There’s been much discussion and debate about our original article about the Top 10 Armies in the World. First written in 2010, we’ve been updating it ever since.
Nearly every country in the world has its own army to protect its interests against internal and external enemies. Most countries like to boast of their military prowess, often claiming to be one of the strongest in the world. Not all can actually back that claim with data and numbers
In an effort to quantify the rankings of the top military forces in the world, we analyzed data on over sixty countries. We based this on the most recent data available at GlobalFirepower. This includes the size of defense budget, number of active military members, tanks and armored vehicles, aircraft and helicopters, and number of naval craft.
Additionally, we considered nuclear capability and recent operations, the latter meaning that the army actually has live combat experience.
We then assigned a weight to each of these components, and finally calculated an overall score for each country. In most places, this differs from the country’s GlobalFirepower rank.
After the calculations were completed, the top ten armies in the world became easily visible as the most powerful militaries in the world.
Most of these armies were involved in the major conflicts of the modern world. Notably, these include World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Additionally, many were involved in conflicts fighting for their own country’s independence.
The Turkish Army dates back more than 2,000 years, though the modern day military branches were founded in 1920. With a force of over 730 and a budget of close to $19 billion, it is solidly in the top ten military powers in the world.
It ranks fourth on the list for tanks and armored vehicles, estimated at just over 11,000. Ground forces are additionally supported by an outsize artillery. Out of the nations on this list, Turkey is currently the only without nuclear capability.
With very few exceptions, military service is required of all male citizens after the age of twenty, contributing to the large force and reserve size. After the U.S. and ahead of France, it is the second largest ground force in NATO.
The Turkish Army was involved in the Korean War, recurrent internal Kurdish conflicts, the division of Cyprus, and recently Syria. Its largest conflict to date, however, was the Turkish Independence War. In this confrontation, it fought Russia, Britain, Greece, France and Italy along its borders. It was one of the few larger powers to remain neutral until almost the end of World War II.
The British Armed Forces were organized in 1661 and have been involved in various conflicts including the Napoleonic Wars, Revolutionary War and both world wars. In fact, only 22 countries in the world were never invaded by British forces.
The British Army has had a significant presence in Northern Ireland and the Balkans. It stood beside the United States in the Gulf War in the 1990s. The army is a powerful force in the ongoing Global War on Terrorism after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The active duty force of the British military is over 190,000 strong, making it the second largest army in the European Union behind France. The U.K. has a defense budget of over $51 billion annually. Of the top ten military powers, it has the smallest number of active duty members but the fourth-largest budget, behind only the U.S., China, and India.
There are three branches of service. These are the Royal Navy, the British Army proper and the Royal Air Force, also known as RAF.
With nearly 750 aircraft and helicopters and around 5,500 tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery, it is a viable force and an unwavering ally of the United States.
The Pakistan Armed Forces were founded in 1947, and comprises three service branches. It succeeded the former British Indian Army after the country gained independence the same year.
Pakistan’s military history includes recurrent conflicts with its bordering neighbors of Afghanistan and India, the Gulf War and Mogadishu, Somalia in the early 90s.
The country is part of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC). As such, it has been active against ISIL and other terrorist groups. Pakistan has also served as an ally to the United States in the Global War on Terrorism. It assisted in the fight against both Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and along its borders.
At the same time, the army maintains close ties with the Chinese military.
This volunteer army consists of an active duty force of over 650,000 personnel. Additional reserve forces are another 550,000 strong. Together, they make the Pakistan Armed Forces into one of the largest armies in the world.
Pakistan’s defense budget is around $11.5 billion. This may be the smallest budget of the top ten military powers, but still far exceeds the defense budget of most other countries around the world.
While on par with U.K. for naval craft, Pakistan boasts several hundred more aircraft and helicopters, over 9,000 tanks and armored vehicles, and a much larger amount of artillery pieces.
Israel maintains a conscript army. It is the only country in the world that requires military service from both male and female citizens with few exceptions.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were founded in 1948, but trace their roots to several paramilitary organizations active against the British while they held Palestine. Today, the IDF maintains an active duty force of over 170,000. In comparison, its reserves are enormous, evaluated at around 450,000.
