However, after the end of the Cold War, the author notes, in a number of European countries the “military muscles” atrophied due to the disappearance of the Soviet threat.
It is interesting that the regular armies in Europe today are generally small in number, since funding is aimed primarily at the quality of personnel training.
Russia
Russia has the largest army among European countries. As of 2016, the size of the Russian army is about 770 thousand people, making it one of the largest in the world. Its annual budget is $64 billion and is the third largest on the planet in terms of military spending. The amount of military equipment available for service in the Armed Forces is as follows: 2,155 towed artillery pieces, 2,646 self-propelled guns, 2,867 tanks and 10,720 armored vehicles. In addition, the Russian Federation is the leader in the number of nuclear warheads.Ukraine
Over the past year, the size of the Ukrainian army has doubled - from 146 to 280 thousand people. These figures were announced by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak during a working trip to the zone of the so-called anti-terrorist operation. The reserve troops number 720,000 people, and paramilitary units – 50,000. But this is not the limit, as the news portal Segodnya.ua reports, the Ukrainian army is gaining momentum and is actively arming itself; this year 300 units of new military equipment and 58,000 ammunition.United Kingdom
Among the 62.2 million people living in the UK, 220 thousand are serving in the army, 200 thousand are in the reserve. The armed forces have 11,630 thousand ground equipment, 1,663 aircraft and 99 defense vessels. Funding is equivalent to 74 billion dollars. It is part of NATO.France
The total strength of the country's ground forces, together with units of the French Foreign Legion, amounts to 131,000 people. Including about 66,000 in combat units. Formally, the French army consists of a rapid reaction force headquarters, two division headquarters, 7 mixed brigades and six separate specialized brigade-level units.Germany
The size of the German army has recently decreased significantly - we are talking about the ground forces: now it is 84,450 people (including those who study at military schools). The country's ground forces have the following weapons: 1095 main battle tanks; 644 field artillery guns, mortars and MLRS; 2,563 armored combat vehicles (of which 736 are armored personnel carriers); 146 combat helicopters.The US Army is the strongest, with 19 aircraft carriers and more than 13 thousand aircraft and helicopters. The Russian army is the champion in armored vehicles, the Chinese army is the most numerous
The Ukrainian Armed Forces took thirtieth place among the most powerful armies in the world in the annual Global Firepower (GFP) ranking of military power. Among European armies, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are in eighth place. According to Ukrainian experts, the most important criterion for assessing military power is not ratings, but the real ability of the armed forces to repel aggression. True, despite the combat experience gained in the war in Donbass, in the last three years the Ukrainian army has only lost its position in the GFP ranking.
THIRTY IN THE WORLD, EIGHTH IN EUROPE. The Global Firepower 2016 rating is considered one of the most famous in the world. It is compiled by specialists from the oldest British university, “St. Andrews” (University of St. Andrews, founded in early 1410 in Scotland) with the aim of collecting and studying information about the armed forces of different countries of the world.
This year, experts analyzed the armed forces of 126 states. For this purpose, 50 different parameters are used, reflecting the state of the economy, industry and armed forces of a particular country. Particular attention is paid to the variety of weapons, which creates a balance of the military power of the state. For example, the capabilities of 100 minesweepers are not equivalent to the capabilities of a dozen aircraft carriers. Geographical location, state of logistics, and availability of natural resources also play a role. One of the key criteria is the amount of cheap labor available, so countries with larger populations receive higher rankings.
The presence of a nuclear arsenal is not taken into account, but states with nuclear weapons receive a “bonus”. At the same time, landlocked countries are not downgraded in the ranking, but the limited capabilities of the navy are the basis for reducing the indicators of the state’s military power.
The Ukrainian army took 30th place in GFP-2016. According to the rating, 160 thousand people serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and another 1 million are in reserve. The defense budget of Ukraine is designated as $4.8 billion. According to the GFR, the Ukrainian army is armed with 2809 tanks, 8217 armored combat vehicles, 1302 units of self-propelled artillery, 1669 units of cannon artillery and 625 multiple launch rocket systems. GFP experts also counted 234 combat aircraft, including 39 fighters and 33 attack helicopters. The maritime capabilities of our state are quite modest, which is understandable - one frigate (“Hetman Sahaidachny”), one minesweeper and three “coastal defense” ships.
Ukraine's closest neighbors in the world ranking are Mexico (31st place) and Sweden (29th). The Swedish army has only 120 tanks, and the Mexican army has neither tanks nor attack helicopters. However, Sweden's defense budget is $6.2 billion for a population of almost 10 million, and Mexico's defense budget is $7 billion for a population of 121 million.
Ukraine’s indicators allow it to be in 8th place as the most militarily powerful countries in Europe. Our country is ahead of Switzerland and the Czech Republic, but inferior to Greece. The high European rating of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirms the repeated statements of President Petro Poroshenko that the Ukrainian army is one of the strongest on the continent. And the top three in Europe are the armies of France, Great Britain and Germany.
