There are over three dozen armies around the world with more than 100,000 soldiers. Large and strong armies are the sign of a powerful nation as many countries spend lots of their annual revenue on their armies and provide them the most modern and latest technology to fight any critical situation.
The complete Global Firepower list puts the military powers of the world into full perspective. Armies are ranked based on multiple factors including available manpower, total labour force and access to strategic assets. Nuclear capabilities are not included in the calculation.
In first place stands the United States with a defense budget of US$ 577 bil. Arguably, the U.S. has the world's largest army, combining the troops of the US Army and the US Marine Corps (active Frontline Personal: 1.4 mil., active Reserve Personal: 1.1 mil.) The United States spends 39% of the total military expenditure in the whole world.
Second place is currently held by Russia. The Kremlin’s military spending has increased by almost a third since 2008 and is expected to grow by 44% in the next three years. Today, the Russian defense budget stands at US$ 60 bil. Russia currently has 766,000 active frontline personnel with a reserve force of 2,485,000 personnel.
In third position is China with its staggering army (2.28 mil. active frontliners and an additional 2.3 mil. reserves). The largest importer of military goods is India.
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