National Armed Forces (Nacionalie Brunotie Speki): Land Forces (Latvijas Sauszemes Speki), Naval Force (Latvijas Juras Speki, includes Coast Guard (Latvijas Kara Flote)), Air Force (Latvijas Gaisa Speki), National Guard (2021)
Belarus Armed Forces: Army, Air and Air Defense Force, Special Operations Force, Special Troops (electronic warfare, signals, engineers, biological/chemical/nuclear protection troops, etc); Ministry of Interior: State Border Troops, Militia, Internal Troops (2021)
Military service age and obligation
18 years of age for voluntary male and female military service; no conscription (abolished 2007); under current law, every citizen is entitled to serve in the armed forces for life (2019)
18-27 years of age for compulsory military or alternative service; conscript service obligation is 12-18 months, depending on academic qualifications, and 24-36 months for alternative service, depending on academic qualifications; 17 year olds are eligible to become cadets at military higher education institutes, where they are classified as military personnel (2020)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
2.27% of GDP (2020 est.)
2.03% of GDP (2019)
2.06% of GDP (2018)
1.59% of GDP (2017)
1.44% of GDP (2016)
1.2% of GDP (2019)
1.2% of GDP (2018)
1.2% of GDP (2017)
1.3% of GDP (2016)
1.3% of GDP (2015)
Military and security service personnel strengths
the National Armed Forces of Latvia have approximately 6,000 active duty troops (5,000 Land Forces; 500 Naval Force/Coast Guard; 500 Air Force) (2021)
the Belarus Armed Forces have approximately 45,000 active duty troops; information on the individual services varies, but probably includes about 25,000 Army, 15,000 Air/Air Defense, and 5,000 Special Operations forces (2020)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the Latvian military's inventory is limited and consists of a mixture of Soviet-era and more modern--mostly second-hand--European and US equipment; since 2010, it has received limited amounts of equipment from several European countries, as well as the US (2020)
the inventory of the Belarus Armed Forces is comprised of Russian-origin equipment; Belarus's defense industry manufactures some equipment, including vehicles, guided weapons, and electronic warfare systems (2021)
