Introduction
How is the Military in Chad and how does it work to maintain Sucity and fight terrorism? In terms of Military and security forces, we have the Chadian National Army (Armee Nationale du Tchad, ANT): Ground Forces (l'Armee de Terre, AdT), Chadian Air Force (l'Armee de l'Air Tchadienne, AAT), Chadian National Gendarmerie; General Direction of the Security Services of State Institutions (Direction Generale des Services de Securite des Institutions de l'Etat, GDSSIE)
Ministry of Public Security and Immigration: National Nomadic Guard of Chad (GNNT) (2025).
Ministry of Public Security and Immigration: National Nomadic Guard of Chad (GNNT) (2025).
In Chad, internal security is the primary focus of the Chadian National Army, and it is actively engaged in counterinsurgency operations against multiple terrorist and rebel groups; the terrorist groups Boko Haram and Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in West Africa operate in the Lake Chad Basin area; meanwhile, a number of anti-government militias operate in northern Chad, some from bases in southern Libya, including the FACT (Front pour le Changement et la Concorde au Tchad), the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (le Conseil de Commandement Militaire pour le salut de la République or CCSMR), the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (le Union des Forces pour la Démocratie et le Développement or UFDD), and the Union of Resistance Forces (le Union des Forces de la Résistance UFR); former Chadian President Idriss DEBY was killed in April 2021 during fighting between the FACT and government forces (2025)
Security and military information of Chad
| Military and security service personnel strengths | estimated 35-40,000 active Chadian National Army personnel (2025) |
|---|---|
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the ANT has a mix of older, secondhand, and some more modern armaments from a variety of suppliers, including Brazil, China, France, Russia/former Soviet Union, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the UAE (2025) |
| Military service age and obligation | 18-25 for voluntary service; men subject to 18-36 months of compulsory service at age 20; women are subject to 12 months of compulsory military or civic service at age 21 (2025). |
| Military deployments | note: Chad has committed approximately 1,000-1,500 troops to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups operating in the general area of the Lake Chad Basin and along Nigeria's northeast border; national MNJTF troop contingents are deployed within their own territories, although cross‐border operations are conducted periodically. |
| Military expenditures | |
| Military Expenditures 2024 | 3% of GDP (2024 est.) |
| Military Expenditures 2023 | 2.9% of GDP (2023 est.) |
| Military Expenditures 2022 | 2.6% of GDP (2022 est.) |
| Military Expenditures 2021 | 2.5% of GDP (2021 est.) |
| Military Expenditures 2020 | 2.9% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Terrorism
In Chad, the different Terrorist group(s) inlcude: Boko Haram; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham - West Africa (ISIS-WA)
All Important Facts about Chad
Want to know more about Chad? Check all different factbooks for Chad below.
