Military power of Russia & Israel

The second most important state when it comes to researching, developing, and then storing nuclear weapon. Although the Russians managed to catch up with Americans later on, it was only in 1949 that the first nuclear test conducted by then the Soviet Union occurred. It was still quite a surprise for the Western Powers, who believed that Russia won’t be capable of producing nuclear warheads until 1953-1954. After the first test, the nation in question started to rapidly increase the amount of warheads they possessed. In the end of 1980s, they were the leading power when it comes to total number of warheads stored. It was approximately 40,000 warheads.

Nowadays, similarly to United States, the Russians store a total number of 6490 warheads, what is scarcely more than USA. When it comes to the number of deployed warheads, the amount is the same as in case of Americans, namely 1600 deployed warheads. We should also remember about the fact that Russia conducted over 700 tests, what makes them the second most important nation when it comes to developing nuclear weapons. However, it was the Soviet Union that managed to create the biggest bomb in the world. Known as Tsar Bomba, it had blast yield of 50 megatons of TNT.

Although not certain, there is a rumour that Israel was the sixth country in the world that managed to research and develop their own nuclear arsenal. However, they did not confirm that fact. Still, a lot of sources claim that they managed to prepare fully working nuclear warheads in 1966. In spite of such early dates, Israel has not joined the NPT. Up to this day, they do not confirm nor deny the possibility of having nuclear arsenal. As a result of that, Israel is said to apply quite effective, yet affordable deterring policy.

According to many organizations, the estimated numbers of nuclear weapons that Israel possesses varies from 80 up to even 200 ready to be launched nuclear weapons. What is more, there are also rumours that Israel managed to prepare special missiles that can be operational from submarines.

18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; 1-year service obligation (conscripts can only be sent to combat zones after 6 months of training); reserve obligation for non-officers to age 50; enrollment in military schools from the age of 16, cadets classified as members of the armed forces.

18 years of age for compulsory (Jews, Druzes) military service; 17 years of age for voluntary (Christians, Muslims, Circassians) military service; both sexes are obligated to military service; conscript service obligation - 36 months for enlisted men, 21 months for enlisted women, 48 months for officers; pilots commit to 9 years service; reserve obligation to age 41-51 (men), 24 (women).