Military profile
Nicaragua Military Strength
Nicaragua ranks #117 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 24,000 active personnel. It spent $116 million on its military in 2025 (0.6% of GDP).
Nicaragua armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 24,000#91 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 0#113 of 145
- Army personnel
- 20,000#94 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 500#120 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 550#96 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 16#121 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 10#115 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 198#61 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 272#43 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 163#31 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
- 22#44 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 0#53 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $116 million#137 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 0.6%#140 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $35.0 billion#122 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Nicaragua military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Nicaragua grew by 163% between 2010 and 2025, from $44 million to $116 million (current US dollars), and stood at 0.6% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Nicaragua
Branches and forces
Armed Forces of Nicaragua (formal name is Army of Nicaragua or Ejercito de Nicaragua, EN): Land Force; Naval Force; Air Force (2025)
Personnel
approximately 12,000 active Armed Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-30 years of age for voluntary military service (16-20 for cadets); no conscription; tour of duty 18-36 months (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military's air and ground force inventories include mostly secondhand Russian or Soviet-era equipment (2025)
Good to know
the military is responsible for defending Nicaragua’s independence, sovereignty, and territory; it also has some domestic security responsibilities, including border security, assisting the police, protecting natural resources, and providing disaster relief and humanitarian assistance; Nicaragua has defense ties with Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia; Russia has provided training support and equipment; in 2025, Nicaragua signed an agreement of “mutual protection” with Russia the modern Army of Nicaragua was created in 1979 as the Sandinista Popular Army (1979-1984); prior to 1979, the military was known as the National Guard, which was organized and trained by the US in the 1920s and 1930s; the first commander of the National Guard, Anastasio SOMOZA GARCIA, seized power in 1937 and ran the country as a military dictator until his assassination in 1956; his sons ran the country either directly or through figureheads until the Sandinistas came to power in 1979; the defeated National Guard was disbanded by the Sandinistas (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 0.5% · 2023: 0.6% · 2022: 0.6% · 2021: 0.6% · 2020: 0.6%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Nicaragua compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Nicaragua | #117 | $116 million |
 Honduras | #92 | $580 million |