10) Pakistan

      The Pakistani Army has around 600,000 active soldiers and 500,000 reserve troops. They also have around five thousand tanks and a few thousand APCs. Their special forces group is highly trained, much like the US Green Berets. The Pakistani Armed Forces also has 30 nukes in possession.

9) Israel

    The Israeli Army has 120,000 soldiers in active duty and they can field around 500,000 more.Their armaments included 3,750 battle tanks and their air force has 90,000 personnel, including reserve forces. Israeli armed forces also are believed to have around 100 nukes in possession as well.

8) Italy

   The Italian Army has around 115,000 active duty personnel, 1000 Leopard battle tanks, and 1800 APCs. The Italian Navy and Air Force each have strengths of 35,000 personnel and 45,000 personnel respectively. In addition to this, Italian troops are highly trained. The Italian armed forces also have the eight largest military expenditure in the world. They spend this money on new frigates and destroyers for the Navy and for helicopters and combat aircraft for the Air Force. This means they have a large fleet of aircraft and naval units.

7) United Kingdom

    The U.K  armed forces numbers around 225,000 soldiers, with about half of this number in the Army.  Their Air Force has 45,000 personnel and the Navy has around 35,000 personnel. The British armed forces are the second largest military expenditure in the world. They also have the second largest navy on the world, with around 90 ships. They fact that they posses 380 nukes also greatly augment their strength.

6) Russia

    The Russian Army has over 22 thousand tanks at their command and also over 36 thousand APCs. Their Air Force has 2500 planes such as fighters or bombers or just transport planes. They also posses 3000 helicopters ranging from attack helicopters to troop transports. Their Navy has a strength of 42 ships and 310 submarines, one of the largest fleets in the world. They also possess a single aircraft carrier. This may surprise you. The Russian armed forces also possess 8,000 nuclear weapons! This is the largest arsenal of nukes in the world after the US and China. The Russian armed forces however, is said to be plagued by problems such as lack of funding and equipments.

5) France

   The French armed forces have a combined strength of about 780,000 personnel, around 120,000 of these personnel being the part of the French Army. They also have around 5000 APCs and around 1000 tanks or heavy armored vehicles. The French armed forces have the third greatest military expenditure in the world, and this money that they use goes in to research of new weapons systems and such. The French also posses the fourth greatest nuclear arsenal in the world as well, with around 500 nukes in their possession.

4) India

   The Indian military has the third strongest armed forces in the world, in terms of manpower, with 1.33 million personnel total. Half of this number serves in the Indian Army while 170 thousand and 61 thousand personnel serve in the Navy and Air Force respectively. The Indian Army possesses 13 thousand tanks and 21 thousand APCs. Their Air Force has 1080 planes and 1155 helicopters and their Navy has 27 ships and 200 submarines as well. The Indian armed forces also have around 70 nuclear weapons at their disposal.

3) North Korea

   The North Korean armed forces have 1.11 million personnel total, all of these active personnel from their Army, Navy, and Air Force. They have a seven million reserve force comprised of civilians militia as well. They posses around nine thousand tanks and around 13 thousand armored personnel carriers as well. The North Korean military have a majority of their force in their Army, about 75 percent of them. The North Korean Armed Forces also are believed to possess 15-20 nukes. 

2) United States of America

    The US armed forces possess an army of 1.41 million personnel, with 500,000 of these being land based units. The Army also has around 26 thousand tanks and 44 thousand APCs, making the American heavy armor the biggest in the world. The Air Force has 2800 planes and around 3800 helicopters in service. The Navy has 92 ships in service and 281 submarines in service as well. the Americans have 12 aircraft carriers that can hold up to forty fighters jets each, which means they have the greatest amount of aircraft carriers as Russia has a single one and India has one in construction. The American armed forces have the second largest nuclear stockpile in the world, with around 10,000 nukes.

1) China

     The Chinese military is the largest in the world in terms of manpower, with 2.3 million personnel total, 1.6 million of them part of the Army. They also have 800 thousand reserve personnel in case of emergency. They have 19 thousand tanks and over 30 thousand armored personnel carriers. The Chinese also have the third largest sea fleet in the world, a force of 86 sips and 300 submarines, right behind the US and the UK. Believe it or not, the Chinese claim they have over 20,000 nuclear weapons! Unfortunately, this is enough to destroy our planet several times over.

Well, that concludes the countdown. Please note that the figures for the amount of nuclear weapons may be wrong as nobody actually knows the real number any country possess. Also note, I did not add Iran in the top ten because, although that country has over 12 million personnel in its armed forces, making it the largest military in the world in terms of manpower, only 3 million of these are actually combat-fit, and this figure includes untrained reserves.

Sources- http://abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread197056/pg1

                  http://answers.yahoo.com/ques/index?qid=20061214031844AAoJrmV

                  http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/army.htm

                  http://strategypage.com/militaryforums/30-14422.aspx

                   http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Israel-ARMED-FORCES.html

For more information on the 5 strongest armies in the world, click here.

This video shows a bit of the armies of the world that the creator of this video thought was the best. It shows the discipline of the armies and the rigorous training the soldiers have to go throughout the world. The music may get annoying at times though.

Picture Courtesy of Army.mil 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35703177@N00/478398886

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