Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Military service age and obligation 18-27 years of age for 18 years of age (17 years of
compulsory or voluntary military with parental consent) for m
service; males are registered for and female voluntary servic
the draft at 17 years of age; conscription; maximum enli
service obligation is 1 year age 42 (Army), 27 (Air Force
(conscripts can only be sent to (Navy), 28 (Marines); service
combat zones after 6 months of obligation 8 years, including
training); reserve obligation to years active duty (Army), 2 y
age 50; enrollment in military active (Navy), 4 years active
schools from the age of 16, Force, Marines); DoD is
cadets classified as members of eliminating prohibitions rest
the armed forces women from assignments in
smaller than brigades or nea
combat units
Personnel > Per capita 10.15 per 1,000 people 5.22 per 1,000 people
Ranked 28th. 95% morethan Ranked 70th.
United States
Service age and obligation 18-27 years of age for 18 years of age (17 years of
compulsory or voluntary military with parental consent) for m
service; males are registered for and female voluntary servic
the draft at 17 years of age; maximum enlistment age 42
service obligation - 1 year; (Army), 27 (Air Force), 34 (N
reserve obligation to age 50; as 28 (Marines); service obligat
of July 2008, a draft military years, including 2-5 years ac
strategy called for the draft to duty (Army), 2 years active (
continue up to the year 2030 4 years active (Air Force, Ma
WMD > Nuclear The Soviet nuclear weapon As one of the five recognize
program began during World War nuclear weapons states und
II and culminated in a successful Nuclear Non-Proliferation Tr
atomic bomb test in 1949. (NPT), the United States mai
Russia, as the successor of the a sizeable arsenal of nuclea
Soviet Union, is a nuclear weapons, including approxi
weapon state party to the Non- 10,350 intact warheads, 5300
Proliferation Treaty (NPT). which are considered active
According to estimates by the operational. Approximately 4
Natural Resources Defense strategic warheads are
Council, by 1991, the Soviet operational, 1,150 of which a
Union had approximately 35,000 deployed on land-based mis
weapons in its stockpile, down systems (Minuteman and
from a peak in 1986 of Peacekeeper ICBMs), 1,050
approximately 45,000. Russia is bombers (B-52 and B-2), and
estimated to now have around on submarines (Ohio-class s
20,000 nuclear weapons, 780 are tactical nuclear wea
although total stockpile size is (TNWs), and consist of an
uncertain because there is no estimated 200 Tomahawk lan
accurate count of tactical nuclear attack cruise missiles (TLAM
weapons. However, in 2002 and 580 B61 bombs. The
Russia declared it will eliminate remaining warheads are
its tactical nuclear weapons by stockpiled. The only remain
the end of 2004. Under the U.S. weapons in forward
START I Treaty, the Russian deployment, aside from thos
STAT Russia United States
nuclear arsenal has been SSBNs, are approximately 4
reduced to approximately 7,000 the 580 operational B61 bom
strategic warheads. The START II located at eight bases in six
Treaty, which was declared non- European NATO countries.
binding in June 2002, would have According to the May 2002 T
reduced this number to between of Moscow (the Strategic
3,000 and 3,500 strategic nuclear Offensive Reductions Treaty
warheads. The Strategic SORT) between the United S
Offensive Reductions Treaty and the Russian Federation,
(Treaty of Moscow) requires countries are required to red
Russia to reduce the number of their strategic nuclear arsen
deployed strategic warheads to 1,700-2,200 operationally de
between 1,700 and 2,200 by the warheads by 2012. In June 2
end of 2012. Russia inherited a the US Department of Energ
massive nuclear weapons announced that "almost half
production complex and large these warheads would be re
stocks of weapons grade fissile for dismantlement by 2012.
material. It is estimated that statement suggests that the
Russia has between 735 and stockpile of 10,350 warheard
1,365 metric tons (t) of weapons would be reduced to about 6
grade-equivalent highly enriched by this date. Over 5,000 war
uranium (HEU) and between 106 have been removed from
and 156 t of military-use deployment by the United S
plutonium. and placed in a "responsive
reserve force" (active but no
deployed or in overhaul). Th
"spares," or warheads on in
status, have not been disma
in keeping with past practice
under previous U.S. arms co
agreements. The Bush
administration has rejected
ratification of the Comprehe
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, but
for a continued moratorium
nuclear testing. The NPR ca
a reduction in the amount of
needed (now 18 months as
mandated by Congress, but
could be reduced to as little
months) to test a nuclear we
suggesting that the United S
might decide to resume nuc
testing, although Bush
administration officials deny
this is currently planned and
explain the shortening of tes
readiness time as a logical
STAT Russia United States
extension of the U.S. decisio
maintain a testing option. Th
also calls for discussion on
possible development of ne
yield, bunker-busting TNW. A
barring research and develo
that could lead to the produ
by the United States of a new
yield "bunker buster" nuclea
weapon (warheads with a yi
5 kilotons or less) was pass
Congress in 1994. In its FY2
budget request, however, th
Department of Defense requ
a repeal of the 1994 law,
suggesting that the U.S.
