Military profile
Tajikistan Military Strength
Tajikistan ranks #120 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 9,500 active personnel. It spent $247 million on its military in 2025 (1.5% of GDP).
Tajikistan armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 9,500#124 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 5,500#85 of 145
- Army personnel
- 9,000#115 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 1,200#109 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 0#113 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 25#109 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 0#95 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 20#94 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 6#57 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 37#100 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 0#96 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 10#100 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 3#96 of 145
Finance
- Military spending
- $247 million#119 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 1.5%#89 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $34.9 billion#123 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Tajikistan military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Tajikistan grew by 359% between 2010 and 2025, from $54 million to $247 million (current US dollars), and stood at 1.5% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Tajikistan
Branches and forces
Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan: Ground Forces, Mobile Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces Tajik National Guard (TNG); Ministry of Internal Affairs: Internal Troops of Tajikistan; State Committee on National Security: Border Troops (aka Tajik Border Service) (2025)
Personnel
estimated 10,000 active Armed Forces; estimated 5-10,000 active paramilitary National Guard, Border Service, and Internal Troops personnel (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-27 years of age for compulsory (men only) or voluntary (men and women) military service; up to a 24-month service obligation for conscripts based on education level (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the military is equipped with mostly older Russian and Soviet-era armaments; it also has smaller amounts of items from suppliers such as China, Türkiye, and the US (2025)
Good to know
the military's primary concerns are terrorism, border security, territorial defense, and regional security, particularly in neighboring Afghanistan; Russia is traditionally Tajikistan’s most important security partner and thousands of Russian troops are stationed in the country, primarily at the 201st military base, which Moscow has leased until at least 2042; Russia and Tajikistan have a joint air defense system, and they conduct periodic joint exercises; Tajikistan has been a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) since 1994 and contributes troops to CSTO's rapid reaction force; Tajikistan also cooperates on security matters with China, including joint military training Tajikistan is the only former Soviet republic that did not form its armed forces from old Soviet Army units following the collapse of the USSR in 1991; rather, Russia retained command of the Soviet units there while the Tajik government raised a military from scratch; the first ground forces were officially created in 1993 from groups that fought for the government during the Tajik Civil War (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 1.8% · 2023: 2% · 2022: 1.9% · 2021: 1.2% · 2020: 1.1%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Tajikistan compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Tajikistan | #120 | $247 million |
 Afghanistan | #114 | $278 million |
 Uzbekistan | #62 | — |
 Kyrgyzstan | #107 | $601 million |
 China | #3 | $335.5 billion |