Armed Forces of Uruguay
The Armed Forces of Uruguay (Fuerzas Armadas del Uruguay or FF.AA. del Uruguay) are the entity belonging to the Ministry of Defense that groups the National Army, the Navy and the Air Force. According to the Uruguayan constitution, they have the mission of fulfilling the requirements of National Defense, in order to safeguard the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the country, as well as to take care of strategic resources and contribute to the maintenance of internal peace.
| Armed Forces of Uruguay | |
|---|---|
| Fuerzas armadas del Uruguay (Spanish) | |
 Coat of Arms of Uruguay | |
| Founded | 1828 |
| Service branches |  National Army of Uruguay National Navy of Uruguay Uruguayan Air Force |
| Headquarters | Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Leadership | |
| President of the Republic | Yamandú Orsi |
| Ministry of National Defense | Armando Castaingdebat |
| Chief of the Defence Staff | Rodolfo Pereyra Martínez |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 18-49 |
| Available for military service | 831,297, age 15–49 (2003 est.) |
| Fit for military service | 672,030, age 15–49 (2003 est.) |
| Reaching military age annually | (2003 est.) |
| Active personnel | 24,000 (2001[1]) |
| Expenditure | |
| Budget | $492 million (2008) |
| Percent of GDP | 2.3% (2020)[2] |
| Industry | |
| Foreign suppliers |  Argentina Brazil Canada Israel Russia United States |
| Related articles | |
| Ranks | Ranks of the Armed Forces of Uruguay |
These three branches are constitutionally subordinate to the President of Uruguay, who exercises supreme command through the Minister of National Defense. The operational command of the forces falls to the Chief of the Defense Staff.
As of 2003, Uruguay has more than 3,000 Uruguayan soldiers in twelve United Nations peacekeeping missions. The largest contingents are stationed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti. In the Sinai Peninsula, there is a detachment of 85 men. By 2020, almost 50,000 Uruguayan soldiers have participated in United Nations Peacekeeping missions in places such as the Congo, the Golan Heights, India-Pakistan, Lebanon, the Central African Republic and Colombia, among others. There are also Uruguayan forces commanded by the UN in the Sinai. Since 1993, 35 Uruguayan soldiers have died in Peacekeeping missions.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies), 2001. The Military Balance 2001-2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Op. cit. Nationmaster.com, 2008. [1] Archived 2008-09-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
- ↑ "Military expenditure by country as percentage of gross domestic product, 1988-2020" (PDF). SIPRI. 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-04-05.