1% · 2023: 0.9% · 2022: 1.1% · 2021: 1% · 2020: 1.1%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Indonesia
Thailand
Brunei