Rank #63 · Americas
The Dominican Republic maintains a modest defense establishment spending roughly $720 million (0.7% of GDP), making it one of the lower spenders relative to GDP in the Caribbean. Haiti's state collapse and escalating gang violence along the shared Hispaniola border drove significant deployments and supplemental spending in 2024-25. The armed forces are structured primarily for border security and domestic law enforcement support rather than conventional warfighting.
The Dominican defense budget for 2025 is approximately RD$45 billion (~$720 million), representing a roughly 9% nominal increase over 2024 — driven primarily by Haiti border security operations. Following the January 2024 Haitian state collapse and expansion of gang-controlled territory, President Abinader declared a state of emergency and surged military presence along the 380-kilometer border. Emergency supplemental appropriations funded barrier construction, surveillance equipment, and additional military personnel. Historically the DR has kept defense spending below 1% of GDP, prioritizing social investment, but the Haiti crisis has pressured this constraint upward through 2025-26.
The Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic (FFAA) comprise three branches: Army (~37,000), Navy (~12,000), and Air Force (~7,000), plus a separate National Police with military-adjacent functions. The Army fields light infantry units optimized for border security and counternarcotics rather than armored maneuver; vehicle fleets include M113 armored personnel carriers and Brazilian Urutu variants. The Air Force operates a small fleet of A-29 Super Tucano light attack/training aircraft and rotary assets including UH-60 Black Hawks acquired from the US. Naval assets are coastal patrol craft; the DR has no blue-water ambitions. JOTC-trained special operations units conduct joint operations with DEA and SOUTHCOM.
The Dominican Republic has minimal indigenous defense industry. Small arms maintenance and light vehicle support are handled domestically, but all major platforms are imported. The primary procurement relationship is with the United States (via FMF/FMS), with Brazil (Super Tucano, Urutu APCs) and Spain (patrol vessels) as secondary suppliers. The DR is a recipient of US excess defense articles and security assistance through SOUTHCOM programs. No meaningful defense export capability exists. Economic focus on tourism, remittances, and free-trade zones means defense industrial investment is a low political priority.
The dominant security concern is the Haiti border. Following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 and subsequent state collapse, gang federations (primarily G9 and Viv Ansanm) seized control of significant Haitian territory by late 2023, including areas adjacent to the DR border. In response, the DR erected a 164-km border wall (started 2021, extended 2023-24), deployed thousands of additional troops, and restricted cross-border movement. The Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) deployed to Haiti in June 2024, but stability remains elusive. Illicit flows — migrants, drugs, weapons — remain the primary security driver.
The DR completed Phase 2 of its border wall construction in mid-2024 and deployed additional Army and special operations units to the northern border zone following gang advances in the Artibonite department. President Abinader hosted a Caribbean summit in February 2025 to coordinate regional response to Haiti. The Air Force took delivery of two additional UH-60M Black Hawks under a US FMS case in early 2025, enhancing airlift capacity for border operations. Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Carlos Luciano Díaz announced a 2026 modernization plan in March 2025 targeting upgraded communications and night-vision equipment for border units.
Approximately $720 million in 2025 — about 0.7% of GDP. This is historically low relative to GDP, but Haiti border security pressures have driven nominal increases of roughly 9% in recent years. The figure covers the Army, Navy, Air Force, and border security operations.
Haiti's state collapse following President Moïse's 2021 assassination and the subsequent rise of gang federations controlling significant Haitian territory prompted the DR to construct a 164-km border barrier. The wall, deployed troops, and restricted crossings aim to control migration, weapons, and narcotics flows across the shared Hispaniola border.
The primary combat aircraft are A-29 Super Tucano light attack/counterinsurgency planes sourced from Brazil. The Air Force also operates UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for troop transport and border operations, acquired through US Foreign Military Sales.