A Modest Military: Moldova’s Fighting Vehicles

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

The Moldovan Armed Forces is one of the most elusive fighting forces in Europe. As the poorest country on the European continent, Moldova has the dubious honour of not having made one acquisition for its military since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Instead, it has been the recipient of military aid from Romania in the 1990s and the United States throughout the 2000s and 2010s, and has in recent years attempted to improve the fighting efficacy of its forces by launching a number of upgrade projects for its armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs).

Though modest in scope, these upgrades have meanwhile resulted in an exotic arsenal of AFVs that include Soviet-legacy designs like the BMD-1 IFV, the 9P149 Shturm-S ATGM carrier and the BM-27 Uragan MRL in addition to a number of homegrown upgrades performed on BTRs and even U.S.-made Humvees. Even as Moldova inherited a vast arsenal of engineering vehicles, its military does not possess any tanks, BMPs or SPGs. And with its only potential adversary being the breakaway republic of Transnistria, any future investments into such equipment appears unlikely.

Our list of Transnistria's inventory of armoured fighting vehicles can be viewed here.

This list attempts to list all AFV types currently in service with the Moldovian Army. This list only includes vehicles and equipment of which photographic evidence is available. ATGMs, MANPADS, trucks and jeeps are not included in the list.

(Click on the vehicle or equipment type to get a picture of them)