Military profile
Ukraine Military Strength
Ukraine ranks #15 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 200,000 active personnel. It spent $84.1 billion on its military in 2025 (39.6% of GDP).
Ukraine armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 200,000#22 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 250,000#18 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 50,000#31 of 145
- Army personnel
- 200,000#14 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 35,000#22 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 15,000#38 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 312#33 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 69#33 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 28#23 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 113#34 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 33#20 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 1,890#13 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 953#10 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 889#16 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 647#10 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 1#49 of 113
- Corvettes
- 1#43 of 113
- Submarines
- 0#44 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 13#66 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 1#49 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $84.1 billion#7 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 39.6%#1 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $515.0 billion#40 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Ukraine military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Ukraine grew by 2155% between 2010 and 2025, from $3.7 billion to $84.1 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 39.6% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Ukraine
Branches and forces
Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU; Zbroyni Syly Ukrayiny or ZSU): Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces, Air Assault Forces, Marine Corps, Special Operations Forces, Unmanned Systems Forces, Territorial Defense Forces (Reserves) Ministry of Internal Affairs: National Guard of Ukraine, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (includes Maritime Border Guard or Sea Guard), National Police of Ukraine (2025)
Personnel
estimated 850,000-1 million active Defense Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
18 years of age for voluntary service for men and women; 25 years of age for conscription for men; 18-24 months service obligation (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
prior to the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian military was equipped largely with Russian-origin and Soviet-era weapons systems; since the invasion, it has received considerable quantities of weapons, including Soviet-era and more modern Western systems, from European countries and the US; Ukraine also has a growing inventory of domestically produced armaments (2025)
Deployments abroad
note: prior to the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine had committed about 500 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Poland and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units; units affiliated with the multinational brigade remain within the structures of the armed forces of their respective countries until the brigade is activated for participation in an international operation
Good to know
the primary focus of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) is defense against Russian aggression; in February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in what is the largest conflict in Europe since the end of World War II in 1945; as of 2025, the front line of the fighting stretched about 1,000 kilometers (some 600 miles) north and south in eastern and southern Ukraine; Russia’s forces have also launched missile and armed drone strikes throughout Ukraine, hitting critical infrastructure, including power, water, and heating facilities, as well as other civilian targets; Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, occupying Ukraine’s province of Crimea and backing separatist forces in the Donbas region with arms, equipment, and training, as well as military personnel, although Moscow denied their presence prior to 2022; the UAF has received outside military assistance since the Russian invasion, including equipment and training, chiefly from Europe and the US Ukraine has a relationship with NATO dating back to the early 1990s, when Ukraine joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (1991) and the Partnership for Peace program (1994); the relationship intensified in the wake of the 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict and Russian seizure of Crimea to include NATO support for Ukrainian military capabilities development and capacity-building; NATO and individual NATO countries further increased support to the Ukrainian military following Russia’s 2022 invasion (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2021: 4% · 2020: 4.4% · 2019: 3.4% · 2018: 3.1% · 2017: 3.1% · :
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Russia
Moldova
Belarus
Romania
Poland
Hungary
Slovakia