Kenya's military, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), has been ranked as the 87th most powerful military in the world out of 145 countries.
According to Global Firepower, a statistics-based website that tracks defense systems annually, Kenya dropped 6 places after being ranked at position 81 in the 2022 rankings.
Egypt was ranked as the African country with the strongest military with a power index of 0.224, featuring at 14th position.
Algeria (26), South Africa (33), Nigeria (36), Ethiopia (49), Angola (55), Morocco (61), Democratic Republic of Congo (72), Tunisia (73), Sudan (75), Libya (80) and Uganda (83) were all ranked ahead of Kenya in the defence power rankings.
Kenya featured ahead of Zambia (89), Chad (97) Zimbabwe (98), Cameroon (100), Tanzania (101), Ivory Coast (105), Ghana (109), Mali (110), Mozambique (112), Eritrea (113), South Sudan (116) and Niger (119).
The United States, Russia, China, India, and the United Kingdom were ranked as the countries with the top 5 strongest militaries in the world, respectively.
Kenya's Military
The report assessed the Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) across various military parameters, assigning KDF specific scores.
In terms of financial strength, the KDF garnered a score of 95.3.
On military manpower, the KDF secured a score of 78.7.
In terms of specific capabilities, KDF's airpower was rated at 77.9. On the other hand, KDF's Land Power received a score of 56.2.
To provide context, Egypt, which boasts the most formidable military in Africa, received a financial score of 104.2.
Their military manpower garnered a score of 134.2. Additionally, Egypt's airpower and land power were rated at 117.3 and 138.4, respectively.
Regarding the size of the soldier population and the number of aircraft, the KDF ranked 27th and 51st out of the 145 featured countries, respectively.
Further, in terms of artillery capability, the KDF was ranked 65th.
Air Power
The Kenyan air power ranks better than most of its African counterparts.
With a total of 156 aircraft, Kenya has Fighters and Interceptors (17), Helicopters (87), Transport (fixed-wings) (19), Trainers (31), and Special Missions (2).
The country’s Air Force has recorded an increase in the number of its flights, up from 151 fleets in 2022.
Land Power
The Global Firepower website states that Kenya's army has 111 tanks, 5,800 armored vehicles, 18 self-propelled artillery and 53 Towed Artillery.
Naval Power
On the waters, Kenya has 23 total assets with 7 patrol vessels. The Global Power report stated the country has no Aircraft and Helicopter Carriers, no Destroyers, and no Submarines.