Its fleet is fairly small, but the IDF can field considerable airpower and over 13,000 tanks and armored vehicles.
The Israeli military history includes the Arab-Israel War, the Six-Day War and numerous conflicts with Lebanon, the annexed Palestine, and frequent operations against Iran. As a whole, it is one of the most battle-tested armies of the world.
The United States remains one of Israel’s largest and closest allies, giving the IDF preferential access to new military technology. Israel’s defense budget clocks in at fully $20 billion.
Since its struggles during the World Wars, France does no longer enjoy the reputation of a military superpower. These perceptions aside, the numbers tell a different story.
France has a military of over 360,000 strong across the army, navy, air and space force and paramilitary branches. This makes it the largest army in the European Union by numbers. It is unique in letting foreign nationals serve in its forces – in the notorious and elite Foreign Legion. Unusually, the country’s police also form part of the French Armed Forces.
Compared to its one-time hereditary rival, the British Armed Forces, it commands more craft across almost all categories. The exception are some naval classes and artillery pieces. Its budget, however, is smaller than the U.K.’s, at $41 billion.
The North Korean People’s Army was established in 1939 and has an impressive size of more than 1,250,000 soldiers. When reserve unit numbers are added to this, estimates are more than seven million soldiers could be activated if needed. This makes the North Korean forces potentially the largest in the world.
Major conflicts in North Korea’s history are the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Tensions between North and South Korea still exist today. Technically, the conflict is a frozen one – it never officially ended between the two.
Its defense budget, at $1.6 billion, is nominally small. Much of its economy, however, is prepared for military use along a total war doctrine. Additionally, North Korea is a relatively close, though erratic, ally of China.
North Korea has confirmed its nuclear and chemical weapons capability in recent years with threats against various countries. This especially includes the United States, mainly for its alliance with South Korea. Over the last decade, it has also emerged as a cyber-war force to be reckoned with.
The Indian Army’s roots go back, with only minor interruptions, to the Stone Age. Today, it is the largest all-volunteer ground force in the world with nearly 1.5 million active duty soldiers. Reserves make up a force an additional 2 million strong.
India has never had to institute a draft to staff its ground force. The Indian Army – overlapping with the British Indian Army – was active in both world wars. Subsequently, the Indian Armed Forces fought in conflicts for the country’s own independence. Border skirmishes with Pakistan are common in its history.
The Indian military consists of three branches as well as several paramilitary units, and operates on a budget of more than $61 billion. While its aircraft and helicopter as well as tank and armored vehicle numbers rank it solidly in the middle of the list, it has a relatively small naval fleet. India also has more than eighty nuclear warheads in its possession.
Russia has undergone numerous changes throughout its military history. This history dates back all the way to 863. The modern day army – the Russian Ground Force – arose in 1992, following on the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Previous Russian military organizations, including the Red Army, saw combat in regional conflicts, both World Wars and numerous Cold War operations. Before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was one of two superpowers in the world. By this point, it had surpassed the United States both in terms of the number of soldiers and nuclear weapons.
The Russian Ground Force draws its soldiers through a military draft. In principle, all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 33 serve for a period of 12 months. There are, however, many reasons for exception and deferral, and bribery is common.
Russia currently has over 1.2 million active duty military members and 2 million in reserves. It operates under a comparatively slim budget of more than $48 billion dollars. In terms of finances, only India, China and the U.S. are bigger spenders. Though its air force and ground capabilities are larger than China’s, the latter has been gaining rapidly, and China possesses a larger navy.
Russia also has the largest number of nuclear warheads in the world – nearly 8,000. This stock, though, is aging, and not all of it is combat-ready.
The People’s Liberation Army of China is the largest military in the world in absolute numbers. It numbers nearly 2.2 million soldiers, with a reserve over 500,000 strong. After significant cuts in forces a decade ago, numbers are again increasing.
The Chinese Army arose in 1927. It was active in the Sino-Japanese conflict, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
While technically service is a necessity for all men over the age of 18, China has never had to draft soldiers. There have always been more than enough Chinese men who have volunteered for military service to their country.
It has the second largest defense budget, at nearly $240 billion – a full $100 billion more than a decade ago. This corresponds roughly to the combined budget of all previous countries on this list. It also houses nuclear weapons, with estimates putting the number at around 350.
