Top 20 Strongest Militaries in the world 2024

What are the strongest militaries in the world?

Here are the top 20 strongest militaries in the world

The list of the strongest armies in the world was sourced from Businessinder

Top 20 strongest militaries in the world

1	United States
2	Russia
3	China
4	Japan
5	India
6	France
7	South Korea
8	Italy
9	United Kingdom
10	Turkey
11	Paksitan
12	Egypt
13	Taiwan
14	Israel
15	Australia
16	Thailand
17	Poland
18	Germany
19	Indonesia
20	Canada

Top 20 Strongest Militaries in the world 2024

20) Canada

Budget: $15.7 billion
Active frontline personnel: 92,000
Tanks: 181
Total aircraft: 420
Submarines: 4

The Canadian Armed Forces are a professional volunteer force that consists of approximately 68,000 active personnel and 27,000 reserve personnel, with a sub-component of approximately 5,000 Canadian Rangers.

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 The armed forces currently has over 3000 personnel deployed overseas in multiple operations, such as Operation Snowgoose in Cyprus, Operation Unifier supporting Ukraine, Operation Caribbe in the Caribbean Sea, and Operation Impact as part of military intervention against ISIL

Canada ended up at the bottom of the list due to the country’s small number of active personnel, its lack of aircraft carriers and attack helicopters, and its small number of tanks and submarines. However, Canada has still taken part in US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and it is a member of the NATO military alliance.

Canada is also a partner in the US F-35 program, although it may decline the purchase of F-35s depending upon the outcome of elections in October. Canada has one of the strongest militaries in the world

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19) Indonesia

Budget: $6.9 billion
Active frontline personnel: 476,000
Tanks: 468
Total aircraft: 405
Submarines: 2

The Indonesian military placed above Canada due its high numbers of active personnel and its relatively large number of tanks. The military, however, suffers from a lack of carriers and aircraft, as well as a minute number of submarines.

it comprises approximately 395,500 military personnel including the Indonesian Marine Corps (Korps Marinir RI), which is a branch of the Navy.

Initially formed with the name of the People’s Security Army (TKR), then later changed to the Republic of Indonesia Army (TRI) before changing again its name to the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) to the present.

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18) Germany

Budget: $40.2 billion
Active frontline personnel: 179,046
Tanks: 408
Total aircraft: 663
Submarines: 4

The Bundeswehr  is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part, the military part consisting of the German Army, the German Navy, the German Air Force, the Joint Support Service, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service.

The Bundeswehr had a strength of 183,638 active-duty military personnel and 81,318 civilians, placing it among the 30 largest military forces in the world, and making it the second largest in the European Union behind France. In addition, the Bundeswehr has approximately 30,050 reserve personnel. With German military expenditures at $56.0 billion, It has one of the strongest militaries in the world

17) Poland

Budget: $9.4 billion
Active frontline personnel: 120,000
Tanks: 1,009
Total aircraft: 467
Submarines: 5

In accordance with the Homeland Defence Act, enacted as a response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland plans to increase its active military personnel to over 300,000 by the end of 2023, and more than double its spending in 2023, with a projected budget of over US$30 billion

16) Thailand

Budget: $5.39 billion
Active frontline personnel: 306,000
Tanks: 722
Total aircraft: 573
Submarines: 0

The nominal head of the Thai Armed Forces is the King of Thailand. The armed forces are managed by the Ministry of Defense of Thailand, which is headed by the minister of defence and commanded by the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, which in turn is headed by the Chief of Defence Forces. The commander in chief of the Royal Thai Army is considered the most powerful position in the Thai Armed Forces.

15) Australia

Budget: $26.1 billion
Active frontline personnel: 58,000
Tanks: 59
Total aircraft: 408
Submarines: 6

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organization responsible for the defense of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and several “tri-service” units. The ADF has a strength of just over 85,000 full-time personnel and active reservists and is supported by the Department of Defence and several other civilian agencies Australia is among the 20 strongest militaries in the world

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14) Israel

Budget: $17 billion
Active frontline personnel: 160,000
Tanks: 4,170
Total aircraft: 684
Submarines: 5

n absolute terms, Israel has a small military. But with mandatory military service a large percentage of the Israeli population is militarily ready. With a past history of being surrounded by aggressive neighbors, Israel also has a large tank, aircraft, and attack helicopter fleet.

