The United States
With military bases in many parts of the world, the US armed forces remain the most powerful of any on the globe.
In 2022, China had the largest armed forces in the world by active duty military personnel, with about 2 million active soldiers. India, the United States, North Korea, and Russia rounded out the top five largest armies respectively, each with over one million active military personnel.
And a significant level of their spending does not appear "on the public books." Overall, in terms of resources, the U.S. has an advantage, but it is not as overwhelming as it appears. In terms of simple numbers of warships, China is already leading the U.S., roughly 350 to 300, in combat vessels.
Interestingly, the top 2 places were taken by the US Air Force and US Navy, followed by the Russian Air Force, US Army Aviation, and US Marine Corps. The list is followed by the Indian and Chinese (PLAAF) Air Force.
The United States in comparison, has significantly less - 1.4 million - but when assessing the overall power of the world's military forces, the U.S. comes out on top, ahead of Russia and China in second and third, respectively.
1. The US Navy SEALs is arguably the top special operations force. Created in 1962, the Sea-Air-Land operators go through years of training and, especially after 9/11, endure an incredible operation tempo. Many foreign militaries base their special ops on the SEALs.
The combined total of Nato military personnel currently exceeds 5.4m – around four times as many as Russia, according to Statista.
The U.S. Armed Forces has significant capabilities in both defense and power projection due to its large budget, resulting in advanced and powerful technologies which enables a widespread deployment of the force around the world, including around 800 military bases outside the United States.
The United States of America maintains the strongest Air Force in the world by an impressive margin. As of late 2021, the United States Air Force (USAF) is composed of 5217 active aircraft, making it the largest, the most technologically advanced, and the most powerful air fleet in the world.
1. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The Us Airforce came into being on September 11, 1947.
The OG symbol of American air power, the F-15 has been launched in various upgrades over the years, with the F-15 EX being the latest version, Boeing is trying to pitch to the Indian Air Force. It is also the only fighter jet in the world to score more than 100 air-to-air kills and experience no air-to-air losses.
Russia possesses an estimated 5,977 nuclear warheads as of 2022, the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world; the second-largest stockpile is the United States' 5,428 warheads. Russia's deployed missiles (those actually ready to be launched) number about 1,588, second to the United States' 1,644.
Americans could face a decisive military defeat… Put bluntly, the U.S. military could lose the next state-versus-state war it fights.” These findings suggest that, in a pitched battle with a near-peer adversary such as China, American forces may be defeated even if its commanders don't make any mistakes.
Geographic feasibility. Many experts have considered the US impossible to invade because of its major industries, reliable and fast supply lines, large geographical size, geographic location, population size, and difficult regional features.
In terms of submarines, China just edges out Russia by 79 to 70. Russia maintains the upper hand in the air, boasting just over 4,000 aircraft to China's 3,200, according to Global Firepower, of which Russia had 739 dedicated attack aircraft to China's 371.
Army Chief General MM Naravane today said that India will "come out victorious" in case of war with China. The Army Chief, however, said that war stays only as an "instrument of last resort". Army Chief General MM Naravane today said that India will "come out victorious" in case of war with China.
China wields by far the world's largest military, with 2.8 million soldiers, sailors and airmen—twice the American number. (The United States is number two; the only other countries with more than a million active duty troops are China's neighbors—Russia, India and North Korea.)
The force has grown from 13,000 troops to 40,000 since 2014, with many of those based along the alliance's eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south.
It is the largest military branch, and in the fiscal year 2020, the projected end strength for the Regular Army (USA) was 480,893 soldiers; the Army National Guard (ARNG) had 336,129 soldiers and the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) had 188,703 soldiers; the combined-component strength of the U.S. Army was 1,005,725 soldiers.