The United States military’s history dates back to 1775, where it arose out of rebel forces fighting the Revolutionary War. With over 1.4 million on active duty, it now has the third largest active duty force ranking behind China and India.
However, the defense budget is what really sets the U.S. apart from all other countries on the list. With a budget of over $750 billion, it exceeds all other military budgets on this list combined by nearly $250 billion, and China’s by over $500 billion.
The U.S. Army and its special forces have participated in every major world war, the Korean War, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, and leads the Global War on Terrorism.
The modern day Army is an all-volunteer force, though drafts have been used for long periods. It maintains numerous permanent posts throughout the United States as well as Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Japan, Korea, and other countries.
Ranking only behind Russia in the total number of warheads, the U.S. has the largest number of active warheads in the world.
The U.S. also has the largest number of aircraft and helicopters by far with just under 14,000. It’s still comfortably ahead of China in the number of tanks and armored vehicles. Its air dominance also shows in its fleet, which is smaller than China’s, but features numerous aircraft carriers and supporting craft.
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I am pakistani , but no doubt neither deny the fact
USA is super power and can ruin any of the power , which crush the russia via cold war, pak-> afghan etc
whose doing work out to arab countries, who did it to japan
and who u cant survive if attacked.
pakistan, india , and any other 3rd world country
is just a puppet and usa monoply is the master of world in using any one of u the way they want
i wonder how good it is to be called as American;
SAD BUT TRUE
Hey, keep your head up! Pakistan is probably a top 5 country now, or will be very soon, once the India thing gets sorted out. USA really isn't that strong, sure they beat Russia, but remember, they trained the Taliban to fight along side them then, and now the Taliban are beating them, so its more of a Taliban superiority. For the arab countries, Nato is just outnumbering the rest, like the Gulf war was really one sided, and Japan was too (technology won, not military.) But yeah, you are right, all the countries now are just a puppet of either USA or Russia/China.
P.S. Its not good at all to be called an American. I'm Canadian and the Americans have ruined us too >.>
Mr. Andrew!
Don't forget that Pakistan is the real one who broke the USSR.
Pak-USSR war was won by Pakistan so in actual it should have the status of disintegrating it.
Hello Abbas, What do you think about your country. Your govt cannot protect the people from bomb blasts.
hello abbas me again....
Pak-USSR war??????? I never heard of it....... and Pakistan beat Soviets?????
Yeah you are really a silly fool aren't you????
I am telling you again first know your history man... !!@@@!
wtf...so u think the birthplace of terrorism should be on #5?
well tis is ridiculous annexing and ruling are two other things. see Americans are running from Afghanistan after conceeding defeat . Be proud of your country to whichever country you belong every country has problems , U.S.A.' ecconomy is in shambles unemployement is historic high at 7% even more than India or Pakistan . You could be perplexed on the fact but see that Indain or Pakistani citizens can take manual work but Americans won't because there living standards are high . Suppose in our countries Car is a luxury but there it is a neccissity. Some reports have said that whole of the (current)employable generation will be lost in U.S.A . Moreover crime rate in U.S. is one of the highest. Lastly, Grass is always greener on the other side.(Deliberate)
I'm afraid this info is uncomplete. The author did not respect the Polish troops from the time they were the best in the world.
Invariably, whenever most people talk about the military prowess of the Polish cavalry, some joker busts out with some intelligent, well-constructed argument that vaguely resembles something along the order of "YA RITE HOW BOUT CHARGIN NAZI TANKS W HORSIES FTW LOLOLOL OMG I”M HILARIOUS SOMEBODY LOVE ME PLS". Well not only are the wild claims of that infamous engagement dubious at best, but it's time that the Polish cavalry – and particularly the Winged Hussars – get appropriately recognized as one of the most eye-skeweringly hardcore associations of asskickers ever assembled. These daring, brave, unabashedly-feathered badasses crushed throats up and down Europe for two centuries, annihilating battle-tested armies three times their size with nothing more than a huge-ass lance, an awesome set of ultra-cool wings, and a gym bag full of iron-plated armor ballsacks.
