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Military power of European Union EU & USA

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European Union EU vs USA

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European Union EU USA

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union countries that are located in Europe with an area of 4,233,255 km2 The capital of Ukraine is Brussels. The number of inhabitants estimated is about 447 million. Members of EU: Germany, Latvia, France, Lithuania, Estonia, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Sweden, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

The European Union were not devised as a military alliance because most of the members are in the North Atlantic Alliance. Since the withdrawal of the UK, France is the only member recognised as a nuclear weapon state. Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium participate in NATO nuclear sharing.

USA is a country located in North America with an area of 9,857,306 km2 (land boundries: 12,002 km and costline 19,924 km). The capital of USA is Washington. The number of inhabitants is 331,449,281.

The United States is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The US military's inventory is comprised almost entirely of domestically-produced weapons systems defense industry is capable of designing, developing, maintaining, and producing the full spectrum of weapons systems. The United States is the world's leading arms exporter.

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If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 295.8 billion $ 916 billion $
Percent of GDP: 0% 3.4%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 916 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 1,277,969 1,358,500
Reserve personnel: 1,687,132 799,500
Available for military: 92,594,951 73,270,043

Active

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Highest value in the world: 2,035,000 (China)
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Land Forces

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Tanks: 4,244 5,652
Armoured fighting vehicles: 29,656 38,639
Total artillery: 6,056 3,161
Self-propelled artillery: 1,856 1,521
Rocket artillery: 674 705

Tanks

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Highest value in the world: 12,267 (Russia)
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Air Forces

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Total aircraft: 5,350 13,175
Fighter aircraft: 415 377
Multirole aircraft: 883 2,484
Attack aircraft: 142 531
Helicopters: 2,336 4,928
UCAV (combat drone): 68 444

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 13,175 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 1,306 460
Aircraftcarriers: 7 20
Destroyers: 18 97
Frigates: 69 0
Corvettes: 23 23
Submarines: 48 69

Total naval

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Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
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Nuclear weapons

European Union EU

Data not available

USA

The first country to develop and to military use nuclear warheads in the world. Everything started from the Manhattan project, a research that had one particular goal in focus – to develop and produce the first nuclear weapon. Americans were the first to wield such powerful weapon. Everything started in 1941, which is date of the beginning of Manhattan project. Since the end of the Second World War, United States became the leading country when it comes to possessing nuclear warheads and it lasted approximately to 1980s. We should also bear in mind that United States are also the only nation that ever used nuclear weapon in military conflict.

In 1960, the amount of warheads stored by Americans exceeded 30,000. However, it is worth to note that throughout the entire period of the so-called Cold War, USA managed to build approximately 70,000 nuclear warheads, what is more than all other countries with access to nuclear weapons combined. From the first test that happened in 1945 to this day, the USA conducted 1054 tests of atomic bombs. Still, as a result of introduced restrictions on the amount of warheads one state can possess, the current number has dropped to 6500 warheads. Noteworthy is also the fact that out of this number, United States deployed only 1600.

Military service

European Union EU

Data not available

USA

18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; no conscription; maximum enlistment age 42 (Army), 27 (Air Force), 34 (Navy), 28 (Marines); service obligation 8 years, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines); DoD is eliminating prohibitions restricting women from assignments in units smaller than brigades or near combat units.