RateItAll: The Opinion Network

None of us really know the answer because its common practice for Governments too keep a vast percent of those matters confidential. However,in terms of sophistication were talking the industrial nations like Japan,UK,Germany,France,Canada,U.S,Russia,and so on and on.Addressing the matter of size(extensive),were talking Countries with large populations that often practice inscribing there young men into the Military, and Nations that spend large amounts of GDP on Defence Forces.

I don't understand why people like to compare size of military with it's greatness. It's a battle of technology and the U.S. is years ahead of everyone. 1 aircraft took out 20 of Iraq's tanks in an hour. Now day's the power is in the air. A good Airforce can destroy anything. An number doesn't matter. 1 Raptor can kill 5 f15's without even being detected. America is building 3,000 of them. It's the only country with this technology. I doesn't matter how well trained any country is or how many 1970's tanks they have that America sold to them, they cannot compete with American technology. It's like throwing a million solar powered calculators at a new 3.0ghz 8 core computer. That is why the US destroyed Iraq's defenses so fast in this war. They no longer rely on ground forces to protect the tank battalion and army's flanks. It's now all done with GPS, guided smart bombs launched from stealth fighters 20 miles away, and robot aircraft. This mean less ground forces are needed, and are reserved for precision cleanup work.

Britain probaly has best military taking into consideration the training and amount of soldiers they have.
Snd ill like to make something clear people who say india has good military then you need a mind check, their soo! behind every body else for god sake thier behind france which are only good at cooking.
America is absolute rubish, without their technology their all useless stuff.
korea all konfu masters and russia thier o.k but like america take away technology and money thier nothing.

It sure didn't scare the hell out of the North Vietnamese. . .

History fan, do u realise that for instance Iran's military consists of over 12 million men, China's is over 7 million, Ruusia is just under 4 million and america is just over 2 million and then you have my country... UKwith 420,000 men :/

But obviously thats not all that eneds to be taken into account, like expenditure (money spent on defence) in which america spends the most with $533,000,000,000 then in second comes britain with $66,894,000,000.

So it is my conclusion that america cannot be the worlds best military and even a mention of britain is ridiculous, im not saying that number of troops mean everything but they count for alot, none the less america is definetly one of the worlds best miltary, even tho its currently in the wrong hands.

Personally i would say china.

the united states military.

Britain has a very prestigious, well trained military. we used to be the global superpower and still have a pretty good navy. britain is basically americas 'aircraft carrier' and just adds to the might of america. ie iraq.

Basically the American military is crap, they recruit people who have the IQ of rocks and this shows in battle. They basically rely on the size of their force to get the job done and in recent history even that doesn't seem to work. They should try employ the doctrine of the Australian Defence Force which man for man is one of the best military forces in the world , this has been shown throughout the last 100 years when Australian Forces which comparitively small in size have out performed the miltitary force of larger nations such as the US and Britain and Germany- Eq The Seige of Tobruk

But American, When was the last war that your country alone had sucsessfully Ended, in your favour, Well pleas inform me!

Having overwhelming military force is great, but I don't see how it makes us the world's greatest nation. Given that the US is bordered by weak states to the north and south and fish to the east and west, it's not like we would be in any danger if our military was half the size it is now (Watch out! Here come the Canadians!!!). A downsized US military, limited to operations in the Western Hemisphere, might be a bad thing for some countries (Japan, Europe) and good for others (Russia, China). However, it wouldn't affect the US itself very much-except that the economy would be better off without the fiscal burden of enormous defense spending, now approaching levels not seen since the height of the Cold War (when we actually had a major adversary with a navy, army and air force rivaling the US, not rag-tag groups of terrorists).

I used to think so until I realized it's not used for the most benevolent of purposes. Any nation with the best and most sophisticated army is also the biggest bully around, without a doubt. We spend 4 times more a year than the next closest army for crying out loud! The "richest country in the world" doesn't even provide healthcare and many basic services for its people! Why do we need such a big army, who is going to attack us? Wise up people...

I don't disagree that we have an amazing and powerful military - but I would put this way down on the list in terms of things that makes the USA great. Nazi Germany was a military juggernaut, as was the Soviet Union - doesn't mean that they were great societies however. Another example - Central American basket cases like Nicaraqua and El Salvador spend huge chunks of their GDP on military spending, while Costa Rica doesn't have a military. Where would you rather live?

Newsflash - firepower and might does not make you better unless you have a really warped definition of that. WWII Germany was pretty on it militarily and look what they were up to. Nooooo, noooo - you need something more than this. Something like the resolve to use your head before your might.

Technology wise, there are few countries that can compare. Germany can compare with ground forces, so can Israel. But, 11 of the 12 world Aircraft Carriers, a formidable (to say the absolute least) array of aircraft and a stockpile of accurate bombs that can't even be contested (although how 'smart' they are is in question with their performance in Iraq). Intelligence wise, they have an extensive program, but it is also in question. There are obviously internal problems, and very public mishaps by both the Pentagon and Langley. Special Forces wise, they are not as strong as people want them to be or think they are. The major of their infantry weapons, minus say MGs, are old compared to what Europe and Israel have. But, as individual soldiers go, the Americans aren't the best in the world. My father has a few 'well placed' British soldiers, who compliment the American special forces but has little good to say about American infantry in the region. He speaks well of the Marines there, but the Army force in place has a variety of problems, from their training to their tactical deployment. His prime target was the vast majority of the National Guard in Iraq right now, but this is understandable. All in all, I would not compare the professionalism of America with some of the others, but by no means are they out of the top 10 in the world, top 5. You can't say enough about the power of their Navy, especially the Marines. But, unfortunitely, with a large National Guard force in Iraq right now, morale is not great, and the general quality of guardsmen compared to regulars is drastic. The most expensive, yes, with a wide variety of intel sources/ability and money, but the best, soldier for soldier, maybe not. They like to think they're the best, just like every other major Army in the world. China's Army is underfunded, and numbers mean nothing when America has the ability to drop 1 A-Bomb for every 50000 Chinese (but then again, those are numbers). Either way, America would overcome China's military as they have little ability to support any sort of oceanic invasion and keep it supplied. China's military is impressive, but it is little match for the Americans. Britian, Germany and Israel would also both be defeated by the US if worse came to worse, but on a soldier-to-soldier basis, the professionalism, general quality and experience of the common US soldier is not up to the marks others have set, but they are still top 10, maybe top 5. I am not taking anything away from their military, don't get me wrong. But to say that they are the best would be incorrect, one of the best is more appropriate. The training reform other nations have put into effect have put them ahead of the US, but soon enough, America well reform its training as well.

We surely do have the best force in the world. There are points about the size of China's forces and the performance of the Israeli's over time, but we can reach a butt and kick it better than anybody else on the planet.

I disagree with History Fan. Our military does not rival China's and Russia's. It is superior to the armed forces those nations possess. As a result of our being stationed in Japan and Guam, we are able to patrol/monitor the mainland Chinese border by air. Further, in the event hostilities break out on any part of the globe, the U.S. can often be the first to react because our outposts and bases are omnipresent. Our government and military industrial complex have very shrewdly ensured that strings commonly come with U.S. financial aid. Invariably, the trade off has been that we are allowed to set up shop in a corner of the recipient's country. The result, American militar power is present or nearby in just about every nook and cranny of our planet. Our military influence is second to none.

Certainly the most powerful force, but the most sophisticated? From what I've read about the Israeli military, it could be argued that they are the most efficient force for the numbers.

We have a huge, butt-kicking military that rivals that of China and Russia.