List of current defence ministers

This is a list of current defence ministers of the 193 United Nations member states, Holy See (Vatican City) and the State of Palestine.

Defence ministers of sovereign countries with limited recognition are included in a separate table.

States recognised by the United Nations

State	List	Defence minister	Political affiliation	Assumed office
Afghanistan	List	Mullah Yaqoob (acting)	Taliban	7 September 2021
Albania	List	Niko Peleshi	Socialist Party of Albania	31 December 2020
Algeria		Abdelmadjid Tebboune (also President)	National Liberation Front	19 December 2019
Andorra	—
Angola		João Ernesto dos Santos	Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola	2020
Antigua and Barbuda		Gaston Browne (also Prime Minister)	Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party
Argentina	List	Luis Petri	Radical Civic Union	10 December 2023
Armenia	List	Suren Papikyan	Civil Contract	15 November 2021
Australia	List	Richard Marles	Labor Party of Australia	1 June 2022
Austria	List	Klaudia Tanner	Austrian People's Party	7 January 2020
Azerbaijan	List	Colonel General Zakir Hasanov	New Azerbaijan Party	22 October 2013
Bahamas	—
Bahrain		Major-General Abdullah bin Hassan Al-Nuaimi		4 December 2018
Bangladesh		(Vacant)		5 August 2024
Barbados		Mia Mottley	Barbados Labour Party	26 May 2018
Belarus	List	Viktor Khrenin	Independent	20 January 2020
Belgium	List	Ludivine Dedonder	Socialist Party	1 October 2020
Belize		Florencio Marin, Jr.	United Democratic Party	13 November 2020
Benin		Alain Nouatin	Independent	25 May 2021
Bhutan	—
Bolivia		Edmundo Novillo	Movement for Socialism	9 November 2020
Bosnia and Herzegovina	List	Zukan Helez	Social Democratic Party	25 January 2023
Botswana	List	Shaw Kgathi	Botswana Democratic Party	31 October 2014
Brazil	List	José Múcio	Brasilian Labour Party	1 January 2023
Brunei		Hassanal Bolkiah (also Sultan)		7 September 1986
Bulgaria	List	Atanas Zapryanov	Independent	9 April 2024
Burkina Faso		Kassoum Coulibaly	People's Movement for Progress	30 September 2022
Burundi		Alain Tribert Mutabazi		June 2020
Cambodia	List	General Tea Seiha	Cambodian People's Party	22 August 2023
Cameroon		Joseph Beti Assomo	Cameroon People's Democratic Movement	2 October 2015
Canada	List	Bill Blair	Liberal Party of Canada	26 July 2023
Cape Verde		Luís Filipe Tavares		22 April 2016
Central African Republic	Minister of the National Defense, Veterans, War Victims and Restructuring of the Army	Claude Rameaux Bireau		2022
Chad		Daoud Tchari
Chile	List	Maya Fernández	Socialist Party of Chile	11 March 2022
China	List	Dong Jun	Chinese Communist Party	29 December 2023
Colombia	List	Iván Velásquez Gómez	Independent	7 August 2022
Comoros		—
Republic of the Congo		Charles Mondjo		25 September 2012
Democratic Republic of the Congo		Alexandre Luba Ntambo		28 April 2012
Costa Rica		Michael Soto Rojas		9 May 2018
Ivory Coast		Patrick Achi (acting)	Rally of the Republicans	8 March 2021
Croatia	List	Ivan Anušić
Cuba	List	Corps General Álvaro López Miera	Communist Party of Cuba	15 April 2021
Cyprus	List	Vasilis Palmas		10 January 2023
Czech Republic	List	Jana Černochová	Civic Democratic Party	17 December 2021
Denmark	List	Troels Lund Poulsen	Venstre	22 August 2023
Djibouti		Hassan Darar Houffaneh
Dominica		—
Dominican Republic		Luciano Díaz Morfa		16 August 2020
East Timor	List	Pedro Klamar Fuik	Independent	1 July 2023
Ecuador		Luis Hernández Peñaherrera		18 October 2021
Egypt	List	Lieutenant General Mohamed Ahmed Zaki	Independent	14 June 2018
El Salvador	List	René Merino Monroy	Independent	1 June 2019
Equatorial Guinea		Victoriano Bibang Nsue Okomo
Eritrea		Filipos Woldeyohannes		2014
Estonia	List	Hanno Pevkur	Estonian Reform Party	18 July 2022
Ethiopia		Abraham Belay	Prosperity Party	6 October 2021
Fiji		Pio Tikoduadua	NFP	24 December 2022
Finland	List	Antti Häkkänen	National Coalition Party	20 June 2023
France	List	Sébastien Lecornu	La République En Marche!	20 May 2022
Gabon		Ernest Mpouho Epigat
Gambia		Sheikh Omar Faye	Independent	22 August 2019
Georgia	List	Juansher Burchuladze	Georgian Dream	22 February 2021
Germany	List	Boris Pistorius	Social Democratic Party of Germany	19 January 2023
