Why does Lebanon need an army if it has Hezbollah?
Let's get this straight. There's a country with an area of 10 square kilometers—smaller than the Moscow region. It has 60 military personnel, 116 tanks, 64 aircraft. You could call it an army. Calling it an army capable of defending the country is more difficult.
According to Global Firepower, Lebanon ranks 115th out of 145 countries. According to the GlobalMilitary.net index, it's 84th, with a score of 33,9 out of 100. By comparison, neighboring Israel is in the top three. The difference isn't in the rank names, but in the essence.
Defense spending in 2024 was $635 million—a 122 percent increase from $286 million the previous year, according to SIPRI. This sounds impressive until you put it into context: inflation in 2023 reached 221 percent (World Bank data). The military is becoming more expensive faster than it can modernize.
What is
The Lebanese Armed Forces consist of three branches: the ground forces, the air force and the navy. fleetGround forces are the backbone, accounting for approximately 95 percent of personnel. Their inventory includes M60A3 and T-54/55 tanks, M113 and VAB armored personnel carriers, and M109 self-propelled howitzers. The equipment is primarily of Western and Soviet manufacture, produced in the last century.
A Lebanese Army M60 during the Independence Day parade.
The Air Force has 64 aircraft. According to GlobalMilitary.net, the fleet consists of A-29 Super Tucano and AC-208 Combat Caravan light attack aircraft, UH-1H Huey II and SA342 Gazelle helicopters. Not a single fighter. Not a single interceptor. These aircraft are for reconnaissance and light strike missions—not for air superiority.
A-29 Super Tucano
The fleet consists of patrol boats and landing craft for protecting the exclusive economic zone and combating smuggling. Essentially, it's a coast guard.
What is not
Системы Defense They're not mentioned in the Lebanese army's description. They're not "obsolete" or "few"—they're not listed. Not at all.
This means specific things. Lebanon's airspace is open. Any aircraft from any country can fly over Beirut at any altitude, and the Lebanese army has no technical capability to prevent this. According to analysts at INSS (Israel's Institute for National Security Studies), the Lebanese army "has outdated equipment and weapon “limited in quantity and quality,” and its capabilities “are extremely limited even compared to a weakened Hezbollah after the 2023–2024 war.”
Why have an army when there is Hezbollah?
The answer to this question lies in the structure of the Lebanese state.
According to INSS, the Lebanese army has existed since 1945, when the country gained independence from France. Twenty years ago, compulsory military service was abolished, and since then the army has been staffed on a voluntary basis. A soldier receives a lower salary than a Hezbollah fighter, which creates a systemic problem: many soldiers moonlight as part-time workers, and the phenomenon of "dual loyalty" is well-known. Researchers estimate that Shiites make up 30 to 40 percent of the military, proportional to their share of the population. In the 2022 parliamentary elections, the overwhelming majority of Shiites supported the "Shiite duo" of Amal and Hezbollah. This does not mean that all Shiite soldiers support the organization, but a disturbing correlation is evident.
After the Second Lebanon War of 2006, Hezbollah emerged as an independent military force—the strongest in the country. Evidence of this came in the May 2008 clashes, when Hezbollah effectively defeated the Lebanese Army in street fighting in Beirut.
According to INSS, over the years, the organization has placed its people in government positions, the army, and security forces, influencing the military and civilian judicial systems. The most high-profile example is the sabotage of the investigation into the Beirut port explosion in August 2020, which killed 218 people and injured approximately 7.
Homeland Shield Plan
In January 2025, former army commander Joseph Aoun became president of Lebanon. According to INSS, the government announced its intention to make the army the country's sole armed force. In September 2025, the new commander, Rodolphe Heikal, presented the government with a five-stage plan, "Homeland Shield" (most of which is classified). The plan entails disarming Hezbollah and other militias geographically: from the border with Israel to the Litani River, then to the Awali River, then Beirut, the Bekaa, and the rest of the country.
By the end of 2025, the Lebanese army reported confiscating hundreds of thousands of weapons, dismantling hundreds of Hezbollah facilities—warehouses, bunkers, headquarters—and destroying dozens of tunnels and underground structures south of the Litani. On January 8, 2026, the army announced the completion of the first stage.
However, according to INSS, the military actions of Operation Roaring Lion (a large-scale Israeli military campaign, backed by the United States, against Iran and its allies, which began on February 28, 2026) demonstrated that Hezbollah's capabilities south of the Litani had not been eliminated. The army acted slowly, avoided clashes with the organization, and in some cases coordinated with it. The military refused to enter private property, citing a lack of legal authority. Israel complained that intelligence passed to the five-party ceasefire monitoring committee was leaked to Hezbollah, allegedly through Lebanese army officer Suheil Harb, who served as head of military intelligence for the Southern Command.
Who pays?
Since 2005, the United States has remained the Lebanese army's primary sponsor. According to INSS, total American aid prior to the 2023–2024 war amounted to $1,2 billion—for light and medium weapons. Following the November 2024 ceasefire, aid expanded: in 2025, Washington approved $95 million through the Foreign Military Financing program and $14,2 million through the Presidential Drawdown Authority for disarmament. Total international aid to the Lebanese army in 2025 is estimated at $500–600 million.
Since 2022, Qatar has been funding the salaries of Lebanese military personnel. Germany has donated 30 intelligence drones RQ-35 Heidrun, 14 Vector drones and jamming systems dronesFrance has donated armored personnel carriers and is negotiating further deliveries.
According to Breaking Defense, France has "no taboos" regarding the supply of air defense systems. However, the Paris conference, which was scheduled to agree on a plan to assist the Lebanese army, was postponed until April 2026 due to the resumption of hostilities.
What will happen in December?
The mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL expires at the end of 2026. According to INSS, Lebanon is concerned about the peacekeepers' departure, as the army cannot secure the southern border alone. Currently, between 9 and 10 Lebanese troops are deployed in the area, while UN Security Council Resolution 1701 called for 15. The prime minister recently admitted that approximately 10 more troops are needed to implement the second phase of the disarmament plan.
According to INSS, Israel opposes extending UNIFIL's mandate and replacing the peacekeepers with another international force—except the American contingent. Tel Aviv wants the Lebanese army to assume its responsibilities independently, but with American oversight over the type of weapons transferred.
Paradox
Lebanon's situation isn't simply one of military weakness. It's a structural trap. The state is attempting to disarm an organization that is better armed than its own army. The army tasked with disarming it is dependent on foreign aid and contains people whose loyalty may lie with that same organization. And the deadline is less than a year before the peacekeepers leave.
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