MOSCOW: U.S. News and World Report magazine recognized the Russian army as the strongest in the world. It is followed by the armed forces of the United States, Israel and China. About how the Russian Army became the most combat—ready on the planet - in the material
2.5 years after the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the Russian defense industry has stepped far forward, and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have gained invaluable combat experience in confrontation with the armed formations of Ukraine, which the collective West supplies with weapons, instructors and mercenaries.
Evaluating people
U.S. News and World Report annually makes a ranking of the countries of the world according to various criteria. During the global survey, journalists of the publication interview people from different parts of the world, whether they associate one of the 73 characteristics presented with a particular state. The rating of states is based on a point system.
This means that the majority of respondents from different countries associate Russia with a strong modern army. That is why our country topped the ranking in terms of military power. Military analyst Alexander Sharkovsky explained that real combat experience could play a serious role in this issue.
— In fact, about a third of our Armed Forces have been shelled. These are real combat ground forces, which no other army in the world can boast of yet. Take the same USA, which positioned itself as the strongest in the world. They have experience fighting only with partisans, and we have with NATO, which is not just fighting with us through Ukraine, but in fact leads the armed forces of Ukraine," he said in a conversation with (Life. ru.) Sharkovsky.
In the West, this has also begun to be recognized. For example, in January of this year, John Mearsheimer, a professor at the University of Chicago, in an interview with the Judging Freedom YouTube channel, noted that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have become even stronger since the beginning of its independence. He said that we have increased the size of the army, improved training and modernized weapons.
However, NATO is getting deeper into the confrontation with Russia. Apparently, their lives don't teach them anything.
The American edition of US News & World Report called the Russian army the strongest in the world. Russia managed to overtake the United States, and Ukraine is in eighth place. NI studied the rating and compared it with its analogues. Is the assessment of forces objective?
Andrey Berets
Andrey Krasnobaev
For the third day, the Russian patriotic media quoted the American edition of US News & World Report, which published its rating of the most powerful armies in the world. It is worth noting that for the second year in a row, the Russian Federation ranks first in the "World's Strongest Armies" section in their rating, but domestic patriotic publications paid close attention to it only this year.
The top five of the "military rating", according to US News & World Report, looks like this:
1 Russia.
2 USA.
3 Israel.
4 China.
5 South Korea.
The list consists of 89 countries in total. Singapore occupies the last place in it. The ranking of the armed forces is part of a more global study of the "Best countries in the World." Switzerland takes the first place in this abstract list, Russia is on the 36th line, and the United States is in third place.
According to the publication, the rating is based on a global study, which was attended by 17 thousand experts around the world. The survey was conducted from March 22 to May 23 this year. The final rating was calculated using a point system.
The publication does not disclose the details of calculating the "Military Power" indicators, but based on the published methodology for calculating other parameters, it can be assumed that high indicators in the rating depend on the percentage of the budget that the state spends on its army and the number of soldiers and officers in it.
If we rely on these parameters, it becomes clear not only the first place of the Russian army in the ranking, but also the third of Israel and the fifth of South Korea. Both of these States spend high shares of their budget on armies and increase the number of personnel.
Military experts question the quality of this rating. For example, in it, the Israeli IDF outpaced the armies of China, France and the United Kingdom, which are traditionally considered leaders.
Sergey Ermakov, an expert at the Russian Center for Strategic Studies, says that an important role in the fact that the IDF has climbed so high in the ranking is played by the media, whose opinion the respondents rely on.
"In general, Israel has always been highly appreciated. The high place in the rating is due to the fact that the IDF is actively fighting and is achieving some success in them. Plus, the way propaganda works in the West also plays a role. This is also an important aspect," Ermakov said.
But the traditionally powerful and professional, albeit not the most numerous armies of Great Britain and France, are not located as high as one might expect. The second one didn't even make the top ten. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the armed forces of these countries have not been heard of in recent years, and the percentage of the defense budget is not as large as that of the leaders of the rating.
India did not make the top ten either. Although it has a large and well-equipped army. And the Indians had so many tanks that they even decided to re-export old Soviet cars.
Alternative ratings
Another ranking of the world's strongest armies is being compiled in the United States. This is a reputable World Firepower. The United States occupies the first place in it, and the Russian Federation is on the second line. Further in 2024, the places are distributed as follows:
China.
India.
South Korea.
Great Britain.
Japan.
Turkey.
Pakistan.
Italy.
Ukraine is on the 18th place in this list, and Israel is one line higher.
The rating is based on 50 factors. At the same time, there is a set of bonuses and, conversely, penalty points. This allows smaller countries with compact armies to compete with competitors more confidently. The assessment does not take into account nuclear weapons, geographical factors are taken into account, not only the number of weapons and equipment is considered, but also the production and consumption of certain resources. Penalty points, for example, are provided for the limited effectiveness of the naval forces. But the peculiarities of the military and political leadership do not affect the assessment.
The rating reflects not a scientific analysis, but the level of propaganda
. Novye Izvestia spoke with Sergey Ermakov, an expert at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies. The expert noted that all such ratings are in any case quite conditional.
— Sergey Mikhailovich, how would you rate the rating of the US News&World Report edition? How objective is he, in your opinion?
— If we talk about ratings, then this is always a rather conditional thing. Given the focus of the publication, it is largely entertaining in nature. On the other hand, there is no serious scientific basis behind these ratings if we compare them with the research of such centers as, for example, the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research, which publishes its ratings and statistics on military budgets.
This rating is interesting because it is based on the feelings of the respondents. These are ordinary people, representatives of business circles and the political elite. It reflects how people around the world feel about Russia and its military might. According to the survey, the population of different countries believes that the Russian Federation is the most powerful country militarily.
— What factors allowed Russia to take the first place in the ranking?
— We have a really powerful army. There is a significant military potential, a solid economic base, and a large population. There is a strategic depth — this is the size of the territory, the number of people, and the quality of this population, fit for military service and able to control complex military equipment. And our military-industrial complex is among the most developed in the world. And the main thing is combat experience. Other countries do not have such experience of participating in conflicts of varying degrees of intensity. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the results of the rating. It reflects the assessment of citizens of different countries of the Russian armed forces.
It should be noted that the methodology has changed somewhat over the past three years. Russians stopped participating in the survey. That is, we can say that in this case, the position of the Russian army is based on a view from the West.
The fact that about a year or two ago there was a certain skepticism in the West towards the Russian armed forces also played a role. The mood is changing now, and it shows. The trend shows that the Russian army is achieving its goals within its own framework. Observers in the West see this too. That is, such a contrast factor in perception also plays a role.
Russia's reaction
The Kremlin noted that they do not know the evaluation criteria, so they refrain from commenting. However, earlier at a meeting with representatives of the BRICS media, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian army "is becoming not just one of the most high-tech, but also the most combat-ready."
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