True, if you look at the ratings of previous years, our army was only losing its position. Thus, according to GFP-2014, the Armed Forces of Ukraine took 21st place in the world, and in 2015 - already 25th. This happened due to a sharp reduction in the number of tanks and aircraft. If in 2014 British experts counted 4,112 tanks and 400 different aircraft in our country, then in 2015 there were already 2,809 and 222, respectively. Such a sharp decline can be explained by the fighting in the Donbass, economic reasons, as well as the illegal annexation of Crimea, where some of the weapons remained. But Ukrainian experts are still surprised by such a sharp drop in the number of weapons and doubt the British data.
CAN YOU TRUST IT?“Only intelligence knows the real combat effectiveness of units and subunits. What kind of digital data the British researchers took there for their analysis is completely unclear,” military expert Yuri Povkh told us.
It is indeed very difficult to verify the data presented by British experts. Information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine is reflected in the annual publication of the Ministry of Defense “White Book. Armed Forces of Ukraine.” The 2016 edition has not yet been released, but in the 2015 White Book the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is indicated at 250 thousand people (the number of military equipment is not mentioned in the 2014 and 2015 editions). Accordingly, the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to the GFP, is at the “pre-war” 2013 level.
Director of the information and consulting company Defense Express Sergei Zgurets believes that the main indicator is the real ability of a country to repel armed aggression. “The optimal evaluation criterion is combat operations. Georgia and Ukraine, which faced Russian aggression, have such experience, Russia itself, which, besides us, “works” in Syria, as well as the United States, which fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ukraine is neither cold nor hot from this rating, because we are still trying to correlate our military power with the threats posed by the Russian side, and are preparing to repel a possible attack in those directions that we consider the most dangerous,” explained Sergei Zgurets.
According to Yuriy Povkh, over the past two and a half years, the Ukrainian army has become stronger: “If earlier any movement of troops was akin to a disaster, now we can easily transfer any brigade from the front line to the training ground and back. Logistics have improved, the soldiers are dressed, shod and provided with ammunition.”
At the same time, Sergei Zgurets remains a skeptic: “Rearmament is not going as fast as we would like. Key problems related to reconnaissance, communications, and the staffing of units with serviceable equipment remained. I would like them to be resolved faster.”
TOP 10 ARMIES OF THE WORLD. According to GFP, the top ten strongest armies in the world include the armed forces of the United States, Russia, China, India, France, Great Britain, Japan, Turkey, Germany and Italy. Italy broke into the top ten only in 2016, knocking out South Korea, which remained in the top 10 in 2014 and 2015.
The top three, represented by the USA, Russia and China, has remained unchanged over the past three years. In particular, in 2016, as in all previous years, the American army takes a huge military budget - $ 581 billion. China is in second place in military spending - $ 155 billion, Russia is in third place - $ 46 billion. The Chinese army is the most numerous - 2.3 million soldiers. This is more than the USA and Russia combined (1.4 million and 766 thousand, respectively). However, the Russian army seriously exceeds the Chinese in terms of the number of armored vehicles and aircraft. In particular, the Russian Armed Forces are armed with almost 46 thousand tanks and armored combat vehicles (three times more than the Chinese) and 3,547 aircraft (in the Chinese army - 2,942). At the same time, the US Army has a powerful navy, which includes 19 aircraft carriers (one for the Chinese and one for the Russians) and the world's largest air fleet - 13,444 different aircraft and helicopters. “The US, Russia and China have the largest armies and spend the most on defense. This explains their leadership in the ranking,” summed up Sergei Zgurets.
Subscribe to the site on Telegram to keep abreast of the most interesting events.
Three years ago, the head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, proposed creating the EU's own army. The initiative found support, but was never implemented. Now this project has a more serious supporter.
The French President once again stated that the EU faces numerous attempts to interfere in internal democratic processes and cyberspace. According to him, Europe must defend itself.
Despite the fact that most European countries are members of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), the Old World does not have its own regular army.
The idea of a unified army is supported by German security ministers and Angela Merkel. The initiative was opposed by the UK and Finland, who noted that defense policy should be the prerogative of the country's leadership, not the alliance.
It is interesting that the regular armies in Europe today are generally small in number, since funding is aimed primarily at the quality of personnel training.
Russia
Russia has the largest army among European countries. The number of active troops is 1,200,000 people. It is armed with more than 2,800 tanks, 10,700 armored vehicles, 2,600 self-propelled guns, and 2,100 towed artillery pieces. Russia also has the largest number of nuclear warheads in the world.
It is also worth noting that Russia's reserve forces number 2,100,000, and paramilitary organizations another 950,000.
Türkiye
Also, Türkiye, which is not a member of the European Union, is the second country in the Old World in terms of the number of active troops. There are 514,850 soldiers on constant combat readiness in Turkey, reserve troops number 380,000, and paramilitary organizations another 148,700 people.
Germany
The third in the overall ranking and the first largest army in the European Union in terms of the number of active troops is stationed in Germany. The regular army has 325,000 soldiers, and the reserve - 358,650. Germany's paramilitary units have only 40,000 people.
France
Following Germany, France is second in the list of the largest armies of the EU countries. These troops number 259,050. The French army reserve is 419,000 and its paramilitary units are 101,400.
