The Russian army is among the top three strongest in the world; in the Credit Suisse rating, the Russian military is rated along with the armies of China and the United States. What is the real balance of power among states ready for military conflicts?Medialeaks publishes a list of the 20 most powerful armies in the world according to the organization.
At the end of September financial institution published a report in which it indicated the TOP 20 most powerful armies in the world. Based on this graph, our publication made a detailed list and added its comments.
When compiling the rating, we took into account such parameters as the budget, the size of the army, the number of tanks, aircraft, combat helicopters, aircraft carriers and submarines, and partly the availability nuclear weapons. The technical level of weapons influenced the position on the list to a lesser extent, and the real combat capability of a particular army was practically not assessed.
Thus, assessing the situation of some countries may raise questions. Let's say the Israeli army is inferior to Egypt by two positions, mainly due to the number of soldiers and tanks. However, in all clashes, the first won an unconditional victory over the second, despite the numerical superiority.
It is interesting to note that no Latin American countries were included in the list. For example, despite the size of the population and economy, Brazil's military doctrine does not involve serious external or internal threats, so military spending in this country amounts to only about 1% of GDP.
It is also somewhat strange that the list did not include Iran with its half a million soldiers, one and a half thousand tanks and 300 combat aircraft.
Budget: $15.7 billion
Number of active army: 22 thousand.
Tanks: 181
Aviation: 420
Submarines: 4
The Canadian Army is at the bottom of the list: it doesn't have that many numbers and doesn't have that many military equipment. Be that as it may, the Canadian military takes an active part in all US operations. In addition, Canada is a participant in the F-35 program.
Budget: $6.9 billion
Number of active army: 476 thousand.
Tanks: 468
Aviation: 405
Submarines: 2
Indonesia made the list due to its large military presence and notable size. tank group, however, for an island country it lacks naval forces: in particular, there are no aircraft carriers, and only two diesel submarines are in service.
Budget: $40.2 billion
Number of active army: 179 thousand.
Tanks: 408
Aviation: 663
Submarines: 4
After World War II, Germany did not have its own army for 10 years. During the confrontation between the West and the USSR, the Bundeswehr numbered up to half a million people, but after unification, the country's authorities abandoned the doctrine of confrontation and sharply reduced investments in defense. Apparently, this is why the German Armed Forces ended up even behind Poland in the Credit Suisse rating. At the same time, Berlin is actively sponsoring its eastern NATO allies.
Budget: $9.4 billion
Number of active army: 120 thousand.
Tanks: 1,009
Aviation: 467
Submarines: 5
Poland was ahead of its western neighbor in military power due to its greater number of tanks and submarines, although for the last 300 years the Polish Army has lost in most military conflicts. Be that as it may, Warsaw increased spending on the army after the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the outbreak of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Budget: $5.4 billion
Number of active army: 306 thousand.
Tanks: 722
Aviation: 573
Submarines: 0
The Thai army has been in control of the situation within the country since May 2014; the armed forces are the main guarantee of political stability. A significant number of people serve in it, there are a large number of modern tanks and aircraft.
Budget: $26.1 billion
Number of active army: 58 thousand.
Tanks: 59
Aviation: 408
Submarines: 6
Australian military personnel consistently take part in all NATO operations. In accordance with national doctrine, Australia must be able to stand alone against external invasion. The defense forces are formed on a professional basis, the army is well equipped technically, there is a modern fleet and a large number of combat helicopters.
Budget: $17 billion
Number of active army: 160 thousand.
Tanks: 4,170
Aviation: 684
Submarines: 5
Israel is the most underrated participant in the ranking. The IDF won all the conflicts in which it participated, and sometimes the Israelis had to fight on several fronts against an enemy many times larger than them. In addition to the huge number of the latest offensive and defensive weapons of its own design, Credit Suisse's analysis does not take into account the fact that the country has several hundred thousand reservists with combat experience and high motivation. Business card IDF - female soldiers who proved that the weaker sex with a machine gun is no less effective than the stronger. Not to mention the fact that, according to unverified data, Israel is armed with about 80 nuclear warheads.
Budget: $10.7 billion
Number of active army: 290 thousand.
