Belgian Armed Forces

Belgian Armed Forces
Belgische Defensie (Dutch) La Défense belge (French) Belgische Streitkräfte (German)
Emblem of the Belgian Armed Forces
Motto	Unity makes Strength Dutch: Eenheid is kracht French: L'union fait la Force German: Einigkeit macht stark
Founded	1830; 195 years ago (1830)
Service branches	Land Component  Air Component  Naval Component Medical Component Cyber Command (Belgium) [nl]
Headquarters	Evere
Leadership
King	Philippe
Prime Minister	Alexander De Croo
Minister of Defence	Ludivine Dedonder
Chief of Defence	Major General Frederik Vansina
Personnel
Conscription	Suspended since 1992
Active personnel	24,676 military personnel (2023)
Reserve personnel	~6400 (2023)[1]
Deployed personnel	less than 1000 (2023)
Expenditure
Budget	7 billion € (2024)[2]
Percent of GDP	1,24 % (2024)[3]
Industry
Domestic suppliers	FN Herstal
Foreign suppliers	France  United States
Related articles
Ranks	Belgian military ranks

The Belgian Armed Forces (Dutch: Defensie; French: La Défense, German: Die Streitkräfte)^[4] are the combined national military forces of Belgium. The King of the Belgians is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium became independent in October 1830. Since then, the Belgian armed forces have fought in World War I, World War II, the Cold War (Korean War and the Belgian occupation of the Federal Republic of Germany), Kosovo, Rwanda, Somalia and Afghanistan. The Armed Forces comprise five branches: the Land Component, the Air Component, the Naval Component, the Medical Component and the Cyber Component.