Israel also has qualitative military advantages. It has space assets, advanced fighter jets, high-tech armed drones, and nuclear weapons

13) Taiwan

Budget: $10.7 billion
Active frontline personnel: 290,000
Tanks: 2,005
Total aircraft: 804
Submarines: 4

Threatened by China, which continues to have plans for how to invade and retake the country, Tawain has focused its military development on defensive plans. As such, the island has the fifth highest number of attack helicopters in the list. It also has a fairly large fleet of aircraft and a number of tanks. Taiwan is among the strongest militaries in the world

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12) Egypt

Budget: $4.4 billion
Active frontline personnel: 468,500
Tanks: 4,624
Total aircraft: 1,107
Submarines: 4

The Egyptian military is one of the oldest and largest armed forces in the Middle East. It receives substantial financial aid from the US and has the fifth largest tank fleet in the world. It has over 1,000 M1A1 Abrams tanks, many of which sit in storage and have never been used.

11) Pakistan

Budget: $7 billion
Active frontline personnel: 617,000
Tanks: 2,924
Total aircraft: 914
Submarines: 8

10) Turkey

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

9) United Kingdom

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

The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty’s Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK’s wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.

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8) Italy

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

Italy has one of the strongest militaries in the world

The Italian Armed Forces encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation’s military police and are also involved in missions and operations abroad as a combat force. Despite not being a branch of the armed forces, the Guardia di Finanza has military status and is organized along military lines.

 These five forces comprise a total of 340,885 men and women with the official status of active military personnel, of which 167,057 are in the Army, Navy and Air Force

7) South Korea

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

The Republic of Korea Armed Forces, also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength of 3,305,000 and is of the strongest militaries in the world

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6) France

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

The French military is relatively small but highly trained, professional, and capable of force projection.

The country has the nearly new aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle, and France routinely engages in military deployments throughout Africa to help stabilize governments and fight against extremism.

5) India

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

The Indian Armed Forces are under the management of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India. With strength of over 1.4 million active personnel, it is the world’s second-largest military force and has the world’s largest volunteer army.

 It also has the third-largest defence budget in the world. The Global Firepower Index report lists it as the fourth most-powerful military and is one of the strongest militaries in the world

4) Japan

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

According to Credit Suisse, it has the fourth largest submarine fleet in the list. Japan also has four aircraft carriers, although these vessels are only equipped with helicopter fleets.

Japan also has the fourth largest attack helicopter fleet behind China, Russia, and the US.

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3) China

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

The Chinese military has grown rapidly in terms of both size and capability in the past few decades. In terms of raw manpower, it’s the largest military in the world. It also has the second largest tank fleet behind Russia and the second largest submarine fleet behind the US.

China has also made rapid strides in its military modernization program, now developing a range of potentially game-changing military technologies including ballistic missiles and fifth-generation aircraft.

2) Russia

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

The Russian armed forces are the unquestioned second strongest military power in the world. Russia has the world’s largest tank fleet, the second largest aircraft fleet behind the US, and the third largest submarine fleet behind the US and China.

The Kremlin’s military spending has increased by almost a third since 2008 and is expected to grow 44% more in the next three years. Russia has also demonstrated its ability to project force abroad with its deployment of soldiers to Syria.

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1) United States

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

The U.S. Armed Forces are considered the world’s most powerful military. The military budget of the United States was US$693 billion in 2019, the highest in the world.

 In 2018, that accounted for 36 percent of the world’s defense expenditures. 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 U.S. Air Force is the world’s largest air force, while the U.S. Army Aviation Branch is the second largest. The U.S. Naval Air Forces is the fourth largest air arm in the world and is the largest naval aviation service, while U.S. Marine Corps Aviation is the world’s seventh largest air arm.

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Source: Glusea