Brian Jones
As a Marine Corps veteran, I would like to point out that there’s more to military prowess than firepower. There’s no statistic for leadership, no metric for the stuff they pump into you at Parris Island.
But firepower matters … a lot.
In a world rife with global conflicts, the ability to project power and wield that power decisively is an important national security and diplomatic asset.
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
Power Index: 0.6912
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
Power Index: 0.6547
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
Power Index: 0.6491
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
Power Index: 0.6163
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
Power Index: 0.5185
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
Power Index: 0.3351
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