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Since the Doomsday Clock is ticking ever closer to midnight, what with a few countries’ nuclear reserves on the verge of total annihilation, it makes sense to consider where our military power ranks compared to the rest of the world.

Global Firepower‘s (GFP) military strength ranking for 2022 has 140 countries pitted against one other, ranking them according to more than 50 individual factors to determine their PowerIndex (PwrIndx).

Geographical factors, logistical flexibility, natural resources, and local industry influence the rankings, with nuclear weapons allowing an extra bonus score.

Yikes, putting the word “bonus score” anywhere near “nuclear weapons” is just so wrong.

Anyway, the ranking doesn’t just rely on the total number of weapons available to any one country, but also weapon diversity to provide a better balance of firepower available.

Surprise, surprise (not), but America has the world’s strongest military power thanks to its massive $770 billion military budget, even though it doesn’t have the largest front line or the largest fleet of tanks.

China has the second-largest military budget of $250,2 billion, while Russia ($154 billion), the UK ($68 billion), and India ($49,6 billion) follow as the top five biggest military spenders.

Overall, out of the top 10 global military powers, the US has the largest airforce, China has the most troops and the most naval vessels, and Russia has the most tanks.

So where does South Africa stand?

For 2022, South Africa is ranked 26 out of the 140 countries considered for the annual GFP review with a PwrIndx score of 0,4276 (a score of 0,0000 is considered ‘perfect’).

The only other African country ahead of us is Egypt in 12th place with a PwrIndx score of 0,1869.

Here’s an overview of the state of our military force:

Image: Global Firepower

You can play around with that here.

South Africa apparently has 72 000 active personnel and 15 000 reserve personnel, reported BusinessTech, with over 14 million citizens fit-for-service should we enforce conscription laws.

Our defence budget is estimated at $2,9 billion, with an aircraft strength of 225 assets, land strength of 2 935 assets, naval strength of 47 assets, and a whole lot of military problems.

Yeah, unfortunately, South Africa’s army has been in decline for several years, which could put us in a rather compromising position if the shit ever hits the fan.

[sources:globalfirepower&businesstech]