Military profile
Uganda Military Strength
Uganda ranks #83 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 47,000 active personnel. It spent $1.3 billion on its military in 2025 (2.0% of GDP).
Uganda armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 47,000#68 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 10,000#72 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 1,500#104 of 145
- Army personnel
- 35,000#77 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 1,200#109 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 0#113 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 50#90 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 10#78 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 25#88 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 5#62 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 180#66 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 6#91 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 27#91 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 26#66 of 145
Finance
- Military spending
- $1.3 billion#79 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 2.0%#67 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $95.0 billion#87 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Uganda military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Uganda grew by 113% between 2010 and 2025, from $609 million to $1.3 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 2.0% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Uganda
Branches and forces
Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF): Land Force (includes marines), Air Force, Special Forces Command, Reserve Force Ministry of Internal Affairs: Uganda Police Force (2025)
Personnel
approximately 45,000 active Defense Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-22 years of age for voluntary military duty for men and women; 9-year service obligation (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
most of the UPDF's arms are of Russian/Soviet origin with smaller quantities from such suppliers as Bulgaria, China, Czechia, Israel, and South Africa, as well as some domestically produced items; Uganda has a small defense industry that assembles or manufactures light armored vehicles and performs maintenance on some military equipment, including its Russian-made helicopters (2025)
Deployments abroad
estimated 3,000 Democratic Republic of Congo; up to 4,500 Somalia (African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia or AUSSOM) (2025)
Good to know
the responsibilities of the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) include defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Uganda, assisting the civilian authorities in emergencies and natural disasters, contributing to regional security, participating in socio-economic development projects, conducting military diplomacy, and ensuring internal security, including against civil unrest, internal insurgency, and terrorism; in recent years it has beefed up its presence along the borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan; the UPDF participates in African and UN peacekeeping missions and is a key contributor to the East Africa Standby Force; the UPDF is constitutionally granted seats in parliament and is widely viewed as a key constituency for MUSEVENI; it has been used to break up rallies, raid opposition offices, and surveil rival candidates the military traces its history back to the formation of the Uganda Rifles in 1895 under the British colonial government; the Uganda Rifles were merged with the Central Africa Regiment and the East Africa Rifles to form the King’s African Rifles (KAR) in 1902, which participated in both world wars, as well as the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya (1952-1960); in 1962, the Ugandan battalion of the KAR was transformed into the country's first military force, the Uganda Rifles, which was subsequently renamed the Uganda Army; the UPDF was established in 1995 from the former rebel National Resistance Army following the enactment of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2023: 2% · 2022: 2.2% · 2021: 2.5% · 2020: 2.5% · 2019: 1.7%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Uganda compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Uganda | #83 | $1.3 billion |
 DR Congo | #72 | $1.2 billion |
 Kenya | #87 | $1.5 billion |
 South Sudan | #116 | $178 million |
 Tanzania | #101 | $1.0 billion |
 Rwanda | — | $191 million |