According to the world ranking of the strength of the world’s armies, Ukraine was in 18th place

Ukraine, although it occupies an important place on the geopolitical map of the world, it currently occupies only the 18th position in the ranking of the world’s armies. This fact became the reason for a serious study about the potential and ability of the national military forces in comparison with other states.

IN the latest edition of the rating powers of the armies of the world World Army Firepower Ranking, the Ukrainian army took only 18th place in the world, but 4th in the EU.

Compared to last year’s ranking, Ukraine dropped three positions, but according to some indicators, it is still among the most powerful armies in the world. Regarding the ranking itself: the power index, which contains the data set for compiling the ranking, includes data on the population, the size of the army, the number of different types of weapons, the funding of the army, geography, etc. Its criteria and assessment can be characterized as rather one-sided, but it is considered one of the most authoritative ratings of armies in the world.

1. Ranking of the world’s armed forces – who is the best:

According to the comprehensive index, Ukraine will take 18th place in 2024, while only three European countries – Great Britain, Italy and France – were higher than our state in the EU. We are also even higher than Germany, which is an important partner of Ukraine in times of war. In general, the top 20 countries in the ranking are as follows:

1. USA;
2. RF;
3. China;
4. India;
5. South Korea;
6. Great Britain;
7. Japan;
8. Turkey;
9. Pakistan;
10. Italy;
11. France;
12. Brazil;
13. Indonesia;
14. Iran;
15. Egypt;
16. Australia;
17. Israel;
18. Ukraine;
19. Germany;
20. Spain.

It is interesting that Ukraine, which has been in a state of war for almost two years, has dropped three positions compared to the ranking at the beginning of 2023. Ukrainian troops are now ahead of the troops of Iran, Australia and Israel. There were also some changes in the top ten, with South Korea overtaking Japan, which was ahead of Pakistan. Turkey also overtook France in the top ten, ahead of Italy and Pakistan. The increase in the rating of Israel, Iran and South Korea can be explained by the recent increase in tensions in the states where these armies are located. Therefore, the governments of these countries had to respond to this by mobilizing the population and strengthening their armed forces. 7 of the 20 most powerful armies in the world are members of NATO – the United States, Great Britain, Turkey, Italy, France, Germany and Spain.

2. Population and number of armed forces

The country’s position in the world ranking of firepower is largely determined by the size of its population and, accordingly, by the size of the army.  In general, the most populous countries are as follows:

1. China – 1.043 million people;
2. India – 1.099 million people;
3. USA – 339 million people;
4. Indonesia – 279 million people;
5. Pakistan – 247 million people;

… 35. Ukraine – 41.1 million people. 

In this position, Ukraine ranks 35th by a large margin. Analysts estimate the population of Ukraine at 43.3 million people. This is more than, for example, in Canada (38.5 million) or Poland (37.9 million), but much less than the previous states. By the way, this figure, on the contrary, may be somewhat overestimated, because, according to the State Statistics Office, by the beginning of 2022, the population of our country decreased to 41.1 million people. At the same time, it should be noted that the last all-Ukrainian population census was conducted only in 2001, so there is a high probability that these data are too approximate, and during the war years they were significantly reduced.

Instead, Russia took ninth place. Its population is estimated at 141 million. In addition to the first five, in the world it was overtaken by Nigeria (230 million), Brazil (218 million) and Bangladesh (167 million).

Ukraine and Russia belong to the largest armies in the world in terms of personnel. Global Firepower classifies armed forces into regular and reserve. According to this rating, Ukraine has 900,000 active military personnel and 1.2 million reservists. According to the number of regular troops, Ukraine took 6th place in the rating:

1. China – 2 million 350,000 people;
2. India – 1 million 455,000 people;
3. USA – 1 million 328,000 people;
4. North Korea – 1,320,000 people;
5. Russia – 1,320,000 people;
6. Ukraine – 900,000 people;
7. Pakistan: 654,000 adults;
8. Iran – 610,000 people;
9. South Korea – 600,000 people;

In this rating, only servicemen who directly participate in combat operations as part of the regular armed forces were taken into account, but if you take into account those servicemen who are on active military service in the reserve, and consider these indicators together, then the assessment will look as follows:

1. Vietnam – 5.6 million (600 thousand in the regular army and 5 million in the reserve).
2. South Korea – 3.7 million (600,000 in the regular army and 3,100,000 in the reserve).
3. Russia – 3.32 million (1.32 million in the regular army and 2 million in the reserve).
4. India – 2.6 million (1.6 million in the regular army and 1 million in the reserve);
5. China – 2 million 545 thousand (2 million 35 thousand regular army, 510 thousand – reserve);
6. Taiwan – 2 million 535 thousand (225 thousand regular army, 2 million 310 thousand – reserve);
7. USA – 2 million 138 thousand (1 million 328 thousand regular army, 800 thousand – reserve);
8. Ukraine – 2 million 100 thousand (900 thousand regular army, 1 million 200 thousand – reserve);
9. North Korea – 1 million 880 thousand (1 million 320 thousand regular army, 560 thousand – reserve);
10. Philippines – 1 million 350 thousand (150 thousand regular army, 1 million 200 thousand – reserve).

