Saturday - March 03, 2007
World Military Power
Or Make of it What You Will
Do we
spend too much on our military? Do we
spend too little on our defense? Do get our dollars
worth? Do our allies do their fair share? Or maybe
a better question might be, do our allies even have a credible
military?
| Nation | Active Troops |
Re- serve |
Defense Budget 2006 | Tanks |
Car- rier |
Cruis- er |
Des- troy- er |
Fri- gate |
Nuclear Subs |
Con Subs |
Fight- ers |
Nukes |
GDP in Tril- lions |
|
| 1 | China | 2.255 million | 800 th | 81 billion | 8580 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 25 | 2643 | 130 | 2.2 |
| 2 | U.S.A. | 1.4 million | 858 th | 518 billion | 7650 | 12 | 22 | 48 | 30 | 72 | 0 | 2800 | 9960 |
12.4 |
| 4 | Russia | 1.2 million | 2.4 mil | 18.6 billion | 22950 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 73 | 20 | 2767 | 16000 |
763 billion |
| 19 | France | 259,000 | 100 th | 45 billion | 614 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 330 | 350 | 2.1 |
| 20 | Germany | 250,000 | 130 th | 29 billion | 350 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 700 | 0 | 2.78 |
| 21 | Japan | 239,000 | 47 th | 44 billion | 1020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 15 | 357 | 0 | 4.5 |
| 22 | Italy | 230,000 | 65 th | 28 billion | 1183 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 120 | 0 | 1.72 |
| 28 | UK | 190,000 | 57 th | 48 billion | 543 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 17 | 13 | 0 | 480 | 200 | 2.19 |
| 60 | Canada | 62,000 | 23 th | 11.4 billion | 66 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 119 | 0 | 1.11 |
For instance, Great Britain, one of our surest allies, with the
fifth largest GDP in the world, only spends $48 billion a year
on their military. Their navy is woefully small these
days, they only have 190,000 men under arms, they field only
500 or so tanks, and they fly only 480 fighter planes.
According to the
CIA, the U.K. spends only 2.4% of its GDP on its
defense. In comparison, the U.S. spends 4% of GDP on
defense, which by the way is at a post-World War II low.
Or look at Canada, which only spends 1.1% of its GDP on
defense. It only has 66 tanks. It only has 119 fighters, 3
destroyers and 12 frigates. Are these forces large enough
to defend a nation the size of or a nation that has a coast
line as long as Canada?
One could go on and on. While no one can question the
value of the assistance that Canada, Britain, and Australia
have given the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq, one can question
whether Britain, for instance, with a population of over 60
million, is adequately served by a military numbering only
190,000. And that can be asked of the other free
powers. If a serious war broke out and the United States
was occupied elsewhere, could they defend themselves for any
length of time?
Trackposted to
Right Pundits,
Cao's Blog,
Faultline USA,
Allie Is Wired, and stikNstein... has no
mercy, thanks to Linkfest
Haven Deluxe.