US Air Force
Despite budget cuts and a reduction in size, the US has maintained its position as the world's strongest military, according to a report on globalization from Credit Suisse.
While the US is still far and away the world's top military superpower, Russia and China are its closest rivals. Canada, however, is the weakest of the 20 countries on the list.
Credit Suisse acknowledged the difficulties of determining comparative military strength in its report. To provide a benchmark, the report assigns weighted values for six variables before tabulating a final score.
The factors under consideration for military strength and their total weights are number of active personnel (5% of total score), tanks (10%), attack helicopters (15%), aircraft (20%), aircraft carriers (25%), and submarines (25%).
The ranking defines military might in purely quantitative terms and does not account for the actual quality of the arms and training that the militaries may have. As such, the placement of some countries on the list may come as a surprise.
The world's 20 strongest militaries are below:
MCpl. Angela Abbey/Canadian Forces Combat Camera
Budget: $15.7 billion
Active frontline personnel: 92,000
Tanks: 181
Total aircraft: 420
Submarines: 4
Canada ended up at the bottom of the list because of the country's small number of active personnel, its lack of aircraft carriers and attack helicopters, and its small number of tanks and submarines. But Canada has still taken part in US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it is a member of the NATO military alliance.
Canada is also a partner in the US F-35 program, although it may decline the purchase of F-35s depending on the outcome of elections in October.
Beawiharta Beawiharta/REUTERS
Budget: $6.9 billion
Active frontline personnel: 476,000
Tanks: 468
Total aircraft: 405
Submarines: 2
The Indonesian military placed above Canada because of its high numbers of active personnel and relatively large number of tanks. The military, however, suffers from a lack of carriers and aircraft, as well as a small number of submarines.
Fabian Bimmer/REUTERS
Budget: $40.2 billion
Active frontline personnel: 179,046
Tanks: 408
Total aircraft: 663
Submarines: 4
The German military ended up low on the list because of its lack of power-projection platforms. Germany does not have an aircraft carrier and has relatively few submarines, which, according to the Credit Suisse methodology, drops its ranking.
But Germany does have a fair number of attack helicopters. Recently, the country has started considering offering military support to Eastern European NATO members.