3. Ground troops

Ukraine did not enter the top ten in terms of the number of tanks and took 13th place:

1. Russia – 14,777 units of equipment;
2. North Korea – 5,845 units of equipment;
3. Egypt – 5,340 units of equipment;
4. China – 5,000 units of equipment;
5. United States of America – 4,657 units of equipment;

…13. Ukraine – 1,777 units of equipment.

However, these estimates are also highly controversial. According to data confirmed by independent observers, throughout the war, Ukraine was able to capture more than 500 Russian tanks as military trophies, and what’s more, over the past two years, partners have provided our country with more than 800 pieces of equipment. More than 300 of these machines are Western models “Leopard” (1A5 and 2A4), M1 Abrams and “Challenger 2”.

The presence of Western models indicates that Ukrainian tank units are much more efficient and of higher quality than, for example, Syrian, Vietnamese and Iranian ones in the above rating. In addition, the figures show that trophy tanks and those transferred by partners make up more than a third of all vehicles. This suggests that the number of Ukrainian tanks in the rating is underestimated.

On the other hand, the number of Russian tanks in the world ranking is clearly overestimated, because it has remained practically unchanged for three years in a row. However, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in almost two years of war, the Ukrainian army destroyed more than 6,000 Russian tanks. Many of them have been confirmed by independent observers and Western partners.

This year, the World Army Firepower Ranking has changed the way other armored vehicles are counted. Previously, only combat units such as armored personnel carriers or MRAPs and armored vehicles used for logistics and civil engineering were considered. The only exception is tracked tanks, which are taken into account in the above rating. Here, Ukraine took 23rd place:

1. USA – 360,000 units of equipment;
2. China – 174,000 units of equipment;
3. Russia – 161,000 units of equipment;
4. India – 151,000 units of equipment;
5. France – 85,000 units of equipment;

… 23. Ukraine – 22,000 units of equipment.

Again, questions arise regarding quantitative and qualitative indicators. As for the number of equipment, it is not known whether significant losses of Russian forces were taken into account, because according to the General Staff, Ukrainian troops destroyed more than 11,000 units of enemy armored vehicles.

The same applies to quality, because during the entire period of the full-scale war, our partners provided Ukraine with more than 3,000 units of armored vehicles. Among them are the latest Murder, Bushmaster, Max Pro, M113, CV90 and the world’s best Bradley armored personnel carriers. Various volunteer organizations also purchased armored vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

However, the global firepower ranking still shows that Ukraine has less armored vehicles than even very small armies such as those of Algeria (about 36,000), Azerbaijan (29,000) and Jordan (24,000).

The number of artillery equipment is already closer to the real picture. Thus, in terms of the number of self-propelled artillery installations, Ukraine ranks eighth in the world:

1. Russia – 6,208 units of equipment;
2. North Korea – 4,500 units of equipment;
3. China – 3,850 units of equipment;
4. South Korea – 3,189 units of equipment;
5. United States of America – 1,595 units of equipment;
6. Egypt – 1,489 units of equipment;
7. Saudi Arabia – 1,236 units of equipment;
8. Ukraine – 1,205 units of equipment;
9. Turkey – 1,038 units of equipment.

Other countries of the world have less than 800 units of self-propelled artillery installations. Therefore, the gap between Ukraine and the top 5 ranking is quite insignificant.

Our country has started production of the 155-mm self-propelled artillery system 2S22 “Bohdana”, and if it accelerates, as well as supplies from our partners increase, then in a year our country can enter the five most powerful armies according to this indicator.

What equipment do the partners supply to Ukraine:

• AHS Krab – Poland;
• Caesar – France, Denmark;
• M109 – USA, Norway, Great Britain, Italy, Latvia;
• Panzerhaubitze 2000 – Germany, Netherlands, Italy;
• AS-90 – Great Britain;
• Archer – Sweden;
• RCH-155 – Germany.

