BLOGGING THE VIEW: South African military shows its muscle

ON Tuesday, 21 February the SANDF will put on a display at Armed Forces Day, overseen by the commander-in-chief himself, President Cyril Ramaphosa.

With Armed Forces Day being hosted in Zululand, and queues of hopefuls looking to join one of the military branches, it’s time we took a closer look at the SANDF and where it stands in the world.

South Africa’s rankings
We’re currently ranked as having the 26th greatest military strength globally, which is a shift up from 32nd last year.
In Africa, we rank 12th behind Egypt but we rank 1st in terms of military strength in sub-Saharan Africa.
We have 72 000 active personnel supported by 15 000 reserves – with estimates of more than 14 million citizens fit for service if conscription laws were enforced.

SA Air Force:
· 17 fighter aircraft
· 7 special mission aircraft
· 22 transport aircraft
· 88 trainer aircraft
· 91 total helicopters

SA Army:
· 195 combat tanks
· 2 565 armoured fighting vehicles
· 43 self-propelled artillery
· 82 towed artillery
· 50 rocket projectors

SA Navy:
· 4 frigates
· 3 submarines
· 31 patrol craft
· 2 mine warfare vessels
· 6 unspecified

Top military in the world
The South African national defence budget for 2023/24 is sitting at R47.2-billion – and while that is a big number, it doesn’t come near the spending of some of the world’s top militaries.
Here’s a quick look at the top 10 militaries and how they compare.

10. Turkey: $18.2-billion
Active frontline personnel: 410 500
Tanks: 3 778
Total aircraft: 1 020
Submarines: 13

9. United Kingdom: $60.5-billion
Active frontline personnel: 146 980
Tanks: 407
Total aircraft: 936
Submarines: 10

8. Italy: $34-billion
Active frontline personnel: 320 000
Tanks: 586
Total aircraft: 760
Submarines: 6

7. South Korea: $62.3-billion
Active frontline personnel: 624 465
Tanks: 2 381
Total aircraft: 1 412
Submarines: 13

6. France: $62.3-billion
Active frontline personnel: 202 761
Tanks: 423
Total aircraft: 1 264
Submarines: 10

5. India: $50-billion
Active frontline personnel: 1 325 000
Tanks: 6 464
Total aircraft: 1 905
Submarines: 15

4. Japan: $41.6-billion
Active frontline personnel: 247 173
Tanks: 678
Total aircraft: 1 613
Submarines: 16

3. China: $216-billion
Active frontline personnel: 2 333 000
Tanks: 9 150
Total aircraft: 2 860
Submarines: 67

2. Russia: $84.5-billion
Active frontline personnel: 766 055
Tanks: 15 398
Total aircraft: 3 429
Submarines: 55

1. United States: $601-billion
Active frontline personnel: 1 400 000
Tanks: 8 848
Total aircraft: 13 892
Submarines: 72

SOURCES:
https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/ranked-the-worlds-20-strongest-militaries/slidelist/51930339.cms
https://businesstech.co.za/news/trending/552770/south-africas-military-strength-in-2022-vs-the-world/

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