The US spends most on its military, both per capita and total. Its Navy has the largest and most aircraft carriers in the world with 11 full-sized carriers (counting the new USS Gerald R. Ford) and 8 “helicopter carriers” in service. Its Air Force flies the largest and most technologically advanced air fleet in the world which is just a little larger than the U.S. Navy’s air fleet.

Russia

If it comes to the military, it is hard to find a better example than Russia. Despite a fact of its small economy it manufactures a large amount of military hardware and is the second largest exporter in the world after the U.S. This allows it to field about 3,800 planes, 5,600 armored vehicles including tanks, and 282 warships (counting everything from its aircraft carrier to small logistics vessels). It’s currently trying to develop the T-14 Armata. If successful, that would be the world’s most advanced tank, boasting active protection systems, an auto-loader, and nearly unbeatable armor.

China

China is the country with the most population of 1.4 billion and its largest military population at 3.7 million with 2.2 million of those being active troops. Those millions of men and women are equipped with 3000 aircraft, 13000 armored vehicles, and 714 ships.

India

India has a large number of troops but those are largely reserved personnel. It has 11, 000 armored vehicles but it has relatively small navy and air force. It has 2.4 million troops reserved and 1.4 million active. But some of those joint ventures are paying off. While India’s Sukhoi planes purchased from Russia have repeatedly run into problems, the country is also working with Russia to perfect a fifth-generation fighter and a supersonic cruise missile that could be carried by submarines, planes, and vehicles.

Japan

Japan maintains a self-defense force on both offense and defense. It has the 4^th largest submarine force and 4 small aircraft carriers frequently called-helicopter carriers as well as homegrowns tanks and aircraft and imported weapons like the U.S. Apache, Japan has a varied and capable collection of military hardware. It has less than 1,600 aircraft, 4,000 armored vehicles, and only about 130 ships. All of that is manned by a little over 300,000 troops.

The Correspondent Bureau

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