Something I've been wondering about Desert Storm...

Post by **RogueIce** » 2003-08-03 12:57am

Everyone makes such a big deal that Iraq had the fourth largest army in the world prior to Desert Storm. So...who were the Top Three Largest Armies?

I'd imagine the US Army, of course, and possibly the Soviets...but who was the other third, and in what order?

ANd did this account for sheer size alone, or some measure of the (theoretical, anyway) capability of the army as well?

StarshipTitanic · Post by **StarshipTitanic** » 2003-08-03 01:02am

China? North Korea?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-08-03 01:04am

I could be wrong but I believe it was:

China
USSR/Russia
America

And no, it doesn't take capability into account. Just sheer size. If it had then Iraq wouldn't have even made the top ten, let alone the fourth spot.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-08-03 01:04am

StarshipTitanic wrote:China? North Korea?

I believe our army was smaller than Iraq's at that time, actually, and that India and China are contenders for the two positions.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-08-03 01:13am

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:
StarshipTitanic wrote:China? North Korea?
I believe our army was smaller than Iraq's at that time, actually, and that India and China are contenders for the two positions.

I know India wasn't in contention. They've got a massive population but are not that militarized.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-08-03 01:36am

[1] China
[2] USSR
[3] United States
[4] Iraq

The active Indian military is quite small, about 1.1 million, because they simply can't afford anything larger. As it is almost all there military equipment is badly dated.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-08-03 01:41am

Stormbringer wrote: I know India wasn't in contention. They've got a massive population but are not that militarized.

...Actually, India is rather heavily militarized; to be precise, their current army size is 1.1 million personnel.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-08-03 01:42am

Sea Skimmer wrote:[1] China
[2] USSR
[3] United States
[4] Iraq

The active Indian military is quite small, about 1.1 million, because they simply can't afford anything larger. As it is almost all there military equipment is badly dated.

I didn't know that the U.S. military was that large after our switch to an all-professional force; and one-point-one million troops is hardly small in general, though obviously not sizeable by conscript standards.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-08-03 01:43am

Sea Skimmer wrote:
The active Indian military is quite small, about 1.1 million, because they simply can't afford anything larger. As it is almost all there military equipment is badly dated.

Their air force is for the most part pretty respectable (save for the MiG-21 and MiG-23s)- the Army's equipment is generally at late-70s early 80s level, their best army equipment is license built T-72M1 and BMP-2s.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-08-03 01:45am

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:
Stormbringer wrote: I know India wasn't in contention. They've got a massive population but are not that militarized.
...Actually, India is rather heavily militarized; to be precise, their current army size is 1.1 million personnel.

I meant relative to their population rather than the totals. They're still not that heavily militarized. Simply having a lot of soldiers doesn't mean that much.

Hasler · Post by **Hasler** » 2003-08-03 01:50am

Are we talking army or military. The US army is only 1.3 million, the navy is 382,000, the jarines are 172,000. I dont know the exact numbers on the airforce but they were around 400,000 a few years ago. The US military is only slightly over 2 million

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-08-03 01:51am

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:
Stormbringer wrote: I know India wasn't in contention. They've got a massive population but are not that militarized.
...Actually, India is rather heavily militarized; to be precise, their current army size is 1.1 million personnel.

1.1 million is there whole active military and it's been at that level for quite some time. That's tiny for a nation of a billion people, there defence spending is also only about 3.3% of the nations GDP.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-08-03 01:55am

Vympel wrote: Their air force is for the most part pretty respectable (save for the MiG-21 and MiG-23s)- the Army's equipment is generally at late-70s early 80s level, their best army equipment is license built T-72M1 and BMP-2s.

There army does have 300 T-90's with a thousand more on the way, but on the other hand it still has over a thousand Vickers Defence System Mk3 MBT's in front line service, a tank which boasts a mighty 80mm of frontal armor and an 105mm L7 main gun. Course the nation was still building the things through the mid 1980's

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2003-08-03 05:10am

Sea Skimmer wrote:
1.1 million is there whole active military and it's been at that level for quite some time. That's tiny for a nation of a billion people, there defence spending is also only about 3.3% of the nations GDP.

Yes, but what's the size of the reserves?

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-08-03 05:55am

Sea Skimmer wrote: There army does have 300 T-90's with a thousand more on the way, but on the other hand it still has over a thousand Vickers Defence System Mk3 MBT's in front line service, a tank which boasts a mighty 80mm of frontal armor and an 105mm L7 main gun. Course the nation was still building the things through the mid 1980's

Yeah, I didn't mention the 310 T-90S tanks because I was just taking into account the majority of their current equipment- but 1,000 Mk 3 MBTs? Still in service you say? Can't imagine why, India has 1,100 T-72M1 tanks in service (or 800-1,900 depending on who you ask)- waste of funds keeping anything older around IMO.