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Top 10 Countries with the Most Expensive Military Spending

Saturday, January 25, 2014 16:45

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(Before It's News)

Top 10 Countries with the Most Expensive Military Spending

BY ADMIN · JANUARY 25, 2014

Edwin Starr once sang, “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!” Nobody can win a war and one can just wonder what the purpose of each war was/is. Yet, the fact remains that countries have enemies in this world hell bent on its destruction. So the best way to counter it is to prepare for the enemy’s destruction as well. Here are the top 10 countries who are spending the most on military and defense.

10. Italy

Expenses:

$34 billion

Italy accounts for 1.9 percent of the total military and defense spending in the world. The amount comes up to 1.7 percent of its gross domestic product. The country has 183,000 active military personnel divided into the Esercito Italiano, Aeronautica Militare, and Marina Militare. It also has a fourth branch called the Carabinieri, which serves as the territorial police force. The Carabinieri has 117,943 personnel.

In April 2013, it was announced by Bloomberg News that Italy may consider saving as much as 5 billion euros ($6.6 billion) by cutting defense spending as the recession-hit country needs to tame its public finances and cannot afford to hike taxes. The Rome-based Parliament passed a bill in December of 2013 to cut defense spending and the size of the militar. Italy aims to to reduce the number of military personnel by about 16 percent to 150,000 and civil staff by about a third to 20,000 by 2024. Whether that will happen or not, we’ll have to wait and see.

9. India

Expenses:

$41.3 billion

The Indian Armed Forces or the “Devanagari” is the 4th largest military in the world, with nearly 5 million active personnel, and has the 9th largest budget for military spending in the world. The Devanagari comprises the Indian army, Indian air force, Indian Navy, the three forces supported by their paramilitary forces such as their coast guard, Special Frontier Force, and Assam Rifles, and other inter-service institutions like India’s Strategic Forces Command. Since the year 1962, India has worked with Russia for such programs like the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft, and Multirole Transport Aircraft. Over the years, their armed forces have constantly been modernized and expanded, a perfect example is the missile defense system. The military defense system is a double-tiered system consisting of two interceptor missiles, namely the Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) missile for high altitude interception and the Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile for lower altitude interception. According to SIPRI, India spends a total of $41.3 billion on its armed forces.

8. Germany

Expenses:

$45.8 billion

The armed forces in Germany are known as the “Bundeswehr”, and it is further divided into two, the military and the civil. The military includes the army (Heer), air force (Luftwaffe), navy (Marine), joint support service (Streitkraftebasis), and the central medical services (Zentraler Sanitatsdienst). The Bundeswehr is the most technologically advanced and most supplied troops in the world, ranking as the 30th largest military force in the world, with over 183,000 troops. According to SIPRI, Germany spends approximately $45.8 billion for their Bundeswehr, as of 2013.

7. Japan

Expenses:

$54.5 billion

The Japan Self-Defense Forces incorporates the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They have been active ever since World War II ended. The good thing about this country is that it has kept its military expenditures at about 1% of GDP since 1967. As a result, the amount spent on defense relies heavy on the strength/weakness of the economy. While military spending in the entire East Asia region has increased by more than 55% over the last decade, Japan’s has decreased by 1.7%, according to a study done by the Institute for Policy Studies.

6. Saudi Arabia

Expense:

$56.7 billion

The Saudi Armed Forces includes the Saudi Arabian Army, The Royal Saudi Air Defense, The Royal Saudi Navy, The Royal Saudi Air Force, the Saudi Arabian National Guards (SANG), the General Intelligence Presidency (GIP), and their paramilitary forces. Although the SANG’s budget was part of the military spendings, it is independent and is not under any obligation of the Minister of Defense, reporting directly to the royalty (the King) from its own appointed minister. According to SIPRI, Saudi Arabia spends a total of $56.7 billion for its defense.