Ishmael
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 18, 2011
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Manpower
The United States has more than double the population of Russia, and so it is not hugely surprisingly that it has a significant edge in available manpower. The United States has over 145 million people who could theoretically serve in the armed forces, whereas Russia has under 70 million by comparison. Of course, the notion of a draft would be hugely controversial in either nation, and this figure only really is relevant in theory.
Active Military Personnel
Of more relevance is the current levels of active military personnel in the two nations. The US certainly has a much larger armed forces to draw upon than Russia, with nearly 1.5 million military personnel of various denominations currently active in the United States. Russia actually has a higher level of military personnel per capita, but the total number of 766,000 is significantly less than the United States.
Aircraft
Movies such as Top Gun have created a collective imdge in our mind which suggests that the United States is associated with military might in the air. And this is certainly reflected in figures related to military aircraft. Of course, many of the world's largest defense contractors operate out of the United States, and companies such as Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) ensure that the US is pretty spectacularly endowed with military aircraft.
According to recent figures, the United States has over 13,500 military aircraft ready to be deployed at any given time. The Russian air force is paltry by comparison, with the Eastern European nation not even in possession of 4,000 active military aircraft.
Helicopters
The aerial supremacy of the United States is also underlined with regard to helicopters. Again, military history intrinsically associates this vehicle with the United States, as helicopters are indelibly linked with critical conflicts for the US in the 20th century such as Vietnam and Korea.
It comes as no surprise then that the United States has a huge amount of active military helicopters; just over 6,000 in total. This is clearly not an area which has been prioritied by Russia, with the former Eastern Bloc nation having less than 1,000 active military helicopters by comparison.
Submarines
As mentioned previously, it was a Russian nuclear submarine which almost prompted complete disaster during the Cuban Missile Srisis. But both the United States and Russia are associated with underwater technology, and as such there is no significant difference between the two in this department. The United States has slightly more deployable submarines, 72 as opposed to 63, but one cannot say that there is a significant difference in military strength in this department.
U.S. vs. Russia - Military Might
