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Tunisia — Military Capability Assessment

Force structure, readiness, power projection, and deterrence: the Bureau’s strategic assessment of Tunisia’s military capability — scored 0–100 across 24 causal dimensions.

#109Tunisia33.18/100
Active personnel (est.)35,000
World rank by personnel#58 / 121
Military power rank#109 / 195
Assessment coverage78%
Inventory depthSummary
Why this score — the assessment, decomposed

The 33.18/100 rests first on Readiness & training (85.00), Command & control (80.00), Alliances (80.00). The binding constraints: Air power (8.00), Submarine force (8.00), Nuclear survivability (6.50) — in a causal model, capability can never rise above its weakest observed link. What would move the needle: Air power (8.00) — the weak link in the spending → equipment → readiness → capability chain.

  • Alliance architecture adds a +9.60 bonus.
  • Nuclear deterrence contributes a capped +0.62 bonus — it cannot manufacture top-tier conventional standing on its own.
  • Extreme defense burden applies an economic-strain penalty of −4.00.
  • Force mass is capped by what equipment, training and sustainment can actually support — headcount alone scores nothing.

6 of 24 dimensions could not be observed (ISR & intelligence, Missile forces, Air defense, Cyber & space, Strategic lift, Expeditionary capability); missing data caps the score — it never inflates it.

The six sub-scores

Conventional capability28.31
Nuclear deterrence15.00
Power projection19.47
Sustainment42.00
Mobilization & regeneration57.16
Strategic resilience33.34

All 24 causal dimensions

Force mass Geographic & structural data · Bureau structural assessment73.00
Mobilization Bureau structural assessment · Conventional forces data56.53
Equipment quality Bureau structural assessment · Geographic & structural data · Force records35.00
Readiness & training Bureau structural assessment85.00
Command & control Geographic & structural data · Bureau structural assessment80.00
ISR & intelligencenot observed
Air power Bureau structural assessment8.00
Land warfare Geographic & structural data · Bureau structural assessment55.73
Naval power Bureau structural assessment28.80
Submarine force Bureau structural assessment8.00
Missile forcesnot observed
Air defensenot observed
Cyber & spacenot observed
Logistics Bureau structural assessment55.00
Strategic liftnot observed
Overseas basing Bureau structural assessment · Force records12.00
Expeditionary capabilitynot observed
Defense industry Bureau structural assessment · Geographic & structural data35.00
Wartime production Trajectory data · Bureau structural assessment35.00
Combat experience Historical record75.00
Alliances Bureau structural assessment · Geographic & structural data80.00
Nuclear deterrence Nuclear taxonomy · Bureau structural assessment15.00
Nuclear survivability Bureau structural assessment · Nuclear taxonomy6.50
Geographic advantage Bureau structural assessment · Geographic & structural data39.18

Assessment coverage: 78.3% — 18 of 24 dimensions observed. Kernel v10, run 2026-10-04; evidence snapshot: CIA World Factbook 2026-09-28, SIPRI arms-producer revenue, v9 nuclear taxonomy.

Air power
Structured summary · assessment coverage 78%

Kernel assessment: Air power 8.00/100 (observed).

Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.

Land power
Structured summary · assessment coverage 78%

Kernel assessment: Land warfare 55.73/100 (observed).

Recent acquisitions & orders (dated, sourced)

  • Javelin FGM-148F anti-tank missiles and Lightweight Command Launch Units — 184 missiles (incl. 4 fly-to-buy) + 30 LWCLU (approved)
    euro-sd.com: 'US State Department approves Tunisian purchase of Javelin missiles' (Dec 2024; DSCA notified Congress 2024-12-03) source

Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.

Sea power
Structured summary · assessment coverage 78%

Kernel assessment: Naval power 28.80/100 (observed).

Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.

Missiles & air defense
Structured summary · assessment coverage 78%

Missile forces could not be observed in this assessment — missing data caps the score, it is never treated as zero.

Recent acquisitions & orders (dated, sourced)

  • Javelin FGM-148F anti-tank missiles and Lightweight Command Launch Units — 184 missiles (incl. 4 fly-to-buy) + 30 LWCLU (approved)
    euro-sd.com: 'US State Department approves Tunisian purchase of Javelin missiles' (Dec 2024; DSCA notified Congress 2024-12-03) source

Type-by-type inventory in preparation — this dossier deepens as coverage grows. Nothing here is estimated silently.

Nuclear
Structured summary · assessment coverage 78%

Status: non-nuclear-weapon state (NPT party)

Nuclear deterrence15.00
Nuclear survivability6.50
Force structure — record

Armed forces

Tunisian Armed Forces (Forces Armées Tunisiennes, FAT): Tunisian Army (includes Air Defense Force), Tunisian Navy, Tunisia Air Force Ministry of Interior (MoI): Internal Security Forces (National Police, National Guard) (2025)

Personnel strength

approximately 35,000 active-duty Armed Forces (2025)

Equipment

the Tunisian military's inventory consists mostly of older or secondhand equipment from a variety of suppliers, including Austria, France, Italy, Türkiye, and the US (2025)

Service age & obligation

18 years of age for voluntary service for men and women; men 20-35 years of age subject to 12 months of compulsory national service (2025)

Deployments

840 Central African Republic (MINUSCA) (2025)

Note

the Tunisian Armed Forces (FAT) are responsible for territorial defense and internal security; operational areas of focus include counterterrorism and assisting with securing the border regions, particularly along the frontiers with Algerian and Libya the FAT conducts bilateral and multinational training exercises with a variety of countries, including Algeria and other North African and Middle Eastern countries, France, and the US, as well as NATO; it also participates in UN peacekeeping operations; Tunisia 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 (2025)

Magna assessment

MILITARY POWER 33.18/100 — The Magna Military Power score is our 0–100 measure of causal military capability — 24 dimensions (mass, equipment, readiness, projection, industry, nuclear deterrence), aggregated through a dependency graph, never by simple addition.

Momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).

Steadiness was the quarter's defining trait: no rupture, no windfall, no surprise strong enough to move the score.

The trajectory remains set by fundamentals that change over years, not quarters — and this quarter changed little.

Related

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Across the Bureau

Tunisia — Country ProfileDid Tunisia acquire Javelin FGM-148F anti-tank missiles and Lightweight Command Launch Units?What are the main airports of Tunisia?Does Tunisia have oil and gas pipelines?History of Tunisia — TimelineKaïs Saïed — Leader of TunisiaTunisia Ranking — Magna Country RankingsWhat is the population of Tunisia?