Ukraine
The fifth army in the general list of European countries is the armed forces of Ukraine. This country's active forces number 250,000 soldiers. The reserve forces number 720,000 and the paramilitary units number 50,000.
Italy
The sixth among European countries and the third in the European Union is the Italian army, where active troops number 230,350 people, and reserve troops number only 65,200 soldiers. Italy's paramilitary units have 238,800 personnel.
United Kingdom
The UK, which opposed the proposal to create an EU army, has an active army of 187,970 people. The British Army Reserve numbers 233,860. The British Army does not have paramilitary units.
Spain
The eighth army on the list and the fifth in the European Union is located in Spain. It has 177,950 personnel in the active army and 328,500 soldiers in the reserve. Spain's paramilitary forces number 72,600.
Greece
The army of Greece, which, like Spain, has been struggling with the crisis for many years, is almost comparable in size to its counterparts due to economic difficulties. The Greek army has 177,600 active troops and 291,000 reserve soldiers. Paramilitary units have only 4,000 personnel.
Poland
The top ten is completed by the Polish army, whose active troops number 105,000 people, and their reserves number 234,000 soldiers. The paramilitary units have 21,300 soldiers.
The remaining armies of European countries do not exceed 100,000 people.
The difficulties of creating a common army of the European Union lie not only in the financial component, but also in the issue of technical implementation, since, in addition to language differences, there will also be problems of standardization of service conditions, supplies and equipment. However, according to experts, this idea can be implemented, but not in the form of a classical army, but some kind of peacekeeping contingent working on a permanent basis.
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, the closest attention is increasingly being paid to the military power of different countries. Many people ask the question: “Who will win the world war?”
Today we present the annually updated, official ranking of world armies, the full list includes the most powerful armies in the world in 2018.
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.
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 of the best armies in the world. 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. 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 in the 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 capacity in all branches of the military - air, ground and sea. The size of the Russian army for 2018 is 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 terms of numbers, but the most powerful in terms of available weapons, including nuclear potential, which is 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.
The most powerful armies in the world. Russia took second place in it, behind the United States. The first ten countries with the most powerful personnel fit for military service are in the RBC review.
Population: 323.9 million people
145.2 million people, of which 1.3 million are active military personnel
Air Force: 13.7 thousand units of equipment
Ground forces: 5.8 thousand battle tanks
Navy: 415 units of equipment
Military budget:$587.8 billion
Population: 142.3 million people
Personnel fit for military service: 70 million people, of which 798.5 thousand are active military personnel
Air Force: 3.8 thousand units of equipment
Ground forces: 20.2 thousand battle tanks
Navy: 352 units of equipment
Military budget:$44.6 billion
Population: 1.3 billion people
Personnel fit for military service: 750 million people, of which 2.2 million are active military personnel
Air Force: 2.9 thousand units of military equipment
Ground forces: 6.4 thousand battle tanks
Navy: 714 units of military equipment
Military budget:$161.7 billion
Photo: Zahid Hussain Bhat / ZUMA / Global Look Press
Population: 1.2 billion people
Personnel fit for military service: 616 million people, of which 1.3 million are active military personnel
Air Force: 2.1 thousand units of military equipment
Ground forces: 4.4 thousand battle tanks
Navy: 295 units of equipment
Military budget:$51 billion
Photo: Florian David / ZUMA / Global Look Press
Population: 66.8 million people
Personnel fit for military service: 30 million people, including active military personnel — 204 thousand people
Air Force: 1.3 thousand units of military equipment
Ground forces: 406 battle tanks
Navy: 118 units of equipment
Military budget:$35 billion
United Kingdom
Population: 64.4 million people
Personnel fit for military service: 30 million people, of which 151.1 thousand are active military personnel
Air Force: 856 units of equipment
Ground forces: 249 battle tanks
Navy: 76 units of equipment
Military budget:$45.7 billion
Photo: Nicolas Datiche / AFLO / Global Look Press
Population: 126.7 million people
Personnel fit for military service: 54 million people, including active military personnel — 248.5 thousand people
Air Force: 1.5 thousand units of equipment
Ground forces: 700 battle tanks
Navy: 131 units of military equipment
Military budget:$43.8 billion
Photo: Osman Bekleyen / ZUMA / Global Look Press
Population: 80.2 million people
Personnel fit for military service: 41.6 million people, of which 382.8 thousand are active military personnel
Air Force: 1 thousand units of military equipment
Ground forces: 2.4 thousand battle tanks
Navy: 194 units of equipment
Military budget:$8.2 billion
Germany
Population: 80.7 million people
Personnel fit for military service: 37 million people, of which 180 thousand are active military personnel
Air Force: 698 units of military equipment
Ground forces: 543 battle tanks
Navy: 81 units of equipment
Military budget:$39.2 billion
Population: 94.6 million people
Personnel fit for military service: 42 million people, of which 454.2 thousand are active military personnel
Air Force: 1.1 thousand units of military equipment
Ground forces: 4.1 thousand battle tanks
Navy: 319 units of equipment
Military budget:$4.4 billion
