Players are often concerned about the presence of soldiers and police, as well they should be. How many customs or patrol ships will influence the amount of piracy in a system, and the number and prevalence of police will affect how players behave (or not) in public. Law enforcement spending depends upon several key variables including the GDP of the system, the pacifism score of the system, and the law level of the system. To determine the amount spent on system defense/law enforcement, multiply the GDP by the percentage associated with the system's pacifism score and the appropriate modifier based on the overall law level of the system.
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For example, consider a world with a population of 2.5 million sophonts earning an average of 20,000 Cr each. This gives a GDP of 50 billion Cr, or 50,000 MCr. If the system pacifism was typical (ie. 6-9) with a law level of 2, then roughly 4% of that or 2000 MCr would be spent on defense annually. Typical businesses spend roughly 50% of their money on salaries and benefits, so roughly 1000 MCr for salaries at an average of 20,000 Cr each would give 50,000 law enforcement/military personnel for those 2.5 million people. Remember that this includes all sorts of military personnel (navy, marines, army) plus law enforcement, with the majority being law enforcement. Perhaps 20% to 35% of that number will be in the military, primarily in the army, and all personnel will have equipment consistent with their function and tech level. Naturally the military can be called in during natural disasters, special events, or when the police are outnumbered and/or outgunned.
To calculate the number of military spacecraft in the system, it's important to remember that ships can serve for decades in the military. Just because a frigate isn't a front line fighting ship any longer doesn't mean it can't serve as an anti-piracy or customs vessel. Because ships can last 40-50 years with appropriate annual maintenance, the total cost of military spacecraft for the system will be roughly equal to the entire annual defense spending. Note that this includes all types of ships; a system is very unlikely to have one expensive 2000 MCr cruiser and nothing else. That one cruiser cannot be everywhere. They are far more likely to have a variety of craft including fighters, modular cutters, etc that can be found in more than one location at any given time.
The types of craft available are also going to depend upon the technology level and astrography of the system. Many systems would rather license a design they can build themselves rather than have to import everything. Even a class C spaceport can build small craft such as boarding shuttles for customs inspections and fighters for local space defense. Naturally pocket empires who wish to have influence on other worlds will require ships that can reach those worlds, so a jump capable navy enables more prestige and influence in the Cluster at large. In addition, a system with 1 habitable planet and few other inhabited bodies might have more large warships while a mining system with 3 asteroid belts scattered throughout the system would need many more small craft widely scattered in order to provide some sense of law and order.
A typical distribution might be 25% on capital ships, particularly cruisers or system monitor type ships which provide a good firepower to cost ratio. Another 25% or so would be spent on escort ships which are destroyer sized or smaller. A system with very dispersed outposts or smaller systems which have more limited resources might convert some or all of the capital ship budget to provide more numerous escort ships. The next 25% would cover small craft such as shuttles, fighters, and cutters. While not glamorous, small craft provide essential services and fighters, ton for ton, pack a lot of offensive firepower. The final 25% of the ship budget is typically used for auxiliary ships such as freighters, tankers, or scouts and the like. These ships are often not considered by the public as true naval craft, so this category is often squeezed out for flashier ships. Admirals, however, get very nervous when they run out of fuel in hostile territory. Customs ships typically come from the small craft and escort type vessels.
The average policeman or soldier will typically be equipped at the tech level of the planet. This allows a system to service and manufacture their own equipment and keeps the cost relatively affordable. On the other hand, the elite forces of a system will have the most up to date equipment they can acquire. This means their weaponry may be a few tech levels higher than is otherwise available in that system (assuming they have interstellar trade). Most of their forces will not have cutting edge equipment- it isn’t necessary and quite frankly would be too expensive to purchase and maintain. Equipping one platoon or company, however, would not be difficult or unaffordable. Even one meson equipped cruiser squadron in a large TL 9 or 10 system could change the nature of a space battle significantly.
Systems with huge GDPs (along with the Confederation itself) dominate the overall military strength of the Cluster. With a GDP on the order of several billion MCr, they might easily have 100-200 million MCr for their annual military budget and an armed forces/law enforcement manpower often reaching into the billions of sophonts. When a fleet of 1000 battleships 'only' costs about 8-10 million MCr, it’s very clear why advisory worlds and the other giant systems dominate the spaceways. It takes a major coalition of worlds or a massive CNF force to interpose itself between two advisory systems bent on conflict.
Pocket Empires often keep a substantial portion of their capital ships at a reduced state of readiness. This allows reserve forces to be activated in times of tension while allowing them to live a normal life most of the time at a reduced cost to the planet. As it can take a decade to build a capital warship, no pocket empire can count on rapidly building their forces in time to fight a major opponent. Smaller ships have more peacetime uses and therefore are usually kept active.