Military profile
Moldova Military Strength
Moldova ranks #143 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 6,000 active personnel. It spent $113 million on its military in 2025 (0.6% of GDP).
Moldova armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 6,000#134 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 12,000#71 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 1,000#106 of 145
- Army personnel
- 4,000#138 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 700#117 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 0#113 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 3#134 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 2#133 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
Finance
- Military spending
- $113 million#138 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 0.6%#143 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $32.3 billion#125 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Moldova military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Moldova grew by 518% between 2010 and 2025, from $18 million to $113 million (current US dollars), and stood at 0.6% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Moldova
Branches and forces
Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova (Forțele Armate ale Republicii Moldova): National Army (comprised of Land Forces, Air Force) Ministry of Internal Affairs: General Inspectorate of Police (GPI), Border Police Department, Carabinieri Troops Department (2025)
Personnel
approximately 6,500 Moldovan Armed Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; male registration required at age 16; 12-month service obligation; conscientious objectors can perform non-military service in public institutions for a longer period (up to 24 months) (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military's inventory is limited and almost entirely comprised of Soviet-era equipment; in recent years, it has received small amounts of donated equipment from some Western European nations and the US (2025)
Good to know
the National Army is responsible for defense against external aggression, suppressing illegal military violence along the state border or inside the country, and supporting other internal security forces in maintaining public order if necessary; its primary focuses are Transnistrian separatist forces and their Russian backers; the 1992 war between Moldovan forces and the Transnistrian separatists backed by Russian troops ended with a cease-fire; the separatists maintain several armed paramilitary combat units, plus other security forces and reserves; Russia maintains approximately 1,500 troops in the breakaway region, including some Transnistrian locals who serve as Russian troops; some of those troops are under the authority of a peacekeeping force known as a Joint Control Commission that also includes Moldovan and separatist personnel, while the remainder of the Russian contingent guard a depot of Soviet-era ammunition and train separatist forces Moldova is constitutionally neutral but has maintained a relationship with NATO since 1992 and since 2022 has enhanced bilateral security cooperation with some NATO members; it has contributed small numbers of troops to NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) since 2014, and a civilian NATO liaison office was established in Moldova in 2017 at the request of the Moldovan Government to promote practical cooperation and facilitate support; in 2024, Moldova signed a security and defense partnership agreement with the EU; it maintains close security relations with Romania, a member of the EU and NATO (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 0.6% · 2023: 0.6% · 2022: 0.4% · 2021: 0.4% · 2020: 0.4%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Ukraine
Romania