The hussars as we know them first show up on the scene in the early 16th century as part of a hammer-smashing army of stone-cold motherfuckers under the Hungarian King Stefan Bathory. Bathory (who fought the Turks alongside Vlad the Impaler and was an ancestor of the infamous virgin-cidal blood countess and psychopath Elizabeth Bathory), basically levied the cavalry force by conscripting one out of every twenty Polish and Lithuanian peasants to strap on a pair of wings and a suit of heavy armor and start piercing the faces of anyone stupid enough to step to Eastern Europe. Over the next two hundred years, these ordinary dudes morphed into a ten-ton anvil of pointy justice that would go up against some of the toughest armies the world had to offer and completely fuck them inside out.
I'M IN UR TOWN TORCHIN UR HUTS
The combat record of the Winged Hussars stands for itself. In 1577 a massive charge of this ultra-heavy cavalry unit smashed a German army from Danzig, blitzing into the teeth of a 12,000 man force and crushing them until all that remained was a well-trampled patch of red where the enemy army once used to be. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth losses in the battle totaled about 88 men, and most of those clowns weren't even Hussars. In 1601, a thousand Hussars defeated a Swedish cavalry force four times that size. At the Battle of Kircholm four years later, the Hussars (whose commanders' completely badass motto was "Kill First, Calculate Later"), sent 1,000 lancers in a charge against 11,000 Swedish infantrymen and cannons for some reason, and incredibly, despite the ridiculous idiocy of sending your elite troops on such an impossible mission, the friggin' Hussars jammed their poles (OMG AWESOME PUN FTW) into anything they could find and not only emerged victorious, but utterly slaughtered their opponents army, hacking the broken infantry units into giblets as they fled the field. Amazingly, that wasn't even the most impressive shit this mobile last stand accomplished in its proud heritage as the Commonwealth's premier exporter of busted-up faces. At the Battle of Klushino in 1610, the Hussars were outnumbered ten to one, and still somehow came out on top, utterly annihilating an army of 40,000 Swedes and Russians with just 4,000 lancers.
What might be even more awesome then the Winged Hussars' much-deserved reputation as seemingly-invincible shit-wreckers is their completely over-the-top awesome battle gear. These guys went with the heaviest armor they could find, decking themselves out in fully-articulated plate mail at a time when most European armies were switching away from breastplates and over to firearms, but these ferocious warriors didn't even give a crap about rushing at state-of-the-art muskets with hand-to-hand combat weapons. Their primary implement of facial demolition was a lightweight (yet still completely insane) 19-foot lance capable of outreaching even the most well-endowed infantry spear hedges, and after they splintered that up the asses of their foes, the Hussars could fall back on pistols, a dagger, and one of two different types of swords. Why they needed two different swords is beyond the scope of my knowledge, but I'm pretty sure that I support it.
While the badass weaponry and armor was unquestionably utilitarian, the Winged Hussars also went that extra mile to ensure that they were armor-crappingly terrifying while charging ahead in perfect formation. Their armor was burnished and well-polished so that it gleamed in the sunlight (most Renaissance-era knights preferred black armor because it was more resistant to rust), they wore brightly-colored heraldry, and OH YEAH they also had giant-ass fucking wings strapped onto their backs. These wings, which were made of ostrich or eagle feathers glued onto wooden frames that arched up and over the back, made an insane whistling noise while the Hussars were charging, completely unsettling, terrifying, and overawing the enemy in the brief moments between when they said, "holy shit WTF" and when they had a kebab skewer jammed into their eye sockets at about a hundred and twenty miles per hour. Some of the Hussars also used to up the "wow factor" by stuffing severed heads down the tips of their weapons and charging into battle with a lance-full of heads, which sounds pretty gnarly.
The hussars were also super-well-trained, capable of changing directions and altering their formations in mid-charge, and then plowing through their enemy, circling around, and hitting them again from the rear. In case you've never seen footage of a well-executed cavalry charge before, this is kind of like the equine equivalent of the Blue Angels doing all of their trademark death-defying stunts while in the middle of a dogfight. I don't care who you are, this has to kind of fuck with your head a little.
Hello,could u plz stop this INDIA PAKISTAN thing?
i am an indian who wants peace to the world!