In total, it is more than 400 units, and these deliveries continue. In particular, France undertook to produce at least 78 more howitzers “Caesar” for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukraine ranks 16th in the world in terms of the number of howitzers in your arsenal:

1. Russia – 8,356 howitzers;
2. South Korea – 4,863 howitzers;
3. North Korea – 4,500 howitzers;
4. India – 3,243 howitzers;
5. Pakistan – 3,238 howitzers;

… 16. Ukraine – 1,267 howitzers.

This situation can be easily explained: towed howitzers are much less mobile and maneuverable than their self-propelled counterparts. As a result, they are not as effective in modern warfare. Therefore, our partners prefer self-propelled artillery systems. This can be seen in the ratings: among our partner countries, only the USA ranks higher than Ukraine.

Reactive volley fire systems:

1. China – 3180 missiles;
2. Russia – 3,655 missiles;
3. North Korea – 2,920 missiles;
4. Egypt – 1,119 missiles;
5. Iran – 775 missiles;
6. United States of America – 694 missiles;

… 13. Ukraine – 491 missiles.

Although Ukraine ranks 13th in this position, the number of missiles is not equal to their quality. China, Russia, North Korea and Iran do not even have HIMARS level systems. Instead, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have a significant share of them.

1. Naval forces.

Ukraine has only 104 warships and vessels of the Navy, mostly small patrol boats. This puts the naval forces of Ukraine in 36th place in the world:

1. Russia – 781 ships;
2. China – 730 ships;
3. North Korea – 505 ships;
4. USA – 472 ships;
5. Sweden – 353 ships;
6. Italy – 309 ships;
7. India – 294 ships;
8. Spain – 168 ships;
9. France – 128 ships;
10. United Kingdom – 117 ships;

…36. Ukraine – 104 ships;

37. Iran – 101 ships.

The fleet is probably the clearest example of the importance of quality over quantity. It is interesting that Ukraine managed to overtake a number of maritime states with powerful economies and armies, in particular, Taiwan, Denmark, Canada, Israel, Germany and Poland.

It should also be remembered that a larger number of ships does not necessarily mean naval dominance. A vivid example is the war between Russia and Ukraine. The Ukrainian Navy outnumbers the Russian Navy by a ratio of 10 to 1, while inflicting heavy losses on its adversaries thanks to coastal anti-ship systems and modern naval drones.

1. Aviation

Not surprisingly, the United States is the largest country in the world in this regard. In terms of the size of their air fleet, they exceed the air fleet of Russia, China and India combined. At the same time, Ukraine did not even make it to the top 30 in terms of the number of aircraft:

1. USA – 13,209 aircraft;
2. Russia – 4,255 aircraft;
3. China – 3,304 aircraft;
4. India – 2,296 aircraft;
5. South Korea – 1,576 aircraft;
6. Turkey – 1,069 aircraft;
7. France – 972 planes;
8. Great Britain – 664 aircraft;
9. Germany – 618 aircraft;
10. Israel – 612 aircraft;
11. Poland – 468 aircraft;

… 33. Ukraine – 321 aircraft.

However, this year the situation with aviation power in Ukraine may improve, because our partners have promised to start supplying fighter jets F-16. In total, it was promised to deliver at least 42 fighters. At the same time, we are not talking about our own production.

As for Russia, it is worth mentioning the huge losses of its aviation during the war. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the enemy has already lost 331 aircraft and 324 combat helicopters.

1. Financing the army

According to this indicator, Ukraine managed to overtake some very powerful economies of other states. In particular, Italy, Brazil and Canada, which are among the 10 largest economies in the world. And this in difficult economic conditions caused by a full-scale war. In general, the top twenty of the rating looks as follows:

1. USA – $831.7 billion;
2. China – $227 billion;
3. Russia – 109 billion dollars;
4. India – 74 billion dollars;
5. Saudi Arabia – $71.7 billion;
6. Great Britain – 62.8 billion dollars;
7. Germany – 55.9 billion dollars;
8. Japan – 53 billion dollars;
9. Australia – 52.5 billion dollars;
10. France – 49.7 billion dollars;
11. South Korea – 44.7 billion dollars;
12. Ukraine – 42 billion dollars;
13. Turkey – 40 billion dollars;
14. Poland – 38.3 billion dollars;
15. Italy – 31.6 billion dollars;
16. Canada – $26.5 billion;
17. Indonesia – 25 billion dollars;
18. Brazil – 24.7 billion dollars;
19. Israel – 24.4 billion dollars;
20. Venezuela – 24.1 billion dollars;

Considering this rating, it would be unfair not to mention financial support from Ukraine’s partners, because it is thanks to it that the country is able to spend almost its entire budget on the army.

Therefore, the World Army Firepower Ranking clearly underestimates the power of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, despite the fact that they won many operations and defensive battles against the “second army in the world”.