Here Is Why Russia's Military Is a Fair Match for the US

The global policeman doesn’t have the overwhelming advantage people think it does

RI Staff

5 hours ago

US flashy toys

Business Insider complied an infographic ranking the world’s top militaries using the information from the Global Firepower Index, which tracks military power through publicly available sources.
The US is ranked first, followed by Russia, China, and India.

This is not a surprise considering that the US military budget is over $600 billion, or ten times more than that of Russia.

If we add China and India, the US is at a serious disadvantage, and is obviously getting much less value per dollar.

Russian military commentator Nikolay Royanov is sceptical about the Business Insider rankings:

I would advise these experts to take reference books and look through the territory of the States, the length of the border, population and other indicators that characterize the country’s defense.
…
The armed forces of the Russian Federation and the USA are about equal in combat potential. This is based on the existence of strategic nuclear forces, land, sea and aerospace groups, as well as special forces, which are able to perform any tasks on the territory of any state.
Yet, to single out someone on the first or second position is incorrect, especially counting the military equipment. For example, the new Russian tank “Armata” was able to withstand four American tanks. I think we have about the same ability to protect ourselves.

While the US has almost five times more military aircraft than Russia, Russia has a significant advantage in tank numbers.

Flashy toys are all good and well, but what the report doesn’t show is the willpower of a soldier.

http://russia-insider.com/en/military/here-why-russias-military-fair-match-us/ri7719