10 most powerful military forces in the world

A recent report on globalisation from Credit Suisse has ranked the world’s top militaries based on the number of active personnel, tanks, aircraft, and submarines they possess.

The report states that the ranking was based on quantitative terms, such as the number of vehicles and personnel, and did not take the quality or readiness of the armed forces into account.

This ranking was then combined with the militaries’ budgets, sourced by Business Insider, to provide an overall picture of the most powerful armed forces in the world.

Ranked from 1 to 10, here are the most powerful military forces in the world.

1. United States

• Budget: $601 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 1,400,000
• Tanks: 8,848
• Total aircraft: 13,892
• Submarines: 72

2. Russia

• Budget: $84.5 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 766,055
• Tanks: 15,398
• Total aircraft: 3,429
• Submarines: 55

3. China

• Budget: $216 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 2,333,000
• Tanks: 9,150
• Total aircraft: 2,860
• Submarines: 67

4. Japan

• Budget: $41.6 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 247,173
• Tanks: 678
• Total aircraft: 1,613
• Submarines: 16

5. India

• Budget: $50 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 1,325,000
• Tanks: 6,464
• Total aircraft: 1,905
• Submarines: 15

6. France

• Budget: $62.3 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 202,761
• Tanks: 423
• Total aircraft: 1,264
• Submarines: 10

7. South Korea

• Budget: $62.3 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 624,465
• Tanks: 2,381
• Total aircraft: 1,412
• Submarines: 13

8. Italy

• Budget: $34 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 320,000
• Tanks: 586
• Total aircraft: 760
• Submarines: 6

9. United Kingdom

• Budget: $60.5 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 146,980
• Tanks: 407
• Total aircraft: 936
• Submarines: 10

10. Turkey

• Budget: $18.2 billion
• Active frontline personnel: 410,500
• Tanks: 3,778
• Total aircraft: 1,020
• Submarines: 13

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