Almost halfway through 2024, the world is at its most polarized point in recent decades. The conflicts in Ukraine and Israel have increasingly divided the different countries. On the one hand, the West and the United States, and on the other hand, Russia and allies, while China or North Korea remain “on the sidelines” but the risk of them becoming a threat continues. Washington and Moscow are the two strongest military powers, and Faced with the possibility of a Third World War, they present an arsenal that includes nuclear weapons and makes the planet tremble.
Both countries have very even forces, and depending on the area in which it is analyzed, one army is better than the other. Nuclear weapons, warships, fighter planes… An important arsenal on the part of both sides, which have fought in recent years to be at the forefront of the arms race and the race to have the most powerful weapons and forces in the world. And in general terms, the United States could be considered to be above Russia.
In fact, The Global Fire Power Index places Washington as the strongest military power in the world, while Moscow would be the second. The classification evaluates 145 countries, although Russian forces, as indicated by the comparison in this ranking, generally surpass the United States in naval and land force, while the United States would prevail over Russia in air force by 2024.
Nuclear weapons, Army, Air, Navy… Who is better between Russia and the US
The United States has more soldiers available and more active personnel compared to Moscow, which surpasses Washington in reserve personnel and military forces. It is important to remember that The United States is the country that allocates the largest budget to Defenseexceeding 800,000 million dollars, while Russia, the third nation that sends the most money to this branch (China would be the second), allocates 109,000 million dollars.
Regarding the land force, Russia has 14,777 tanks, 161,382 armored vehicles, 6,208 self-propelled vehicles, 8,356 towed artillery and 3,605 mobile rocket projectors. For its part, The US has 4,657 tanks, 360,069 armored vehicles (the country has the most in the world), 1,595 and 1,265 self-propelled and towed artillery respectively, and 694 mobile rocket projectors.
Washington has a total of 13,209 aircraft between combat aircraft, attack aircraft, transports, special missions, tanker aircraft or helicopters, by 4,255 Russian aircraft.
Meanwhile, Moscow is the largest naval force on the planet with one aircraft carrier, sixty-five submarines, fourteen destroyers, twelve frigates, eighty-seven corvettes and 122 patrol vessels. On the other hand, the United States has eleven aircraft carriers, nine helicopter carriers, sixty-four submarines, seventy-five destroyers, twenty-three corvettes and five patrol vessels, and it should also be noted that it does not have any frigates.
But it is also important to count how many nuclear weapons each country possesses, which, as expected, are the nations that have the most nuclear warheads, far above the rest. Moscow has a total of 5,889 active nuclear warheads (1400 deployed and 4489 in reserve), while Washington has 5,244 active nuclear warheadshaving deployed 1536 by 3708 that are kept in reserve.