Military profile
Yemen Military Strength
Yemen ranks #74 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 45,000 active personnel.
Yemen armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 45,000#69 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 0#84 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 375,000#8 of 145
- Army personnel
- 35,000#77 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 7,500#62 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 10,500#45 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 177#53 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 76#28 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 61#54 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 14#43 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 100#82 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 10#85 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 40#84 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 25#68 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 0#15 of 113
- Frigates
- 0#56 of 113
- Corvettes
- 2#32 of 113
- Submarines
- 0#44 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 15#59 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 3#38 of 113
Finance
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $65.0 billion#100 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Yemen military spending 2010–2014
Military spending of Yemen grew by 18% between 2010 and 2014, from $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 4.0% of GDP in 2014.
Armed forces of Yemen
Branches and forces
Yemeni Armed Forces: Yemeni National Army, Air Force and Air Defense, Navy and Coastal Defense Forces, Border Guard, Strategic Reserve Forces (includes Special Forces and Presidential Protection Brigades, which are under the Ministry of Defense but responsible to the president), Popular Committee Forces (aka Popular Resistance Forces; government-backed tribal militia) Ministry of Interior: Security Forces, Emergency Forces, Counterterrorism Units (2025)
Personnel
not available
Service age and conscription
limited available information; 18 is the legal minimum age for military service under the Yemeni Government (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the Yemeni Government forces have an inventory consisting primarily of older foreign-supplied weapons systems, mostly of Russian or Soviet origin (2025)
Good to know
government forces under the Yemeni Ministry of Defense are responsible for both external and internal defense; their priorities are the Houthi separatists (aka Ansarallah), the terrorist groups al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in Yemen (ISIS-Yemen), and maritime security, particularly against arms smuggling; in 2022, the Yemeni Government and the Houthis signed a truce, halting most fighting and establishing humanitarian measures; the former front lines of conflict, in some areas mirroring Yemen's pre-unification borders, remain static; AQAP and ISIS-Yemen continue to be active in remote areas (2025)
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
Yemen compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| Yemen | #74 | — |
 Saudi Arabia | #22 | $83.2 billion |
 Oman | #76 | $6.0 billion |