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Antigua and Barbuda — Military File
Rankings · Power · Military

Antigua and Barbuda — Military File

Armed forces, personnel, equipment, deployments: the complete military file on Antigua and Barbuda.

Magna assessment

POWER 20.69/100 — The Magna Power score 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).

Nothing in Jul–Sep 2026 moved the needle. The institutions functioned, the economy ran its course, and the world looked elsewhere.

That is the honest note: a quarter of normalcy, scored as such.

Armed forces

Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force (ABDF): Antigua and Barbuda Regiment, Air Wing, Coast Guard Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda (RPFAB) (2025)

Personnel strength

approximately 300 active Defense Force personnel (2025)

Equipment

the ABDF's equipment inventory is limited to small arms, light weapons, and soft-skin vehicles; the Coast Guard maintains ex-US patrol vessels and some smaller boats (2025)

Service age & obligation

18-23 years of age for voluntary military service for both men and women; no conscription (2025)

Note

the ABDF’s responsibilities include providing for internal security and support to the police in maintaining law and order, interdicting narcotics smuggling, responding to natural disasters, and monitoring the country’s territorial waters and maritime resources; established in 1981 from colonial forces originally created in 1897, it is one of the world’s smallest militaries the country has been a member of the Caribbean Regional Security System (RSS) since its creation in 1982; RSS signatories (Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) agreed to prepare contingency plans and assist one another, on request, in national emergencies, prevention of smuggling, search and rescue, immigration control, fishery protection, customs and excise control, maritime policing duties, protection of off-shore installations, pollution control, national and other disasters, and threats to national security (2025)

Related

Power indexMilitary indexLargest armiesAntigua and Barbuda — FactbookAntigua and Barbuda — RankingsLeader: Antigua and Barbuda

Across the Bureau

Antigua and Barbuda — Country ProfileWhat are the main airports of Antigua and Barbuda?History of Antigua and Barbuda — TimelineGaston Browne — Leader of Antigua and BarbudaAntigua and Barbuda Ranking — Magna Country RankingsWhat is the population of Antigua and Barbuda?Who is the president of Antigua and Barbuda?Saint John's, Antigua and Barbuda — City Profile