Editing Timor-Leste Defence Force (section)

== Defence expenditure and procurement ==
[[File:F-FDTL budget 2003-2011.jpg|thumb|The F-FDTL's budget in constant $2011 US and as a proportion of real GDP between 2003 and 2011<ref>Defence Intelligence Organisation (2011), p. 12</ref>]]
Total defence expenditure for Timor-Leste in 2018 was $US29.1&nbsp;million. This represented 2.7 per cent of [[gross domestic product]] (GDP).{{sfn|Defence Intelligence Organisation|2019|p=26}} Timor-Leste is one of [[Military build-up in Southeast Asia|the few]] South East Asian countries to have not increased its defence spending between 2009 and 2018, with defence expenditure decreasing by 63.4 per cent in [[Real versus nominal value (economics)|real]] terms over this period.{{sfn|Wezeman|2019|pp=10–11}}

The modest size of the defence budget means that the East Timorese Government is only able to purchase small quantities of military equipment.{{sfn|Wezeman|2019|p=41}} Most of the F-FDTL's weapons and other equipment have been provided by foreign donors, and this is likely to remain the case in the future.<ref name="Patrikainen_140"/>{{sfn|Defence Intelligence Organisation|2019|p=27}} No military production took place in Timor-Leste as of 2011, and in 2020 the IISS noted that "maintenance capacity is unclear and the country has no traditional defence industry".{{sfn|International Institute for Strategic Studies|2020|p=317}}<ref name="Patrikainen_150">Patrikainen et al. (2011), p. 150</ref>

Funding shortfalls have constrained the development of the F-FDTL. The government has been forced to postpone plans to form an independent company stationed in the Oecussi enclave and two reserve infantry battalions. These units formed an important part of the King's College report's option&nbsp;3 force structure and their absence may have impacted on Timor-Leste's defence policy.<ref>Rees (2004), p. 27</ref> As of 2011 the government was yet to announce what, if any, reserve units would be formed, though provisions for such units had been included in legislation.<ref>International Crisis Group (2011), pp. 12–13</ref>