The army of Paraguay has existed since the country's independence in 1811, when the country consisted of 2 infantry battalions which were backed up by a militia.

The military of Paraguay continued to occupy a significant position under the President of the country, Lopezes who devoted significant resources to organization, training and weaponry.

The army maintained fixed artillery positions around the capital and in other fortress in Paraguay and became the largest military in Latin America. During the Triple Alliance War in 1864, the army of Paraguay was very large to invade Brazil and Argentina, one invasion force numbering as 25,000. The army of the country was besieged by the better and larger equipped armies which by the end of war in 1870 had reduced the army to a few leftovers.

The Paraguayan army was re-established in 1876, but it consisted of small units which assigned to act as ceremonial forces in the capital or defend the frontiers, until the turn of the century. Efforts to improve the army met with uneven results. Most of the new equipments acquired during the 1895-1904 period, were lost during the Liberal revolt in 1904. After the 1922 civil war, the army of Paraguay again underwent reorganization. The army grew slightly until the late 1920s, when tensions with Bolivia encouraged recruitment, and new battalions were formed.

Stroessner enlarged the army after becoming the president of the country in 1954. A small quantity of medium and light tanks, armoured cars and armoured personnel carriers were acquired during 1960-70, mostly from Brazil and United States. A new army tactical organization was announced by the government in 1982. At the same time, 2 new infantry divisions were also formed.

The equipments of the army includes 3 Argentinean modified M-4 tanks, 4 EE-9 armoured cars, 4 EE-11 armoured personnel carriers, and 4 M-101 105mm howitzers. Organic aviation includes 6 battalions of combat engineers, 1 special forces battalion, 1 communications battalion, 6 regiments of cavalry and 7 regiments of infantry.