Pretty interesting.

http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5488908d69beddef418b4568-2500-4869/bi_graphics_globalfirepowerindex_2-01-4.png

- The World's Most Powerful Militaries - Business Insider (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-most-powerful-militaries-2014-12?utm_content=buffer2b999&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer)

North Korea has 78 submarines. Weird...

North Korea has 78 submarines. Weird...

Is there anything about North Korea that isn't weird?

Is there anything about North Korea that isn't weird?They have great new urbanist developments! ;)

In unrelated news: U.S. Navy Successfully Tests Laser Weapon in the Persian Gulf (http://time.com/3628047/navy-laser-weapon-test-persian-gulf/)

They have great new urbanist developments! ;)

You mean like this wonderful empty hotel?

http://ryugyonghotel.com/ryugyong-hotel-interior-1.jpg
http://ryugyonghotel.com/ryugyong-hotel-interior-4.jpg
http://ryugyonghotel.com/ryugyong-hotel-interior-8.jpg

That's a pretty cool hotel.

I'll have to search for the images, as they aren't easy to come by.

It's similar to this though. Miles and miles of new urbanist type housing developments in the main city. Pretty nice actually. I would say quite boring though.
http://www.grids-blog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/WagnerGroszstadt2.jpg

North Korea has 78 submarines. Weird...

That number is a little misleading since only like 20 of those are the size most countries with subs run, most of their's are much smaller mini subs with short range and the larger ones they have are extremely old (pretty much every other navy with subs of that era have either retired them or only use them for training new sailors).

That number is a little misleading since only like 20 of those are the size most countries with subs run, most of their's are much smaller mini subs with short range and the larger ones they have are extremely old (pretty much every other navy with subs of that era have either retired them or only use them for training new sailors).

Thank you for that. Good to know and that is certainly misleading.

Aircraft are expensive (but I am a nerd over military aircraft so I love them)

I'm a little surprised that we aren't leading every category, especially considering our massive budget.

Most of the categories we aren't leading in are the ones that don't really matter as much. 7k versus 8k nuclear warheads is more or less irrelevant as my gut feeling says they mean just as much in terms of international pressure and power as China's 250. Same with active personnel, second place in that particular ranking is entirely good enough. No clue if the same can be said about the tank count, but my less informed assumption is similar.

Not to dismiss the army, but it's really our aircraft carrier fleet and our aircraft fleet (fleet? seems like the wrong word) that matter in terms of our ability to immediately reach out and express American military power anywhere on the globe at nearly a moment's notice. The carrier fleet is pretty useful for responding to things like interational humanitarian crises, too, I'm pretty sure the numbers I've seen have that particular use over the fleet's history far outweighing its military use.

/armchair general off

I'm a little surprised that we aren't leading every category, especially considering our massive budget.

My pedestrian guess is that our air and naval superiority drive that (over quadruple the aircraft fleet and 5 times the carrier fleet of the next closest military).

My pedestrian guess is that our air and naval superiority drive that (over quadruple the aircraft fleet and 5 times the carrier fleet of the next closest military).

Yeah, it seems that would be the case. We have a hell of a lot of aircraft.

Yeah, it seems that would be the case. We have a hell of a lot of aircraft.

I wonder how much is left over from Cold War era. Our plans have had a much longer shelf life than the former USSR, and I'm guessing a lot of their got sold off post breakup for funding.

I wonder how much is left over from Cold War era. Our plans have had a much longer shelf life than the former USSR, and I'm guessing a lot of their got sold off post breakup for funding.

Sold off, if they were in the other countries they generally just lost them with no compensation. I remember on tanks Russia ended up with tons of the older antiquated ones that were pretty much just mothballed, I am not as sure on planes but might have been the case on fighters too, since in most cases they were nowhere near the front lines so the better equipment was nearer the west (long range bombers would have been an exception).

Good points, I meant to clarify sold to non USSR nations.