Dear pakistanians,stop spending billions in military and spend it for your people and eradicate terrsm. And same thing to us indians,we are never gonna attack pak. until there is some serious things!
And if its sure for me that India is far better than Pakistan!
jai hindh.....no one dare us.......even our grandma has the ability to kill u guys........i
The world has reached the mars and exploring the universe but u poor ppl are still fighting who is the best among indianz and Pakistanis?? Look guys any one of us who belongs to any of the two state has a potential to die for its motherland so wake up from the dreams ov deatroying or erraedicating any one of the state out ov the map.. India has tried this since the beginning ov Pak but plZ grow up now.. bcz indianz faild in their attempts even when they attacked pak just after the year of its formation...we survived and we ll survive until end of the world.. And indianz b sure that if u criticise my country by calling it a land ov terrorist then yeah i can call ur one a land of rapists... As all indians r not like that in the same way we Pakiz are not terrorist it is merely a group ov ppl..so plz stop comnting negatively and be +ve indianz and paks too and ash neither u nor ur grandmamaz r papas can destroy my Pak so plz grow up sis :) try to spread love not hatred :) the glorious history and monuments u r proud of in ur country are mostly made by mughalz muslim... Taj mahal is bcoz ov us.. Britishers were attractd toward sbcntinent bcoz ov uss.. So plz dnt try to devalue us.. :) i ll not boast r try to devalue ur state as u did to mine i only want u to realize be good to us we both are neighbours and should respect each ither.. We asians can appear as a gr8 power stronger that of USA if we stop developing -ve issues and hatred 4 each other... Sme msg for stop developing -ve issues and hatred 4 each other... Same msg for pakiZ too may Allah bless us all :)
how come taj mahal bcz of you people,mughals were ARABS's .....according to me you mean to say muslims.....what the hell are you trying to create here.....war of religions?
hello Ayesha....
yeah in India recently rapes are happening, but unlike your country we put rapist in the jail not the girl who got raped.... And know your history first.... don't read books from your pakistan schools ar colleges read some good and international books and increase your knowledge... and remember INDIA never attacked Pakistan first.. it reacted only after PAK attacked ... OK???...
I don't hate Pakistan.. I hate your leaders and Indian leaders too....
But I don't agree with you that moguls are Pakistanis... and all Muslims are Pakistanis...
And I heard from people when I am in Saudi and UAE that Arabs don't like Pakistanis...
They won't even think that you are equal to them..
any way my suggestion is Know your history first....
Well this is ridiculous that u call muslims pakistanis .Our nuke was developed by A.P.J. Abdul kalam, Mughals were as Indians as anybody else, Jahangir said"If there is heaven it is here ,it is here in Hindustan"(Well I do not see anywhere Pakistan).No religion can combine a country if that was so Arabs would not have been divided in so many countries. I can vouch for Muslims that they are as Indians as any other community. I have many Muslim friends who love their country as I do.
we indians are the best! and remember 1 thing, the day we will complete ourselvs.. there will be no one to defeat us....
we r good wid good, and very good wid bad!!!
All the Indians claiming to be nice to Muslims in India in a blatant lie. The truth is that India brought down the Babri Mosque, India slaughtered the Muslims in Gujrat and the list goes on and on. Every single day India is taking away the rights of Muslims in India and they claim to be the most secular and democratic country in the world.
India is a most fake state that has ever existed in the world backed by US, Hindu and Jewish Zionists. The economic boom is also a short term bubble that will come down like a house of cards.
Here is a video that all the Indians should watch. It shows the real face of Hindus and state of Muslims in India http://m.youtube.com/?reload=3&rdm=mopqwg6p6#/watch?v=Fy6wjvx9OOE
Sucker are u trying to start communal violence? and i dont think polish ppl like u
Don't try to jeopardize our Internal security , our intelligence agencies are watching and remember we have extradition treaty with Poland unless this is from pakistani terrorisr agencies.
Pakistan, means Land of Pure. Today, Just because of Political instability it is not that much pure but I can sure that one day surely its leaders would swipe out all the filth.
My fellow brothers!
Just look up the history of Islam, that is the history of muslims neutrally and then try to match it with history of Pakistan.
