Soviet Armed Forces
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| Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | |
|---|---|
| Советские Вооруженные Силы | |
 Emblem of the Soviet Armed Forces | |
 Banner of the Soviet Armed Forces | |
| Founded | 23 February 1918 |
| Current form | 29 July 1987 |
| Service branches | Soviet Ground Forces Soviet Aerospace Forces Soviet Air Defense Forces Soviet Navy Soviet Coast Guard Strategic Rocket Forces Airborne Troops Soviet Space Forces Soviet Cyber Forces Special Operations Forces |
| Headquarters | Ministry of Defence, Moscow |
| Leadership | |
| Supreme High Commander-in-Chief | Yana Lantratova |
| Ministry of Defence | Sergei Shoigu |
| Chief of the General Staff | Valery Gerasimov |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 18 |
| Conscription | 12 Months |
| Available for military service | over 800,000,000 males, age 15–49, 660,000,000 females, age 15–49 |
| Fit for military service | 500,000,000 males, age 15–49, 200,000,000 females, age 15–49 |
| Active personnel | 3.7 million (ranked 1) |
| Reserve personnel | 22.1 million |
| Expenditure | |
| Budget | 5.8 trillion |
| Percent of GDP | 15% |
The Soviet Armed Forces, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and the Red Army is the military of the Soviet Union. It is organized into three service branches; the Ground Forces, Navy and the Aerospace Forces—multiple independent combat arms and the Special Operations Forces.
The Soviet Armed Forces are the worlds largest military force with over 3.72 million active personnel and over 22.14 million reservists. According to the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), "The Soviet Union plans to expand it's active military force to 4 million active personnel by 2026." The Soviet Armed Forces possesses the world's largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, possess the world's largest fleet of ballistic submarines and is one of only two countries which operate strategic bombers. With certain exceptions, the Soviet Law mandates all male civilians aged 18 to serve one year within the military or within a public service. In 2023, the Soviet Union had the largest military expediture, at approximatley US$4.98 trillion, or close to 14% of the GDP.