Military Strength: Burkina Faso vs Rwanda

Rwanda (ranked #120 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Burkina Faso (#124) on the ARMS Index. Rwanda fields 35,000 active troops — 3.2:1 Burkina Faso's 11,000, backed by 2,000 paramilitary. Burkina Faso's $1B defense budget is 5.6:1 that of Rwanda ($0.2B).

ARMS (Aggregate Rating of Military Strength) Index face-off Full ranking →

Burkina FasoWorld #124 15.3

ARMS Index / 100

Rwanda leads overall, ahead on 2 of 6 pillars

RwandaWorld #120 16.9

48.011K active troops Manpower15 % 56.235K active troops
0.00 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 33.524 battle tanks
0.00 warships Naval power20 % 0.00 warships
24.43 combat aircraft Air power25 % 18.20 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
33.6$1B budget Defense budget10 % 21.3$185M budget

Burkina Faso Rwanda Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×1.06 vs ×0.87 · Methodology

Key figures

	Burkina Faso	Rwanda	Ratio
Defense budget	$1B	$185M	🇧🇫 5.6×
– share of GDP	4.5%	1.3%	🇧🇫 3.5×
Active personnel	11,000	35,000	🇷🇼 3.2×
Combat aircraft	3	0	🇧🇫
Warships	0	0	—
– submarines	0	0	—
Main battle tanks	0	24	🇷🇼
Nuclear warheads	0	0	—

Show full breakdown · 11 more rowsHide the 11 extra rows

Reserve troops	0	0	—
Paramilitary forces	5,000	2,000	🇧🇫 2.5×
Military aircraft (all types)	26	21	🇧🇫 1.2×
– helicopters	19	17	🇧🇫 1.1×
Budget share of govt spending	—	—	—
Budget per capita	$44	$13	🇧🇫 3.4×
Population	23.5M	14.3M	🇧🇫 1.7×
GDP	$23B	$14B	🇧🇫 1.6×
GDP per capita	$982	$1,000	🇷🇼 ≈
Land area	273,602 km²	24,668 km²	🇧🇫 11×
Coastline	0 km	0 km	—