Tanks: 2,005
Aviation: 804
Submarines: 4
The authorities of the Republic of China believe that they are the legitimate government of the Celestial Empire and sooner or later they must return to Beijing, and until this happens, the army is always ready for the invasion of usurpers from the mainland. And although in reality the island’s armed forces are unlikely to be able to resist the PRC army, two thousand modern tanks and 800 aircraft and helicopters make it a serious force.
Budget: $4.4 billion
Number of active army: 468 thousand.
Tanks: 4,624
Aviation: 1,107
Submarines: 4
The Egyptian army was ranked due to its numbers and quantity of equipment, although, as the Yom Kippur War showed, even a threefold superiority in tanks is offset by high combat skills and the technical level of weapons. At the same time, it is known that about a thousand “Abrams” of the Egyptian Armed Forces are simply mothballed in warehouses. Nevertheless, Cairo will acquire two Mistral-class helicopter carriers, not supplied by France to the Russian Federation, and about 50 Ka-52 combat helicopters for them, which will make Egypt really serious military force in the region.
Budget: $7 billion
Number of active army: 617 thousand.
Tanks: 2,924
Aviation: 914
Submarines: 8
The Pakistani army is one of the largest in the world, it has many tanks and aircraft, and the United States supports Islamabad with equipment. The main threat is internal; local leaders and the Taliban rule in hard-to-reach areas of the country. In addition, Pakistan has not reached an agreement on borders with India: the territories of the states of Jammu and Kashmir remain disputed, formally the countries are in a state of conflict, within which they are engaged in an arms race. Pakistan has ballistic missiles medium-range and about a hundred nuclear warheads
Budget: $18.2 billion
Number of active army: 410 thousand.
Tanks: 3,778
Aviation: 1,020
Submarines: 13
Türkiye claims to be a regional leader, so it is constantly building up and updating its armed forces. A huge number of tanks, aircraft and a large modern fleet (though without aircraft carriers) allow the Turkish army to be considered the strongest among the Muslim countries of the Middle East.
Budget: $60.5 billion
Number of active army: 147 thousand.
Tanks: 407
Aviation: 936
Submarines: 10
After the end of World War II, Great Britain abandoned the idea of military dominance around the world in favor of the United States, but the Royal Armed Forces still have significant power and take part in all NATO operations. Her Majesty's fleet includes several nuclear submarines with strategic nuclear weapons: Only about 200 warheads. By 2020, the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth is expected to be commissioned, which will be able to carry 40 F-35B fighters.
Budget: $34 billion
Number of active army: 320 thousand.
Tanks: 586
Aviation: 760
Submarines: 6
Budget: $62.3 billion
Number of active army: 624 thousand.
Tanks: 2,381
Aviation: 1,412
Submarines: 13
South Korea retains numerous armed forces, although in terms of quantitative indicators in everything except aviation, it continues to lose to its main potential enemy, the DPRK. The difference, of course, is in the technological level. Seoul has its own and Western latest developments, Pyongyang has Soviet technology 50 years ago.
Budget: $41.6 billion
Number of active army: 247 thousand.
Tanks: 678
Aviation: 1,613
Submarines: 16
The most unexpected thing in the ranking is Japan’s 4th place, despite the fact that formally the country cannot have an army, but only self-defense forces. Business Insider attributes this to the high level of equipment of Japanese aircraft. In addition, they include 4 helicopter carriers and 9 destroyers. At the same time, Japan does not have nuclear weapons and this, together with the small number of tanks, makes us think that the position of this army is greatly overestimated.
Budget: $216 billion
Number of active army: 2.33 million
Tanks: 9,150
Aviation: 2,860
Submarines: 67
The second economy in the world has the largest active army, but in terms of the number of tanks, planes and helicopters it is still noticeably inferior not only to the United States, but also to Russia. But the defense budget is 2.5 times greater than the Russian one. As far as is known, China keeps several hundred nuclear warheads on alert. However, some believe that in reality the PRC may have several thousand warheads, but this information is carefully classified.
