Every nation has various special strengths in its defence arsenal, These include advanced technologies, training, power and number of allies, size of the army and budget allocated. Here are the top 10 countries with the strongest armies.
10 – TURKEY
Its defence budget is at $18.18 billion. Its army size, including regular and reser just above 660,000. Turkey’s air force has 1,000 aircraft. The military also claims to have 16,000 land weapons.
9 –Japan
Japan has increased its military spending, first time in 11 years, to $49.1 billion, the world’s 6th highest. It has over 247,000 active personnel and almost 60,000 in reserve. With 1,595 aircraft, it is the 5th largest air force. The army is also equipped with 131 war ships. Besides, through its recent defence initiatives, it maintains a solid military presence in Asia.
8 –South Korea
To meet the increasing armament of China and Japan, South Korea has been increasing its defence expenditure, which is now $34 billion. It maintains a large army of over 640,000 active personnel and 2,900,000 additional personnel in the reserve, alongside the 6th largest air force with 1,393 aircraft, as well as a small 166 ships.
7 –GERMANY
The defence budget stands at $32.9 billion. Has 183,000 active front-line personnel and 145,000 reservists, alongside 710 aircraft in total, and on the land armament of nearly 5,000 of various kinds.
6 –FRANCE
The military budget stands at $43 billion a year, which is 1.9% of the country’s GDP, much below the spending target set by NATO. Over 220,000 regular forces combined with reservists to form a force of about 500,000. It has just over 1,000 aircraft, along with 9,000 ground vehicles
5 –The United Kingdom
The defence budget stands at $54 billion. It has a regular force of about 205,000, along with a small airforce of 908 aircraft, and an even smaller navy of 66 ships. its 160 nuclear weapons being the main strengths
4 –INDIA
The current defence budget stands at $70.4 billion. Has built an army of a sizeable 3.5 million, including 1.3 million active militaries. The man force of the army is complemented by almost 16,000 land vehicles, as well as 1,785 aircraft, alongside nuclear weapons
3 –China
The defence budget officially stands at $126 billion. Has a formidable army, with 2.29 million active front-line personnel and a further 2.3 million reservists, along with nearly 25,000 land vehicles. It has another 2,800 aircraft on its air force.
2 –Russia
The defence budget stands at $76.6 billion and is expected to grow 44% more in the next three years. It has 766,000 active front-line personnel and 2.5 million on the reserve force. The man force is backed by 15,500 tanks, making Russia the largest tank force in the world.
1 –USA
The defence budget is $612.5 billion. Has over 1.4 million soldiers, and a further 800,000 reservists. It implements cutting-edge technology like the Navy’s new rail gun and has 7,500 nuclear warheads at its disposal. It has maintained the #1 position among the strongest armies since World War II.
