Military of Guinea - Bissau The Armed Forces of Guinea - Bissau consist of an Army , Navy , Air Force and paramilitary forces . A 2008 United Nations Development Programme census estimated that there were around 4 , 000 personnel in the Armed Forces . An earlier CIA World Fact Book figure was 9 , 250 . The World Fact Book also estimated military expenditure as $ 9 . 46 million , and military spending as a percentage of GDP as 3 . 1 % . The World Fact Book also reports that the military service age and obligation is 18 – 25 years of age for selective compulsory military service ; 16 years of age or younger with parental consent , for voluntary service ( 2009 ) . 2010 Guinea - Bissau military unrest . Major General Batista Tagme Na Waie was chief of staff of the Guinea - Bissau armed forces until his assassination in 2009 . Military unrest occurred in Guinea - Bissau on 1 April 2010 . Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior was placed under house arrest by soldiers , who also detained Army Chief of Staff Zamora Induta . Supporters of Gomes and his party , PAIGC , reacted to the move by demonstrating in the capital , Bissau ; Antonio Indjai , the Deputy Chief of Staff , then warned that he would have Gomes killed if the protests continued . The EU ended its mission to reform the country ' s security forces , EU SSR Guinea - Bissau , on 4 August 2010 , a risk that may further embolden powerful generals and drug traffickers in the army and elsewhere . The EU mission ' s spokesman in Guinea - Bissau said the EU had to suspend its programme when the mastermind of the mutiny , General Antonio Indjai , became army chief of staff . " The EU mission thinks this is a breach in the constitutional order . We can ' t work with him " . The multitude of small offshore islands and a military able to sidestep government with impunity has made it a favourite trans - shipment point for drugs to Europe . Aircraft drop payloads on or near the islands , and speedboats pick up bales to go direct to Europe or onshore . UN chief Ban Ki - moon has called for sanctions against those involved in Guinea - Bissau ' s drugs trade . Air Force head Ibraima Papa Camara and former navy chief Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto have been named " drug kingpins " . Angola , at the presidency of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries ( CPLP ) since 2010 , has since March 21 , 2011 , a military mission in Guinea - Bissau ( MISSANG ) to assist the reform in sector of defence and security . MISSANG had a strength of 249 Angolan men ( both soldiers and police officers ) , following an agreement signed between the defence ministers of both countries , as a complement to a Governmental accord ratified by both parliaments . The programme of technical and military cooperation focused on a reform of the Guinean armed forces and police , including the repair of barracks and police stations , organisation of administrative services and technical and military training locally and in Angolan institutions . The mission was halted by the Angolan Government , following a politico - military crisis that led to the ousting of the interim president of Guinea - Bissau , Raimundo Pereira , and the prime minister , Gomes Júnior . By 22 June 2012 , the Angolan vessel " Rio M ' bridge " , carrying the mission ' s equipment , had arrived back in Luanda . Air Force . On leaving Bissalanca by 1973 - 74 , the Portuguese Air Force left three North American T - 6 Gs . After achieving independence from Portugal , the air force was formed by officers returning from training in Cuba and the USSR . The FAGB was re - equipped by the Soviet Union with a limited aid package in which its first combat aircraft were introduced . Five MIG - 17s and two MiG - 15UTI trainers entered service with a single Mi - 8 helicopter . In 1978 France provided more aircraft aid in the form of a Reims - cessna FTB . 337 for coastal patrol and a surplus Aloutte III . A Dassault Falcon 20F was donated by the Angolan government but was soon sold to the USA . In the late 1980s a similar number of MiG 21s replaced the MiG 17s , also delivered an AN - 24 , a YAK - 40 and anther Mi - 8 helicopter . In the early 90s they received ex - polish PZL - Mielec Lim - 6 Fresco fighter bombers from Poland and East Germany . The force ' s title was changed to Força Aérea da Guiné - Bissau ( FAGB ) after the outbreak of the civil war in 1998 . Cooper and Weinert state ' when sighted for the last time in . . 1991 , most of the [ MiG ] fleet was in ' storage ' inside several hangars on the military side of Bissalanca IAP ( Osvaldo Vieira International Airport ) , and in a deteriorating condition . ' Navy . In September 2010 , Rear - Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto attempted a coup , but was arrested after failing to gain support . " Guinea - Bissau ' s navy chief , who was arrested last week and accused of trying to stage a coup , has escaped custody and fled to nearby Gambia , the armed forces said on Tuesday . "