Military profile
South Sudan Military Strength
South Sudan ranks #116 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 175,000 active personnel. It spent $178 million on its military in 2025 (3.4% of GDP).
South Sudan armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 175,000#27 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 0#113 of 145
- Army personnel
- 65,000#53 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 350#128 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 550#96 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 18#120 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 16#101 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 6#57 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 120#79 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 24#70 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 0#107 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 15#81 of 145
Finance
- Military spending
- $178 million#130 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 3.4%#19 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $20.0 billion#132 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
South Sudan military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of South Sudan fell by 73% between 2010 and 2025, from $651 million to $178 million (current US dollars), and stood at 3.4% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of South Sudan
Branches and forces
South Sudan People’s Defense Force (SSPDF): Land Forces (includes Presidential Guard), Air Forces, Marine (Riverine) Forces, Reserve Forces; National (or Necessary) Unified Forces (NUF) Ministry of Interior: South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS) (2025)
Personnel
information varies; estimated 150-200,000 active Defense Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
18 (legal minimum age)-35 for voluntary military service for men and women; 12-24 months service (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the SSPDF inventory is a mix of primarily of Soviet-era armaments alongside limited quantities of more modern equipment such as armored personnel carriers from UAE (2025)
Good to know
the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) are largely focused on border and internal security; areas of concern include disputed national borders, conflict spillover from neighboring Sudan, banditry, and armed rebel groups and militias that continue to operate in the country since the civil war ended in 2020 the SSPDF, formerly the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), was founded as a guerrilla movement against the Sudanese Government in 1983 and participated in the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005); the Juba Declaration that followed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 unified the SPLA and the South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF), the second-largest rebel militia remaining from the civil war, under the SPLA name; in 2017, the SPLA was renamed the South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF) and in September 2018 was renamed again as the SSPDF the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has operated in the country since 2011 with the objectives of consolidating peace and security and helping establish conditions for the successful economic and political development of South Sudan; UNMISS has about 18,000 personnel assigned; the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) has operated in the disputed Abyei region along the border between Sudan and South Sudan since 2011; its mission includes ensuring security, protecting civilians, strengthening the capacity of the Abyei Police Service, de-mining, monitoring/verifying the redeployment of armed forces from the area, and facilitating the flow of humanitarian aid; UNISFA has approximately 3,800 personnel assigned (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 2% · 2023: 2% · 2022: 2% · 2021: 2% · 2020: 2%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Sudan
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