Estonia vs. Russia
Military
| Estonia | Russia | |
|---|---|---|
| Military branches | Estonian Defense Forces: Land Forces, Navy, Air Force, Estonian Defence League (Reserves); Ministry of Interior: Border Guards (2021) | Armed Forces of the Russian Federation: Ground Troops (Sukhoputnyye Voyskia, SV), Navy (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot, VMF), Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno-Kosmicheskiye Sily, VKS); Airborne Troops (Vozdushno-Desantnyye Voyska, VDV), and Missile Troops of Strategic Purpose (Raketnyye Voyska Strategicheskogo Naznacheniya, RVSN) referred to commonly as Strategic Rocket Forces, are independent "combat arms," not subordinate to any of the three branches Federal National Guard Troops Service of the Russian Federation (National Guard (FSVNG), Russian Guard, or Rosgvardiya): created in 2016 as an independent agency for internal/regime security, combating terrorism and narcotics trafficking, protecting important state facilities and government personnel, and supporting border security; forces under the National Guard include the Special Purpose Mobile Units (OMON), Special Rapid Response Detachment (SOBR), and Interior Troops (VV); these troops were originally under the command of the Interior Ministry (MVD) Federal Security Services Border Troops (includes land and maritime forces) (2021) |
| Military service age and obligation | 18-27 for compulsory military or governmental service, conscript service requirement 8-11 months depending on education; NCOs, reserve officers, and specialists serve 11 months (2019) | 18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; one-year service obligation (Russia offers the option of serving on a two-year contract instead of completing a one-year conscription period); reserve obligation for non-officers to age 50; enrollment in military schools from the age of 16, cadets classified as members of the armed forces (2019) note: in April of 2019, the Russian government pledged its intent to end conscription |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.3% of GDP (2021 est.) 2.33% of GDP (2020 est.) 2.03% of GDP (2019) 2.01% of GDP (2018) 2.01% of GDP (2017) | 4% of GDP (2020 est.) 3.9% of GDP (2019) 3.8% of GDP (2018) 4.2% of GDP (2017) 5.4% of GDP (2016) |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | the Estonian Defense Forces have approximately 6,500 active duty personnel (2021) | information varies; approximately 800,000 total active duty troops (350,000 Ground Troops, including about 40,000 Airborne Troops; 150,000 Navy; 150,000 Aerospace Forces; 60,000 Strategic Rocket Forces; 90,000 other uniformed personnel (special operations forces, command and control, support, etc.); est. 200-250,000 Federal National Guard Troops (2020) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the Estonian Defense Forces have a limited inventory of Soviet-era and more recently acquired modern weapons systems, largely from France and the Netherlands (2020) | the Russian Federation's military and paramilitary services are equipped with domestically-produced weapons systems, although since 2010 Russia has imported limited amounts of military hardware from several countries, including Czechia, France, Israel, Italy, Turkey, and Ukraine; the Russian defense industry is capable of designing, developing, and producing a full range of advanced air, land, missile, and naval systems; Russia is the world's second largest exporter of military hardware (2020) |
| Military deployments | approximately 100 Mali (Operation Barkhane/MINUSMA/EUTM) (2021) | est. 3,000-5,000 Armenia; est. 1,500 Belarus; est. 7,000-10,000 Georgia; est. 100-200 Central African Republic; est. 500 Kyrgyzstan; est. 1,500 Moldova; est. 3,000-5,000 Syria; est. 5,000-7,000 Tajikistan; est. 25,000-30,000 Ukraine (includes Crimea) (2020) note(s): since November 2020, Russia has deployed about 2,000 peacekeeping troops to the area in and around Nagorno-Karabakh as part of a truce agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan; fighting erupted between the two countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in September of 2020 as of the Fall of 2020, a Russian Government-backed private military company was assessed to have about 2,000 personnel in Libya supporting Libyan National Army forces; in addition, there were approximately 2,000 Russian-backed Syrian fighters in Libya Russia contributes approximately 8,000 personnel to CSTO's Rapid Reaction Force |
Source: CIA Factbook
