Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Size has nothing to do with it, their are some pretty small but extremely professional, highly trained military forces. If you ask me, the British Army, Royal Navy & Royal Marines, and Royal Air Force make the top 5 of the best army/navy/air force list. The British military is world class and have proved it all over the world in recent years from Northern Ireland and the Falklands to today in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Israeli Defense Force is another of my top candidates.
I think the U.S. does overall, the cold war brought such advancement in preparation for a converntional war that troop numbers can be made irrelevent with some of the crazy weapons in the U.S. Another thing is we can afford to build up to our technological advancement. Russia for example might have a better potential fighter in the MiG 1.44 or the Su-47, but they can't really afford to build them in large enough quantities to be effective. In a conventional battle I think the U.S. still has #1, remember also with China -imagine trying to resupply an infantry military of that size, and it would have to be for the most part, along with transport, and logistics. The training would have to be lower as well, and the amount of gear per person decreased, and the quality of equipment decreased. Overall the U.S. military is structured and supported in an optimal manner in my opinion, we've been able to not only produce but amass and apply great technology, and training is great, and with warfare technology being so advanced, the battlefield is so dynamic that it takes the right mix to be successful, and im not sure a million man army can maneuver successfully longterm and quick enough to keep pace with what the U.S. is capable of doing.
remember also with China -imagine trying to resupply an infantry military of that size, and it would have to be for the most part, along with transport, and logistics. The training would have to be lower as well, and the amount of gear per person decreased, and the quality of equipment decreased.
The China military/People's libertation Army (PLA) soldiers don't eat in chow halls or even eat MREs...Nor would they follow we consider ethical...They're allowed to take food from civilians in their own country and in area they're invading...If they are fighting a nearby country, there are also rice fields...Food aside, to resupply the PLA army costs 90%-99% cheaper than what it costs the US...This is because of slave labor...Also they have higher amounts of money going into the military than the US...They don't PCS or get hundreds of $$$ for per diem and $200/night hotel rooms to go on cross country conference TDYs. They also don't use military money for flat panel tvs in their waiting rooms or for training purposes...So while the US budget is dollar for dollar higher, China is able to maximize it for military purposes.
If they're willing to get into a conflict, the US would go nearly bankrupt to try and stop them...If they ally with multiple countries, we'd have no choice but to use nuke or lose...
U.S. is the strongest military, but often our hands are tied. We fight by a very strict set of guidelines which don't allow us to display even a fraction of our capabilities. With a greater media presence than ever, the military has to fight in such a manner that limits any collateral damage or civilian casualties. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but enemy forces are aware of this and fight accordingly. Lot's of American casualties were a result of enemy fire from mosque's, schools and residential homes. We weren't allowed to return fire in many cases. Pilots would have to watch these guys get killed and weren't allowed to do anything about it.
Israel is trained and supplied by the US. However, their soldiers are under constant real world threat and they train accordingly. They are very efficient and disciplined.
Bizarrely enough though. GFP has Israel at 26th strongest?
Australia comes in at 21.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coolhand68
U.S. is the strongest military, but often our hands are tied. We fight by a very strict set of guidelines which don't allow us to display even a fraction of our capabilities. With a greater media presence than ever, the military has to fight in such a manner that limits any collateral damage or civilian casualties. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but enemy forces are aware of this and fight accordingly. Lot's of American casualties were a result of enemy fire from mosque's, schools and residential homes. We weren't allowed to return fire in many cases. Pilots would have to watch these guys get killed and weren't allowed to do anything about it.
Very interested discussion as to what "strongest" means...Kangaroo, your link says it includes geographic locations and does not include training...So, if a russia or china wanted to invade us, they'd have to move large quanities of troops most likely on boats...We could easily utilize the navy and air force to sink their ships...Also explains why Iseral is so low on the list.
Coolhands, as I've pointed out in my previous posts. I feel that the rules we must follow greatly WEAKEN us...If China/Russia want to invade a country, we'd probably just send troops and suffer some heavy losses...If we invaded Tawain or Cuba, we'd probably get nuked...I also particularly feel if China wants to invade any neighboring country, there would be no way to stop their army...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