government intends to proc
with development of new nu
weapons. The repeal was
approved by the Senate on 2
2003. The Bush administrati
requested an additional $8.5
million in its 2006 budget in
to continue research of nucl
"bunker busters" under the
Robust Nuclear Earth Penet
(RNEP) Project. Congress re
RNEP funding and resource
the Advanced Concepts Initi
one that would develop min
or exotic designs, complete
FY2005. Weapons laboratori
under the Department of En
began research on the RNEP
Project in 2003, and the stud
expected to be complete in 2
The United States used nucl
weapons on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in August 1945, m
it the only country that has e
used nuclear weapons durin
conflict. It ratified the NPT in
March 1970.
t is unquestionable that the United States military
power is dominant, but just as an illustration, consider
these numbers:
Military Spending
Russias military budget at $67 billion is tiny, compared to
the United States $594 billion (bigger than the military
budget of the next nine countries with largest military
budgets combined).
Active Military Personnel
The United States has 1,492,200 military personnel vs.
Russias 845,000.
Military Bases
There are around 800 U.S. bases in 80 foreign countries,
with 174 U.S. base sites in Germany alone. As of 2016,
Russia has 12 military bases outside of its border: 10 of
them on the territory of the former Soviet Union, in close
proximity to Russias borders, two others in Syria and
Vietnam
Map source: businessinsider.com
Nuclear Weapons
Both sides have more than enough to completely destroy
each other several times. According to the Arms Control
Association, Russia has 1,735 strategic warheads
deployed on 521 ICBMs, SLBMs, and strategic bombers,
and 2,700 non-deployed strategic and deployed and non-
deployed tactical warheads, and 3,200 additional
warheads are awaiting dismantlement.
The United States has 1,481 strategic nuclear warheads
deployed on 741 ICBMs, SLBMs, and strategic bombers,
and 2,570 non-deployed strategic warheads, and roughly
500 deployed and non-deployed tactical warheads, and
approximately 2,500 warheads retired and awaiting
dismantlement.
Irrelevance of Hard Numbers in Asymmetric
Response
Whilst the overall defence numbers look favourable to the
United States, the Russians can compensate for their
numerical inferiority by deploying high-end systems for
which the US has no real equivalent or good
countermeasures.
Since 2012, when the U.S. announced its plans to
proceed with building the Missile Defence System in
Eastern Europe, Russia has warned of its asymmetric
response to US threats:
Russia will strengthen its air defence capabilities,
including air defence systems around Moscow and
in strategic forces, build new tracking stations in
addition to three existing ones, and create such
systems for which missile defence will not be an
obstacle.
Aircraft
Movies such as Top Gun have created a collective imdge in
our mind which suggests that the United States is associated
with military might in the air. And this is certainly reflected in
figures related to military aircraft. Of course, many of the
worlds largest defense contractors operate out of the United
States, and companies such as Lockheed Martin ensure that
the US is pretty spectacularly endowed with military aircraft.
Helicopters
The aerial supremacy of the United States is also underlined
with regard to helicopters. Again, military history intrinsically
associates this vehicle with the United States, as helicopters
are indelibly linked with critical conflicts for the US in the 20th
century such as Vietnam and Korea.
Submarines
As mentioned previously, it was a Russian nuclear submarine
which almost prompted complete disaster during the Cuban
Missile Srisis. But both the United States and Russia are
associated with underwater technology, and as such there is
no significant difference between the two in this department.
The United States has slightly more deployable submarines,
72 as opposed to 63, but one cannot say that there is a
significant difference in military strength in this department.
Defense Spending
Given that President Obama famously signed off a $1 trillion
defense budget, and the notion of the military-industrial
complex was coined by a 1961 speech by Dwight
Eisenhower, it wouldnt come as a huge surprised if US
defense spending was significantly higher than Russia. And,
of course, this turns out to be the case, with admitted defense
spending in the United States currently equal to around $612
billion. This dwarfs any nation on the planet, and Russia is no
exception, with the Eastern European powerhouse spending
$76 billion annually on its defense.
Nuclear Weapons
Both countries have been reducing their stockpiles of nuclear
weapons under various disarmament and non-proliferation
treaties. But the bulk of nuclear weapons which remain in the
two nations is a constant reminder of the potential stakes
involved. This is one department in which Russia has the
edge over the United States, with the Eastern European
nation currently boasting around 8,000 active nuclear
warheads. This is reckoned to be nearly 1,000 more than the
United States.
In an estimation published in 2012, graphic designer
Maximilian Bode stated that the estimated tonnage of nuclear
warheads in the world today would easily be enough to
obliterate the entire human population. Given that the United
States and Russia is responsible for 75 percent of these
nuclear weapons, we must hope that diplomatic relations
between the two nations thaw somewhat in the near future.