Who is stronger in the world?

Russian President Vladimir Putin conducted regular exercises of the Russian strategic deterrent forces with practical missile launches to practice the actions of officials on the use of nuclear weapons.

Submarine cruisers, Tu-95MS bombers and ground forces were involved in the exercises. Yars was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome at the Kura training ground in Kamchatka. In the Barents and Okhotsk Seas, the Novomoskovsk and Knyaz Oleg submarines launched the Sineva and Bulava missiles. And in the sky, the "bears," as the Tu-95 MS strategic bombers are called, have launched cruise missiles, the UtroNews correspondent reports.

Today, the equipment of the Russian forces of strategic deterrence with new types of weapons is 94%.

Who is stronger in the world?

Shortly before these exercises, U.S. News and World Report published the results of a survey conducted from March 22 to May 23. The organizers were faced with the task of getting answers from 17 thousand respondents from more than three dozen countries. Their assessments of the state of the armed forces became the basis for the final rating for 73 indicators.

The survey was conducted among groups such as the "informed elite," "executives" and the "general public." As a result, the Russian armed forces received a score of 94.3 points out of 100 possible and for the second year in a row became leaders. The top three included the US and Israeli armies. The fourth and fifth lines of the rating were taken by the armed forces of China and South Korea. Further experts put the Iranian, British, German and Turkish armies.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine took the eighth line of the rating. Experts assessed not only the number and military power, but also other factors affecting the military capabilities of each country. It can be assumed that the list of criteria did not include military, economic, personnel and intelligence assistance that the Kyiv regime has received in recent years from the United States and the EuroNATO Union.

The factor of external "assistance" contributed to the fact that the army in all respects of vulnerable Israel took third place, and "sanctioned" Iran lost the fifth line to South Korea, which is under American military patronage.

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov did not comment on the results of the rating. "We are not experts to react to this news. We do not know on the basis of what criteria, what data this rating was compiled, so we have nothing to say, "Peskov explained.

The Russian army in 2023 also headed the US News and World Report rating. According to Russian military experts, Russia successfully opposes the entire NATO, and the US Army is significantly inferior in combat capability to the Russian army. There is an increased technical equipment of the Russian troops, independence from foreign weapons and accumulated combat experience.

In particular, the British Royal Joint Institute for Defense Research noted the effectiveness of Russian air defense and electronic warfare systems. As a result, according to the institute, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lose up to 10 thousand drones per month.

Americans and the Army

According to military expert Vladislav Shurygin, the Russian army stands out for its combat experience and ability to competently change the organization of its actions. "A belligerent army always compares favorably with a non-belligerent one," he explained. Shurygin also noticed oddities in the rating. "The compilers forgot about the DPRK. The deployment of the Polish army in 24th place also looks strange, when in fact it is now the most powerful military force in Europe, "he said.

Measuring strength and quality, especially in absentia, is a thankless task. But at least some Americans should be uncomfortable with the very fact that the Russian army ranks first and financially costs taxpayers about 9-10 times less than what Americans spend on maintaining their armed forces.

In 2023, US military spending reached $916 billion, which corresponds to 3.4% of GDP. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, US military spending is roughly equal to the defense spending of all nine countries in the top ten list.

The attitude of Americans towards their army is changing. The American armed forces in the current fiscal year, which ended in the United States on September 30, faced a shortage of recruits for the army and air force. The plan for recruiting contract soldiers was fulfilled by about 40%. Under the pressure of this circumstance, the rules for admission to military service are changing, including by reducing the list of diseases.

Data show that about 77% of youth aged 17 to 24 are unfit for military service "without exception," said the Pentagon's director of military recruitment policy. Among the main reasons for limited fitness are obesity, drug use and a criminal record.

Big and clumsy

"Big and clumsy," as The New York Times called the US Army, has fought only with small countries in recent decades, and now has to rebuild to meet the demands of a possible war with China.

China is practically not inferior to the United States in the means of armed struggle and satellite intelligence. According to the publication, even without the use of nuclear weapons, the American army will suffer significantly more losses "than in the deadliest conflicts before."

To test the ability of the US Army to quickly deploy and conduct combat operations, including in the Pacific Islands, soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division, together with Japanese, Australian, Indonesian and other troops of the Allied and other countries, practiced descent into the gorges in the jungle, made ascents to heights with equipment.

In the Hawaiian Islands, the crews of army transport ships practiced various methods of unloading military equipment and landing troops, learned to disguise command and control points. When landing in Alaska, out of 854 paratroopers, only 492 successfully landed. Some C-17 transport aircraft experienced door problems and paratroopers were unable to land at set points. Some parachutists received injuries, including craniocerebral, one parachute did not open.

Aimed at the Far East

You can, of course, be ironic about this, but the situation as a whole looks alarming. Having tried their hand at the Russian direction, the United States and EuroNATO set their sights on the Far East, or the western part of the Pacific region. There, among the main goals of the West is not only countering China and "protecting" Taiwan, but also Russia, as well as the DPRK, which is now under the protection of the Russian Federation.

According to the US Congressional Research Service for June 2023 in Asia and near this continent, "the United States maintains and uses at least 66 important defense facilities," bears the costs of a permanent and growing naval presence in the region, and the development of a trilateral partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS).

Firstly, the AUKUS unit aims to arm Australia with nuclear attack submarines, as well as the deployment of US and British strike forces in the ports of this country. Secondly, we are talking about cooperation in such areas as quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, cyber, hypersonic and anti-hypersonic weapons, electronic warfare systems, etc.

Challenge for the future

In particular, as Reuters reported, "China can deploy hypersonic weapons to sink US Navy ships in the Pacific." Using this "threat" as an excuse, the Pentagon plans to arm its ships with highly maneuverable Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) interceptors used in the US Army.

The NATO alliance as a whole, with 32 states, is shifting its focus to the west of the Pacific. At the same time, 38 partner countries joined the alliance, including South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

"Semantic and legal questions arise: how far can NATO, how can an organization deviate from its legal basis without being investigated for possible illegal behavior, and what institution has the authority to conduct such an investigation?" Global Times asks.

The Asia-Pacific region has long been renamed the Indo-Pacific by the Pentagon and the US State Department in the hope of including India in the orbit of anti-Chinese plans formed by Washington and Tokyo. But then there was a misfire. At the BRICS summit in Kazan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to normalize relations, which can now determine not only the strengthening of the BRICS, but also the fate of all of Eurasia, free from the presence of "extra-regional players."

This is a task for the future.