Budget: $84.5 billion
Number of active army: 1 million
Tanks: 15,398
Aviation: 3,429
Submarines: 55
Syria has demonstrated once again that Russia rightly continues to hold a solid 2nd place among the strongest, according to Business Insider. The Russian Armed Forces are second only to China in terms of the number of submarines. And if the rumors about China's secret nuclear stockpile are not true, it is far ahead in this area. It is believed that Russia's strategic nuclear forces have about 350 delivery vehicles and about 2 thousand nuclear warheads. The number of tactical nuclear warheads is unknown and could be several thousand.
Budget: $601 billion
Number of active army: 1.4 million
Tanks: 8,848
Aviation: 13,892
Submarines: 72
The US military budget is comparable to the previous 19th. The Navy includes 10 aircraft carriers. It is characteristic that, unlike Moscow, which did back in Soviet times relying on tanks, Washington is developing combat aviation. In addition, the American authorities, despite the end Cold War, continue to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the development of the latest military technologies, thanks to which the United States remains a leader not only in everything related to killing people, but also in the fields of, for example, robotics and prosthetics.
A powerful and combat-ready army is the key to a country’s significant weight in the international arena. Moreover, in connection with the well-known events in Syria and Ukraine, military power is increasingly being used different countries the utmost attention is paid. Many people ask the question: “Who will win the world war?”
Today we present an annually updated, official ranking of the world's armies, in full list included the most powerful armies in the world in 2018.
Read updated according to Globalfirepower.
The top 10 was compiled according to data from a specialized resource.
- number of armies of the world (regular number of troops, reservists)
- weapons (airplanes, helicopters, tanks, navy, artillery, other equipment)
- military budget,
- resource availability, geographical location,
- logistics.
Nuclear potential is not taken into account by experts, but those recognized receive an advantage in ranking.
In 2018, the rating included136 countries. New to the list are Ireland (116th), Montenegro (121st) and Liberia(135 position).
By the way, San Marino has the weakest army in the world in 2018 - only 84 people.
10. German Army
Germany's military budget increased from 45 to 46 billion dollars. At the same time, the number of military personnel decreased - from186
up to 178 thousand people. The German army is completely professional, i.e. There has been no compulsory conscription in the country since 2011.
9. Turkish Armed Forces
In the past, the country of luxurious beaches and beautiful tomatoes ranked eighth in the top armies of the world. The number of its armed forces is 350 thousand people, and its military budget is 10.2 billion dollars.
8. Japan Self-Defense Forces
The Land of the Rising Sun worsened its military performance and dropped one place in the list best armies peace. The military budget decreased from 49 to 44 billion dollars, but the number of military personnel did not change - over 247 thousand people.
7. South Korean Army
Compared to the previous ranking, South Korea “jumped” from 10th to 7th place. There are 625 thousand military personnel serving in the Korean army. At the eternal rival - North Korea, the number of soldiers reaches 945 thousand people. And South Korea's defense budget is $40 billion.
6. British Army
Although the country's position on the list has not changed, it has improved its performance in terms of army size (197 thousand people versus 188 thousand people). However, it still remains the smallest army in the ranking.
England's military budget decreased compared to 2017 from 55 to 50 billion dollars.
5. French Army
The French army, which opened the top 5 most powerful armies world, is small in number. Currently, 205 thousand people serve in it. At the same time, the country's defense budget is $40 billion.
4. Indian Armed Forces
The country's military budget is $47 billion. The number of Indian armed forces is 1,362,000 people, the country's army is the third largest in the world.
3. Chinese Army
The Celestial Empire has the largest human military force in the ranking of armies in the world. It employs 2,183,000 people. According to Wikipedia, there are 1.71 military personnel per 1,000 inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom. And China’s military budget is huge, comparable to the army - $151 billion (increased from $126 billion compared to 2017).
2. Russian Army
The Russian armed forces are superior to almost all armies of the world in terms of weapons power in all branches of the military - air, ground and sea. Number Russian army for 2018 – 1,013,000 people. The military budget is $47 billion. Among the superpowers, Russia has a very high rate of the number of military personnel per 1000 inhabitants - 5.3 people.
1. US Army
The most powerful army in the world, according to Globalfirepower, American. By the way, it is not the largest in numbers, but the most powerful in terms of available weapons, including nuclear potential not taken into account by experts. The size of the US Army is 1,281,900 people, and the defense budget is 647 billion.dollars.
