Armed forces, personnel, equipment, deployments: the complete military file on AE.
| Active personnel (est.) | 65,000 |
|---|---|
| World rank by personnel | #58 / 162 |
MBA · 67/100 — The Magna grade is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — five dimensions, 100+ indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.
Momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
The Emirates ran their familiar playbook: steady trade flows, diplomatic visibility, and the quiet accumulation of position as the Gulf's connective hub.
No shocks, no breakthroughs — a quarter of consolidation that keeps the country exactly where it wants to be.
United Arab Emirates Armed Forces: Land Forces (Army), Navy, Air Force, Presidential Guard (includes special operations forces), National Guard (includes Coast Guard) (2025)
approximately 65,000 active Armed Forces (45,000 Land Forces; 3,000 Navy; 5,000 Air Force; 12,000 Presidential Guard) (2025)
the military is equipped with mostly modern imported armaments, and a smaller amount of domestically produced weapons; foreign suppliers have included China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Türkiye, and the US; the UAE's domestic defense industry produces or co-produces such items as armored vehicles, naval vessels, precision munitions, and unmanned aerial vehicles/drones for both internal use and export (2025)
18-40 for voluntary service; 18-30 years of age for compulsory national service for men with a 36-month service obligation for those without a secondary education and 11 months for secondary school graduates; women may volunteer for national service (11-month service obligation regardless of education) (2025)
maintains a few hundred troops in Somalia and Yemen (2025)
the UAE Armed Forces (UAEAF) are responsible for defending the state, its resources, and territory, preserving internal security, and supporting the UAE's foreign policy objectives; key security concerns include regional stability and cross-border threats, such as piracy and terrorism; in recent years, the UAE has undertaken a military modernization program to go along with an assertive security policy which has included military involvements in Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen the UAE has close security ties to France and the US; it hosts a multi-service French military base, which includes the French naval command for the Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN); the UAE has a defense cooperation agreement with the US and hosts thousands of US military troops, mostly air and naval personnel; it also has defense ties with a number of other countries, including Australia, China, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, South Korea, and the UK, as well as NATO and fellow members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, particularly Saudi Arabia the UAEAF traces its origins to the establishment of the Trucial Oman Scouts in 1951, a joint UK-Abu Dhabi organization modeled after Jordan’s Arab Legion, which became the Abu Dhabi Defense Force in 1965; the modern UAEAF were formed in 1976 (2025)