Ghana	List	Dominic Nitiwul	New Patriotic Party	February 2012
Greece	List	Nikos Dendias		27 June 2023
Grenada		Dickon Mitchell (also Prime Minister)	National Democratic Congress	24 June 2022
Guatemala	List	Henry Saenz Ramos
Guinea		Aboubacar Sidiki Camara		20 August 2022
Guinea-Bissau		Sandji Fati
Guyana		—
Haiti	Minister of Defense	Jean W.Dorneval
Holy See
Honduras		José Manuel Zelaya Rosales
Hungary	List	Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky	Independent	24 May 2022
Iceland	List	Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir	Independce	28 November 2021
India	List	Rajnath Singh	Bharatiya Janata Party	31 May 2019
Indonesia	List	General (Honorary) Prabowo Subianto	Gerindra	23 October 2019
Iran	List	Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Gharaei Ashtiani		25 August 2021
Iraq		Thabet Al Abassi		27 October 2022
Ireland	List	Micheál Martin (also Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs)	Fine Gael	27 June 2020
Israel	List	Yoav Gallant	Likud	29 December 2022
Italy	List	Guido Crosetto	Brothers of Italy	22 October 2022
Jamaica		—
Japan	List	Gen Nakatani	Liberal Democratic Party	1 October 2024
Jordan		Bisher Al-Khasawneh		12 October 2020
Kazakhstan	List	Ruslan Jaqsylyqov		19 January 2022
Kenya		Aden Duale		31 October 2022
Kiribati		—
North Korea	List	General Kang Sun-nam	Workers' Party of Korea	1 January 2023
South Korea	List	Shin Won-sik	People Power Party	7 October 2023
Kuwait	List	Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah		17 January 2024
Kyrgyzstan	List	Lieutenant General Baktybek Bekbolotov		6 September 2021
Laos		Chansamone Chanyalath	Lao People's Revolutionary Party	20 April 2016
Latvia	List	Andris Sprūds	The Progressives	15 September 2023
Lebanon	List	Maurice Sleem	Independent	10 September 2021
Lesotho	Minister of Defence and National Security	Sam Matekane	Revolution for Prosperity	November 2023
Liberia	Minister of National Defense	Rt. Gen. Geraldine Janet George
Libya	List	Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh (also Prime Minister)	Independent	15 March 2021
Liechtenstein		—
Lithuania	List	Arvydas Anušauskas	Homeland Union	11 December 2020
Luxembourg	List	Yuriko Backes	Democratic Party	17 November 2023
Madagascar		Josoa Rakotoarijaona
Malawi		Harry Mkandawire	Malawi Congress Party	31 January 2023
Malaysia	List	Mohamed Khaled Nordin	Barisan Nasional (United Malays National Organisation)	12 December 2023
Maldives	Minister of Defence	Mohamed Ghasson Maumoon	Maldivian Democratic Party	17 November 2023
Mali		Sadio Camara		11 June 2021
Malta		Byron Camilleri	Labor Party	15 January 2020
Marshall Islands		—
Mauritania		Hanena Ould Sidi		7 August 2019
Mauritius		Pravind Jugnauth (also Prime Minister)	Militant Socialist Movement
Mexico	List	Luis Cresencio Sandoval		1 December 2018
Micronesia		—
Moldova	List	Anatolie Nosatîi	Independent	6 August 2021
Monaco		—
Mongolia	List	Brigadier General Gürsediin Saikhanbayar	Mongolian People's Party	8 July 2020
Montenegro		Filip Adzic	Social Democratic Party of Montenegro	October 2022
Morocco		Abdellatif Loudiyi		2 December 2010
Mozambique	Minister of National Defence	Cristóvão Artur Chume	FRELIMO	November 2021
Myanmar		Admiral Tin Aung San		3 August 2023
Namibia	List	Frans Kapofi	SWAPO	22 April 2021
Nauru		—
Nepal	List	Purna Bahadur Khadka	Nepali Congress	31 March 2023
Netherlands	List	Ruben Brekelmans	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	2 July 2024
New Zealand		Judith Collins	National Party of New Zealand	27 November 2023
Nicaragua		Rosa Adelina Barahona Castro	Sandinista National Liberation Front	19 August 2019
Niger	Minister of National Defense	Salifou Modi
Nigeria	List	Mohammed Badaru Abubakar		21 August 2023
North Macedonia	List	Slavjanka Petrovska	Social Democratic Union of Macedonia	16 January 2022
Norway	List	Bjørn Arild Gram	Centre Party (Norway)	14 October 2021
Oman		Shihab bin Tariq		19 August 2020
Pakistan	List	Khawaja Muhammad Asif	Pakistan Muslim League (N)	19 April 2022
Palau		—
Palestine
Panama		—
Papua New Guinea	Minister for Defence	Solan Mirisim	Pangu Party	12 December 2020
Paraguay		Bernardino Soto		15 August 2018
