Military profile
Singapore Military Strength
Singapore ranks #29 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 60,000 active personnel. It spent $17.4 billion on its military in 2025 (3.0% of GDP).
Singapore armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 60,000#63 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 240,000#20 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 10,000#66 of 145
- Army personnel
- 45,000#66 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 15,000#42 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 9,000#48 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 248#40 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 100#21 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 83#45 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 18#36 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 170#70 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 48#57 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 89#66 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 24#70 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 6#27 of 113
- Corvettes
- 6#16 of 113
- Submarines
- 5#23 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 15#59 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 4#32 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $17.4 billion#22 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 3.0%#31 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $531.0 billion#38 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Singapore military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Singapore grew by 115% between 2010 and 2025, from $8.1 billion to $17.4 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 3.0% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Singapore
Branches and forces
Singapore Armed Forces (SAF; aka Singapore Defense Force): Singapore Army, Republic of Singapore Navy, Republic of Singapore Air Force (includes air defense), Digital and Intelligence Service Ministry of Home Affairs: Singapore Police Force (SPF; includes Police Coast Guard and the Gurkha Contingent) (2025)
Personnel
information varies; approximately 55,000 active-duty Armed Forces (40,000 Army; 7,000 Navy; 8,000 Air Force) (2025)
Service age and conscription
18 years of age for voluntary enlistment for men and women (16.5 for early enlistment program with parental consent); 18-21 years of age for compulsory military service for men; 24-month conscript service obligation (2026)
Equipment and suppliers
the SAF has a diverse and modern mix of domestically produced and imported Western weapons systems from such suppliers as France, Germany, and the US; Singapore has a small but sophisticated defense industry, which produces armaments such as armored vehicles and naval warships (2025)
Deployments abroad
maintains permanent training detachments of military personnel in Australia, France, and the US (2025)
Good to know
the SAF’s primary responsibility is external defense, particularly maritime security, but it also trains for certain domestic security operations, including joint deterrence patrols with police in instances of heightened terrorism alerts; the Army includes a “people’s defense force,” which is a divisional headquarters responsible for homeland security and counterterrorism; the SAF regularly participates in bilateral and multilateral training exercises Singapore 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; Singapore also has close security ties with the US, including granting the US military access, basing, and overflight privileges the SAF's roots go back to 1854 when the Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps was formed under colonial rule; the first battalion of regular soldiers, the First Singapore Infantry Regiment, was organized in 1957; the modern SAF was established in 1965 (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 3% · 2023: 3% · 2022: 3% · 2021: 3% · 2020: 3%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).