Comparison table of armies of the world (Infographics)
No matter how armed the army is, the morale of the soldiers will play an important role in winning a world war. In this regard, it is a big mistake to consider the current distribution of seats to be absolutely correct.
One Blackwater employee's opinion on mercenaries and regular armed forces
8. African tribes.
It's not even interesting to fight with them. They shoot randomly, they don’t know about targeted shooting. They often fall into the ground at their feet.
It's a common thing to hit one of your own.
They scatter to the sides after several casualties or a shot from a tank.
Rating - meat.
7. African regulars.
They differ from their wild counterparts only in the presence of a uniform and modest shooting skills. They are combat-ready against savages, but a clash with a more skilled enemy, even the Arabs, causes them to panic and flee.
In principle, they do not know how to act in harmony with armored vehicles.
Rating - packaged meat.
6. Arabs.
Mercenaries, rebels, many regulars...
The concepts of tactics and strategy are as far away for them as the charms of Samantha Fox are to the average homosexual from the banks of the Seine. Their war is to shoot boxes of ammunition towards the enemy, while calling them to the bar and periodically blowing themselves up with everything that comes to hand. However, the latter does not apply to regulars; they are relatively silent and disciplined, and know how to use grenades.
They are cowardly, but not alarmists.
Rating is an easy target.
5. American regulars.
How many films have been made about the invincible American army... There is only one BUT.
The Yankees absolutely do not know how to fight without artillery bombardment, tanks and airstrikes.
If the territory has not been burned to the point of a desolate desert, the soldiers will not go there. And if they go, they don’t come back.
They shoot very well, are well coordinated, but are timid in the face of any resistance. After which they become easy prey.
Losses are taken seriously, up to the complete loss of combat effectiveness. Underpants.
Rating: biting dogs.
4. American mercenaries.
Not bad fighters. They know how to act both as a team and alone, they are excellent marksmen. There are desperate individuals who are sometimes difficult to deal with.
But they have very weakness- morality. And lack of motivation other than money. The corpse doesn't need money, so most of them don't go there,
where it's really hot. And they avoid the first line of fire in every possible way.
Dogs of war, if you evaluate.
3. Asians.
I haven't encountered any regulars. Mercenaries are capable of delivering painful headache to any opponent. If they act as a group.
It is not clear what is in their heads, but they are capable of any recklessness. They shoot well, often operating from an ambush, into which the enemy falls according to a cunning plan. Asians do not care about support with equipment, aircraft and shells.
They don't care whether there are cartridges or not. The main thing is the presence of brothers.
But alone, alas, they become useless.
Rating: Emperor's Army.
2. Caucasians and Afghans.
Strong warriors. Excellent arrows. Hardy, brave.
They can act in groups, alone, are motivated and cunning. In battle they act competently, know tactics and strategy. They are not afraid of technology or airstrikes and operate effectively from ambushes.
They have only one weak point - they are unable to fight until their last breath; a rare fighter is able to sacrifice himself for the sake of a common victory. Unless he's a martyr, but that's a completely different matter...
Rating - real fighters.
1. Russians.
To oppose a platoon of Russian mercenaries is a cruel, bloody mess.
They fight to the end, to the last bullet, and when they run out of ammunition, they use everything they have at hand. Mortally wounded a Russian? Don't touch him, most likely before his death - he clutched a grenade without a pin.
Russians are inventive and have excellent intuition. And... they don't care.
Has the plane arrived? All the same, they’ll knock you down with a sapper’s shovel. Tank? It doesn't matter if your arms aren't broken. Soldiers who have never held an SVD are capable of hitting it at the limit of range at a critical moment.
And it doesn’t matter that it was the last cartridge, they will beat the enemy with the rifle itself. Tactics and strategy? Easily! Any composition, from the army to a half-dead cripple holding an enemy company alone...
Russians, even mercenaries, are not capable of retreating.
And if they retreat, rest assured, they are simply running for ammunition.
All of the above also applies to the army, who are more or less fired upon.
However, for this in most cases, a single clash is sufficient...
Rating - Warriors!
