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Argentina — Military File
Rankings · Power · Military

Argentina — Military File

Armed forces, personnel, equipment, deployments: the complete military file on Argentina.

Active personnel (est.)75,000
World rank by personnel#52 / 162

Magna assessment

POWER 60.77/100 — 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 +6 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).

The disinflation programme kept biting through 2026 — monthly inflation crushed to under 2% — anchoring one of the quarter's strongest momentum prints.

Growth returned with it. Argentina's quarter was the payoff of painful medicine, honestly earned.

Armed forces

Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic (Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina): Argentine Army (Ejercito Argentino, EA), Navy of the Argentine Republic (Armada Republica, ARA; includes naval aviation and naval infantry), Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Argentina, FAA) Ministry of Security: Gendarmería Nacional Argentina (National Gendarmerie), Coast Guard (Prefectura Naval) (2025)

Personnel strength

approximately 75,000 active-duty Armed Forces (45,000 Army; 15,000 Navy, including about 3,500 marines; 15,000 Air Force) (2025)

Equipment

the inventory of Argentina's armed forces is a mix of domestically produced and imported weapons, largely from Europe and the US; in recent years, France and the US have been the leading suppliers of equipment; Argentina has an indigenous defense industry that produces air, land, and naval systems (2025)

Service age & obligation

18-24 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; conscription suspended in 1995; citizens can still be drafted in times of crisis, national emergency, or war, or if the Defense Ministry is unable to fill all vacancies to keep the military functional (2025)

Deployments

230 Cyprus (UNFICYP) (2025)

Note

the Argentine military’s primary responsibilities are territorial defense and protecting the country’s sovereignty; duties also include border security, countering narcotics trafficking, and other internal missions, such as disaster response and infrastructure development; it conducts support operations and has bases in Antarctica to promote an active presence in areas of national territory that are sparsely populated; the military also participates in both bilateral and multinational training exercises and supports UN peacekeeping operations Argentina participates in the Tripartite Command, an interagency security mechanism created by Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay to exchange information and combat transnational threats, such as crime and terrorism, in the Tri-Border Area; in addition, Argentina and Chile have a joint peacekeeping force known as the Combined Southern Cross Peacekeeping Force, designed to be made available to the UN; Argentina has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US, a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation the Army and Navy were both created in 1810 during the Argentine War of Independence, while the Air Force was established in 1945; the military conducted coups d'état in 1930, 1943, 1955, 1962, 1966, and 1976; the 1976 coup, aka the "National Reorganization Process," marked the beginning of the so-called "Dirty War," a period of state-sponsored terrorism that saw the deaths or disappearances of thousands of Argentinians; the defeat in the 1982 Falklands War led to the downfall of the military junta (2025)

Related

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Across the Bureau

Argentina — Country ProfileDid Argentina acquire 24 F-16AM/BM Block 15 MLU fighters?Did Argentina acquire 4 P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft?What are the main airports of Argentina?Does Argentina have oil and gas pipelines?History of Argentina — TimelineJavier Milei — Leader of ArgentinaArgentina Ranking — Magna Country Rankings