When Islam came into being, at a time idol worshipers of Makkah were cruel with its followers.They were involved in persecution against muslims so muslims migrated to Madinah. ( here, just note, when Pakistan and India got Independence, Hindus who are actually idol worshipers in the same way
were cruel with muslims so the migration occurs of muslims to Pakistan. They all left India just because of Persecution)
Later, The battles fought with Cruel Makkans were 3 that are Badr, Uhud and Khandhak. Muslims won first one and the third one with the lost in Uhud. ( In the same way, Pakistan and India had 3 battles, I think so. 1965, 1971 and Kargil war. Pakistan won actually 1965 and the Kargil but lost in 1971 with the formation of Bangladesh)
Afterwards, Muslims attacked Makkah and got its control. In the same way I think one day Pakistan would also attack India and shall get its control. Inshallah! It will certainly occur.
No need to fight on the Internet my fellow Indians. Pakistan's victory and India's lost is obvious in later years.
hahaha....
India won all 3 wars not pakistan google it, you will understand.and pakistan suffered major losses.Rest leave.
hello abbas me again...!!!!
>>>Pakistan and India had 3 battles, I think so. 1965, 1971 and Kargil war. Pakistan won actually 1965 and the Kargil but lost in 1971 with the formation of Bangladesh..
Facts:
In 1965, PaK attacked india and occupied some are in Kashmir as we know it as POK
and Indian army retaliated and attacked PAK back and almost reached Lahore... then Pakistan
with the help of USA put pressure on INDIA through UN for cease fire... so stale mate...
Many Military observers around the world felt that India clearly won the war.... but India airforce faced more losses than PAF.
TIME magazine reported that India held 690 mi2 of Pakistan territory while Pakistan held 250 mi2 of Indian territory in Kashmir and Rajasthan. Additionally, Pakistan had lost almost half its armour temporarily.[77] The article further elaborates,
Severely mauled by the larger Indian armed forces, Pakistan could continue the fight only by teaming up with Red China and turning its back on the U.N.
And in Kargil war... how can you say that you won... Pakistan never agreed that, thos insurgents were pakistani army officials.... even you people didn't took the dead bodies of your soldiers....
you fool.... I know that you want to project your country as powerful and great... it is common.
but don't give false info... You need to learn more about history (politically , economically ...)
As far as i know lying is a crime in Islam . I do not say anything just read Tashkent agreement' paper you will know for yourself who won the war of 1965. Rest about 1999 pakistani terrorists intruded into kargil and currently kargil is in Indian territory and there wasn't any armistice either. But if you call an army which runs ,and surrenders from the intruded territory, a winner then that is a different story.
Am I proud to be American? No. Why? Because it's not a skill, it's not something I earned, I just am.
Am I proud of my country? Yes and no. Proud of what we have accomplished yet ashamed about things we have done.
Do I think we are the best in the world? No, but I'd rather live here than any where else just like many of you would say about your countries. The arguing and bickering is just childish, yet so lovely to watch. Do I really think our army is the best? No.
Great man..i apreciate you.. We should love our country it is must but yeah it is wrong to support ur govt in their wrong and brutual decissions.. I like that u realize that USA has made mistakes critical ones and half of the world hate her... We all should have a power to discourage the wrong..great.. Love 4 motherland is natural and we have it in our blood i know u would not like me talking abt urz one like that but i condmn america and more my govt 4 some worst acts..... God bless u
America will kick everyone's a*s if you look at are military spending it makes all other countries look puny. Look what happened to Japan when they messed with the U.S they got bombed, the basta*ds deserved it after siding with Hitler and attacking us at Pearl Harbor.
Look at all you people, look at what your talking about, war, not some computer game , war is Real, people die, families are torn apart. Hell even me who served in the US army felt bad after every Iraqi and Vietnamese I killed, but you people talk about spreading your religion by force! What kind of barbaric people are you? You say that islam will take over even by force and that your country is the best. Well listen here bub, the united states of america wont go down without one hell of a fight, remember that, when we save women and children from those oppresive extremists I pull the trigger and dont let go because Ive seen what vile acts the taliban has done. So dont you F****** forget the USA is gonna kick your hairy Muslim ass even if I have to go there and do it myself.