Peru	List	Jorge Chávez	Independent	21 December 2022
Philippines	List	Gilbert Teodoro	People's Reform Party	5 June 2023
Poland	List	Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz	Polish People's Party	13 December 2023
Portugal	List	Nuno Melo	CDS – People's Party (Democratic Alliance)	2 April 2024
Qatar		Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah		27 January 2016
Romania	List	Angel Tîlvăr	Social Democratic Party	30 October 2022
Russia	List	Andrey Belousov	Independent	14 May 2024
Rwanda		Juvenal Marizamunda	Rwandan Patriotic Front	6 June 2023
Saint Kitts and Nevis		—
Saint Lucia		Hermangild Francis
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines		—
San Marino		—
São Tomé and Príncipe		Óscar Sousa	3 December 2018
Saudi Arabia	List	Khalid Bin Salman		27 September 2022
Senegal	Minister of Armed Forces	Sidiki Kaba
Serbia	List	Milos Vucevic	Serbian Progressive Party	26 October 2022
Seychelles		Wavel Ramkalawan (also President)	Linyon Demokratik Seselwa	26 October 2020
Sierra Leone		Major Alfred Paolo Conteh	All People's Congress	26 October 2007
Singapore	List	Dr. Ng Eng Hen	People's Action Party	21 May 2011
Slovakia		Robert Kalinak	Direction – Social Democracy	25 October 2023
Slovenia		Marjan Šarec	Freedom Movement	1 June 2022
Solomon Islands		Christopher Laore	Independent	22 October 2012
Somalia	List	Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur	UPD	25 August 2022
South Africa	List	Angie Motshekga	African National Congress	30 June 2024
South Sudan		Kuol Manyang Juuk	Sudan People's Liberation Movement-Juba
Spain	List	Margarita Robles	Independent	7 June 2018
Sri Lanka	List	Ranil Wickremesinghe (also President)	United National Party	15 July 2022
Sudan		Yassin Ibrahim Yassin		2 June 2020
Suriname		Krishna Mathoera	Progressive Reform Party	16 July 2020
Swaziland		—
Sweden	List	Pål Jonson	Moderate Party	18 October 2022
Switzerland	List	Viola Amherd	Christian Democratic People's Party	1 January 2019
Syria	List	Lieutenant general Ali Mahmoud Abbas	Ba'ath Party	28 April 2022
Tajikistan	List	Colonel General Sherali Mirzo		20 November 2013
Tanzania		Stergomena Tax		1 September 2023
Thailand	List	Phumtham Wechayachai	Pheu Thai Party	3 September 2024
Togo		Essozimna Marguerite Gnakade	Union for the Republic	1 October 2020
Trinidad and Tobago	Minister of National Security	Fitzgerald Hinds
Tunisia	List	Imed Memmich	Independent	11 October 2021
Turkey	List	General Yaşar Güler	Independent	4 June 2023
Turkmenistan	List	Lieutenant General Begench Gundogdyev	Democratic Party of Turkmenistan	14 June 2018
Tuvalu		—
Uganda		Vincent Ssempijja		June 2021
Ukraine	List	Rustem Umerov	Holos	6 September 2023
United Arab Emirates		Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum		9 December 1971
United Kingdom	List	John Healey	Labour Party	5 July 2024
United States	List	Lloyd Austin	Independent	22 January 2021
Uruguay		Javier García Duchini	National Party	1 March 2020
Uzbekistan	List	Lieutenant General Bakhodir Kurbanov		4 September 2017
Vanuatu		—
Venezuela		Gen. Vladimir Padrino López	United Socialist Party of Venezuela	24 October 2014
Vietnam	List	General Phan Văn Giang	Communist Party of Vietnam	8 April 2021
Yemen		Mohsen Mohammed Al-Daeri		28 July 2022
Zambia		Ambrose Lufuma	United Party for National Development	2021
Zimbabwe		Oppah Muchinguri	Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front	7 September 2018

States with limited recognition, non-UN member states

State	List	Defence minister	Party	Assumed office
Abkhazia (Republic of Abkhazia)		Vladimir Anua
Kosovo (Republic of Kosovo)		Ejup Maqedonci		22 March 2021
Northern Cyprus (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus)		—
Sahrawi Republic (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)		Mohamed Lamine El Bouhali
Somaliland (Republic of Somaliland)		Dr Rooble Abdi Elmi		March 2024
South Ossetia (Republic of South Ossetia–the State of Alania)		Inal Sabanov
Taiwan (Republic of China)	List	Wellington Koo	DPP	20 May 2024
Transnistria (Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic)		Oleg Obruchkov

See also

• Lists of office-holders
• Chief of defence