Azerbaijan

the Azerbaijani military was established in 1991, although its origins go back to 1918; much of the military’s original equipment was acquired from former Soviet military forces that departed Azerbaijan by 1992; territorial defense is the military’s primary focus, particularly with regards to neighboring Armenia; a secondary focus is guarding against Iran; Armenia and Azerbaijan engaged in open conflicts over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in 1991-94 and 2020; tensions continued following the 2020 conflict, and Azerbaijan seized the entire enclave in 2023 key bilateral security relationships include Israel, Russia, and Turkiye; Azerbaijan's ties with Turkiye have included weapons transfers, technical advice, bilateral training exercises, and military support during its conflicts with Armenia; Azerbaijan is not part of NATO but has had a cooperative relationship with it dating back to when it joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1994 and has provided troops to NATO-led missions in Kosovo (1999-2008) and Afghanistan (2002-2014) (2025)

Azerbaijan Armed Forces: Land Forces, Air Forces, Navy Forces, Special Forces, State Border Service, Coast Guard Ministry of Internal Affairs: Internal Troops, local police forces; Special State Protection Service (SSPS): National Guard (2025)

note: the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service (intelligence, counterterrorism) are responsible for internal security; the SSPS is under the president and provides protective services to senior officials, foreign missions, significant state assets, government buildings, etc; the National Guard also serves as a reserve for the Army

18-30 years of age for compulsory military service for men; 18-35 years of age voluntary/contractual service for men (18-40 for women volunteers); 18 months service for conscripts, 36 months for voluntary/contractual service (2025)

Baku has been actively upgrading the military's inventory for over a decade with equipment acquisitions from several sources, including Belarus, China, Israel, Russia, and Türkiye; while most of the military's equipment was once Soviet-era material, it now fields quantities of modern armaments, including armored vehicles, artillery systems, air defense systems, fighter aircraft, tanks, and UAVs (2025)

information varies widely; estimated 100,000 active Armed Forces personnel (2025)