| Post: | Minister |
| Body: | Defense |
| Insignia: | Coat of arms of East Timor.svg |
| Insigniacaption: | Coat of Arms of East Timor |
| Flag: | Flag of East Timor.svg |
| Flagcaption: | Flag of East Timor |
| Incumbentsince: | 1 July 2023 |
| Department: | Ministry of Defense |
| Member Of: | the government |
| Reports To: | Prime minister |
| Appointer: | President |
| Formation: | 1975 / 2005 |
The Minister of Defense (pt|Ministro da Defesa, tet|Ministru Defeza) is a senior member of the Constitutional Government of East Timor heading the Ministry of Defense.
Under the Constitution of East Timor, the Minister has the power and the duty:
Where the Minister is in charge of the subject matter of a government statute, the Minister is also required, together with the Prime Minister, to sign the statute.
The incumbent Minister of Defense is .[1] [2]
The following individuals have been appointed as the minister:
| Party | Minister | Portrait | Title | Government (Prime Minister) | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fretilin | Rogerio Lobato | Minister of National Defense | 1975 CoM (Lobato) | 1 December 1975 | 17 December 1975 | ||||
| 2 | Independent | Roque Félix Rodrigues | Minister of Defence | I Constitutional (Alkatiri) | 26 July 2005 | 1 June 2006 | ||||
| (acting) | José Ramos-Horta | 1 June 2006 | 10 June 2006 | |||||||
| 3 | II Constitutional (Ramos-Horta) | 10 July 2006 | 19 May 2007 | |||||||
| 4 | Fretilin | Estanislau da Silva | III Constitutional (da Silva) | 19 May 2007 | 8 August 2007 | |||||
| 5 | CNRT | Xanana Gusmão | Minister of Defense | IV Constitutional (Gusmão) | 8 August 2007 | 8 August 2012 | ||||
| Minister of Defence and Security | V Constitutional (Gusmão) | 8 August 2012 | 16 February 2015 | |||||||
| 6 | Cirilo Cristóvão | Minister of Defence | VI Constitutional (Araújo) | 16 February 2015 | 3 October 2017 | |||||
| 7 | Fretilin | Agostinho Sequeira Somotxo | Minister of Defence and Security | VII Constitutional (Alkatiri) | 3 October 2017 | 22 June 2018 | ||||
| 8 | Independent | Filomeno da Paixão de Jesus | Minister of Defense | VIII Constitutional (Ruak) | 22 June 2018 | 1 July 2023 | ||||
| 9 | IX Constitutional (Gusmão) | 1 July 2023 | Incumbent | |||||||