The folks at Global Firepower have figured out a way to rank who has the most powerful military.
They measure 40 different stats about a country, including number of aircraft characters, available manpower, and labor force, to produce a “Power Index,” in which lower numbers equal more firepower.
Note: Nuclear capabilities are not included in this calculation — but Russia and the United States far outpace the rest of the world in nuclear armament, with 8,500 and 7,700 nuclear weapons, respectively.
10. Brazil
Defense Budget: $31,576,000,000
Active Military Personnel: 371,199
Labor Force: 104,700,000
Total Aircraft: 822
Total Naval Strength: 106
9. Italy
Power Index: 0.6838
Defense Budget: $31,946,000,000
Active Military Personnel: 293,202
Labor Force: 25,080,000
Total Aircraft: 770
Total Naval Strength: 179
8. South Korea
Defense Budget: $28,280,000,000
Active Military Personnel: 653,000
Labor Force: 25,100,000
Total Aircraft: 871
Total Naval Strength: 190
7. Germany
Defense Budget: $43,478,000,000
Active Military Personnel: 148,996
Labor Force: 43,620,000
Total Aircraft: 925
Total Naval Strength: 67
6. France
Defense Budget: $58,244,000,000
Active Military Personnel: 362,485
Labor Force: 29,610,000
Total Aircraft: 544
Total Naval Strength: 180
5. The United Kingdom
Defense Budget: $57,875,170,000
Active Military Personnel: 224,500
Labor Force: 31,720,000
Total Aircraft:1,412
Total Naval Strength: 77
4. India
Power Index: 0.4346
Defense Budget: $44,282,000,000
Active Military Personnel: 1,325,000
Labor Force: 487,600,000
Total Aircraft: 1,962
Total Naval Strength: 170
3. China
Defense Budget: $129,272,000,000
Active Military Personnel: 2,285,000
Labor Force: 795,500,000
Total Aircraft:5,048
Total Naval Strength: 972
2. Russia
Power Index: 0.2618
Defense Budget: $64,000,000,000
Active Military Personnel: 1,200,000
Labor Force: 75,330,000
Total Aircraft: 4,498
Total Naval Strength: 224
1. United States
Power Index: 0.2475
Defense Budget: $689,591,000,000
Active Military Personnel: 1,477,896
Labor Force: 153,600,000
Total Aircraft: 15,293
Total Naval Strength: 290
- Business Insider
