The 10 Most Powerful Militaries In The World- 2013

Posted by Kim Luc June 13, 2013

The 10 Most Powerful Militaries In The World- 2013

(Business Insider) As a Marine Corps veteran, I would like to point out that there’s more to military prowess than firepower. There’s no statistic for leadership, no metric for the stuff they pump into you at Parris Island.

But firepower matters ... a lot.

In a world rife with global conflicts, the ability to project power and wield that power decisively is an important national security and diplomatic asset.

The folks at Global Firepower have figured out a way to rank who has the most powerful military.

They measure 40 different stats about a country, including number of aircraft characters, available manpower, and labor force, to produce a “Power Index,” in which lower numbers equal more firepower.

Note: Nuclear capabilities are not included in this calculation — but Russia and the United States far outpace the rest of the world in nuclear armament, with 8,500 and 7,700 nuclear weapons, respectively.

10. Brazil

Power Index: 0.6912

Defense Budget: $31,576,000,000

Active Military Personnel: 371,199

Labor Force: 104,700,000

Total Aircraft: 822

Total Naval Strength: 106

See the full listing.

9. Italy

Power Index: 0.6838

Defense Budget: $31,946,000,000

Active Military Personnel: 293,202

Labor Force: 25,080,000

Total Aircraft: 770

Total Naval Strength: 179

See the full listing.

8. South Korea

Power Index: 0.6547

Defense Budget: $28,280,000,000

Active Military Personnel: 653,000

Labor Force: 25,100,000

Total Aircraft: 871

Total Naval Strength: 190

See the full listing.

7. Germany

Power Index: 0.6491

Defense Budget: $43,478,000,000

Active Military Personnel: 148,996

Labor Force: 43,620,000

Total Aircraft: 925

Total Naval Strength: 67

See the full listing.

6. France

Power Index: 0.6163

Defense Budget: $58,244,000,000

Active Military Personnel: 362,485

Labor Force: 29,610,000

Total Aircraft: 544

Total Naval Strength: 180

See the full listing.

5. The United Kingdom

Power Index: 0.5185

Defense Budget: $57,875,170,000

Active Military Personnel: 224,500

Labor Force: 31,720,000

Total Aircraft:1,412

Total Naval Strength: 77

See the full listing.

4. India

Power Index: 0.4346

Defense Budget: $44,282,000,000

Active Military Personnel: 1,325,000

Labor Force: 487,600,000

Total Aircraft: 1,962

Total Naval Strength: 170

See the full listing.

3. China

Power Index: 0.3351

Defense Budget: $129,272,000,000

Active Military Personnel: 2,285,000

Labor Force: 795,500,000

Total Aircraft:5,048

Total Naval Strength: 972

See the full listing.

2. Russia

Power Index: 0.2618

Defense Budget: $64,000,000,000

Active Military Personnel: 1,200,000

Labor Force: 75,330,000

Total Aircraft: 4,498

Total Naval Strength: 224

See the full listing.

1. United States

Power Index: 0.2475

Defense Budget: $689,591,000,000

Active Military Personnel: 1,477,896

Labor Force: 153,600,000

Total Aircraft: 15,293

Total Naval Strength: 290

See the full listing.

But the race to the top is far from over.