ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA DEFENCE FORCE
Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force • ABDF Air Wing
Royal Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force (includes Antigua and Barbuda Coast Guard). Active 170 personnel (Army 125 Navy 45) (all services form combined Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force). Reserve 75 personnel (Joint 75)
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA DEFENCE FORCE • ABDF Air Wing
Antigua and Barbuda Aviation 20 Personnel.
Forces by Role & Equipment by Type
(incl Coast Guard units)
• AIRCRAFT 0 combat capable. Total 2 Aircraft.
Transport
1 unit with:
- 1 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander;
- 1 Piper PA-31 Navajo.
Coast Guard Units
50 Personnel.
- 1 Dauntless class Patrol Boat;
- 1 Swift class Patrol Boat.
• FACILITIES
Antigua and Barbuda is a nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands (including Great Bird, Green, Guinea, Long, Maiden and York Islands). Separated by a few nautical miles, the group is in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles.
V. C. Bird (TAPA) International Airport at St. John's City (Antigua Islands)
Codrington (TAPH) Airport at Codrington City (Barbuda Islands)
Coco Point Lodge (TAPT) Airstrip at Coco Point City (Barbuda Islands)
Note: Antigua and Barbuda has 2 airports with paved runways (2,438 to 3,047 m:1 under 914 m:1) and 1 airport with unpaved runways (under 914 m:1)
Armed Forces by Role (Current order of battle): Army 125 personnel.Capabilities & Role
The Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF) is constitutionally tasked with internal security, disaster relief, and maritime sovereignty, contributing significantly to regional counter-narcotics efforts. The Air Wing is a limited support element of the unified force, while the Coast Guard maintains ex-US patrol vessels for fishery protection and search and rescue operations. The force participates regularly in regional exercises such as US SOUTHCOM’s Tradewinds but maintains no independent capacity to deploy outside its immediate neighborhood. There is no heavy land-force equipment or indigenous defence industry in the country.
(27.02.2026)
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4/5 Generation Fighters 
