Portuguese Armed Forces

Portuguese Armed Forces
Forças Armadas
Founded1318; 704 years ago
Current form1950; 74 years ago (1950)
Service branches Portuguese Army
 Portuguese Navy
 Portuguese Air Force
HeadquartersLisbon, Portugal
Leadership
PresidentMarcelo Rebelo de Sousa
Prime MinisterLuís Montenegro
Minister of National DefenceNuno Melo
Chief of the General StaffGeneral José Nunes da Fonseca
Personnel
Available for
military service		2,566,264 males, age 18–35 (2010[3]),
2,458,297 females, age 18–35 (2010[3])
Fit for
military service		2,103,080 males, age 18–35 (2010[3]),
2,018,004 females, age 18–35 (2010[3])
Reaching military
age annually		62,208 males (2010[3]),
54,786 females (2010[3])
Active personnel27,741 (2021)[1]
Deployed personnel927 (2022)[2]
Expenditure
BudgetIncrease € 4.000 billion (2023)[4]
Percent of GDPIncrease 1.52% (2023)
Industry
Domestic suppliersArsenal do Alfeite
Edisoft
EID, S.A.
OGMA
Tekever
UAVision
West Sea Shipyard
Foreign suppliers
Annual exportsIncrease €2,585 billion (2023)
Related articles
HistoryMilitary history of Portugal
RanksMilitary ranks of Portugal

The Portuguese Armed Forces (Portuguese: Forças Armadas) are the military of Portugal. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the other unified bodies and the three service branches: Portuguese Navy, Portuguese Army and Portuguese Air Force.[5]

The President of the Republic is the head of the Portuguese military, with the title of "Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces" (Comandante Supremo das Forças Armadas).[6] The management of the Armed Forces and the execution of the national defense policy is however done by the government (chaired by the Prime Minister) via its Minister of National Defense.[7] The highest-ranking officer in the military is the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, which has operational control of the Armed Forces during peacetime and assumes their full control when a state of war exists.

The Armed Forces are charged with protecting Portugal as well as supporting international peacekeeping efforts when mandated by North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations or the European Union.

Portugal was ranked the 3rd most peaceful country in the World in the Global Peace Index 2017, presently not having significant national security issues. The Portuguese Armed Forces have been thus focused in non-military public service activities and in external military operations. Recent external operations include anti-piracy action in the Gulf of Aden, the conflicts in the Central African Republic and in Afghanistan, the peacekeeping missions in East-Timor, Lebanon, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the air policing of Iceland and the Baltic States.[8]

Military units and other bodies are stationed all throughout Portuguese territory, including Continental Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.

The Portuguese Armed Forces were opened to women during the early-1990s. Portugal had mandatory conscription for all able-bodied men until November 2004.[9]

  1. ^ "Forças Armadas Portuguesas contabilizaram em 2021 um total de 27 741 efetivos".
  2. ^ "MISSÕES EM NÚMEROS".
  3. ^ "The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Military Spending by Country".
  5. ^ "Lei Orgânica 1-A/2009 Capítulo I Artigo 7º Nº1" (PDF). Diário da República. XVII Governo Constitucional de Portugal. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Lei 31-A/2006 Capítulo III Artigo 9º" (PDF). Diário da República. XVII Governo Constitucional de Portugal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2014..
  7. ^ "Lei 31-A/2006 Capítulo IV Artigo 20º" (PDF). Diário da República. XVII Governo Constitucional de Portugal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Hístorico de operações". emgfa.pt. Estado-Maior-General das Forças Armadas. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  9. ^ "Portugal" (PDF). NATO. 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2018.