Armed forces, personnel, equipment, deployments: the complete military file on Peru.
| Active personnel (est.) | 85,000 |
|---|---|
| World rank by personnel | #51 / 162 |
MBB · 63/100 — 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 +3 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
A modestly positive quarter: mining and trade currents stayed favourable and no political rupture interrupted the course.
Peru's momentum is commodity-driven at the margin — this quarter the currents ran the right way.
Armed Forces of Peru (Fuerzas Armadas del Perú or FAP): Peruvian Army (Ejercito del Peru), Peruvian Navy (Marina de Guerra del Peru, MGP, includes naval infantry and General Directorate of Captaincies and Coast Guards, DICAPI), Air Force of Peru (Fuerza Aerea del Peru, FAP) Ministry of the Interior: Peruvian National Police (Policía Nacional del Perú, PNP) (2025)
information varies; approximately 85,000 active-duty Armed Forces (50,000 Army; 25,000 Navy; 10,000 Air Force); approximately 75,000 National Police (2025)
the military's inventory consists of mostly older or secondhand armaments originating from a range of countries, including Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia/former Soviet Union, South Korea, Spain, and the US; Peru has a small defense industry, including a shipyard that builds and upgrades naval vessels; it also has defense industrial cooperation agreements with several countries, including Russia, South Korea, Spain, and the US (2025)
18-30 years of age for voluntary military service (12-24 months) (2025)
225 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (2025)
the Peruvian Armed Forces (FAP) are responsible for external defense in addition to some domestic security responsibilities in designated emergency areas and in exceptional circumstances; key areas of focus include counterinsurgency, counternarcotics, cyber defense, disaster relief, and maritime security operations; the FAP supported the police during anti-government protests in early 2023; it has contributed to UN missions since 1958 and has ties to regional militaries, particularly Colombia, as well as those of numerous other countries such as China, Russia, Spain, and the US; the FAP’s last external conflict was a brief border war with Ecuador in 1995 the Special Command of the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro rivers (CE-VRAEM) is responsible for combating the remnants of the Shining Path terrorist group (aka Sendero Luminoso) and includes several thousand air, ground, naval, police, and special forces personnel; the FAP also provides aircraft, vehicles, and logistical support to the command (2025)
