Military profile
Vietnam Military Strength
Vietnam ranks #19 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 470,000 active personnel. It spent $10.5 billion on its military in 2025 (2.2% of GDP).
Vietnam armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 470,000#9 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 2,500,000#1 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 40,000#37 of 145
- Army personnel
- 150,000#25 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 35,000#22 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 50,000#13 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 223#45 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 75#29 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 99#38 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 0#79 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 1,829#14 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 1,349#6 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 650#19 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 550#13 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 9#17 of 113
- Corvettes
- 14#6 of 113
- Submarines
- 6#17 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 54#14 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 8#17 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $10.5 billion#32 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 2.2%#53 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $800.0 billion#30 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Vietnam military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Vietnam grew by 287% between 2010 and 2025, from $2.7 billion to $10.5 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 2.2% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Vietnam
Branches and forces
People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; aka Vietnam People's Army, VPA): Ground Forces (Army), Navy (includes naval infantry), Air Defense - Air Force, Vietnam Border Guard, Vietnam Coast Guard Vietnam People's Ministry of Public Security; Vietnam Civil Defense Force (2025)
Personnel
approximately 450,000 active-duty People's Army of Vietnam (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-27 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service for men and women (in practice only men are drafted); service obligation is 24-36 months depending on the branch of service (including Coast Guard and Ministry of Public Security) (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the PAVN is equipped largely with armaments from Russia and the former Soviet Union; in recent years, Vietnam has moved to diversify its arms suppliers and has acquired items from countries such as India, Israel, the Netherlands, South Korea, and the US; Vietnam has a small defense industry involved in the manufacture of small arms, ground combat vehicles, and naval systems (2025)
Deployments abroad
200 Abyei/South Sudan/Sudan (UNISFA) (2025)
Good to know
since withdrawing its military occupation forces from Cambodia in the late 1980s and the end of Soviet aid in 1991, Vietnam has practiced a non-aligned foreign policy and security doctrine known as the "Four Nos" (no alliances, no siding with one country against another, no foreign bases, and no using force in international relations); despite longstanding tensions with Beijing over maritime boundaries in the South China Sea, Vietnam puts a priority on stable relations with China, given its proximity, size, and status as Vietnam's largest trading partner the responsibilities of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) include protecting the country's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests, as well as assisting civilian authorities with natural disasters; in recent years, the PAVN has placed additional emphasis on protecting Vietnam's interests in the disputed South China Sea; the military is also involved in economic projects, such as electrical infrastructure, oil and gas services, hydroelectric projects, aviation and seaport services, telecommunications, and the shipbuilding industry, while military-owned factories and enterprises produce weapons and equipment (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2023: 1.8% · 2022: 2.3% · 2021: 2.3% · 2020: 2.4% · 2019: 2.3%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Laos
China
Cambodia