Quote Originally Posted by brushy bill View Post
I am not sure IDF is larger than Russian army and can't seem to find via Google fu. Are you comparing Russian / Israeli armies or Russian Army vs entire Israeli Defense Force (all services)?
Getting a bit off topic, but the Russian army is much smaller than most would think, and the "Mazi" (Israeli army) is much larger than most would realize.

Exact figures requires some leveling as some armies also have a significant border patrol element and as such get excluded as they are not deployable.

Likewise, the reserves of some countries have a higher level of readiness/performance than mainstream armies of others.

Remember, the Russian army:
- is much smaller than the USSR army, which is what we tend to think of
- is smaller than overall Russian military. Large Navy, Airforce, etc. About 50-60% is ground forces.
- is smaller now than it was in 2008, for some very specific reasons (80-90% reduction in number of units, 50-70% or more reduction in soldiers)
- is smaller now than it is on paper due to demographic issues (285k vs 400k on paper)
- has a smaller fraction yet in missions/roles aligned to what we would consider Army. (Vs. Border Patrol/Police)
- is much more effective now than it was while larger in 2008
- reserve element is considered militarily in-effective, largely ex-conscripts with very low level of readiness

Israel army:
- 175k active personel (Mazi, the army, not IDF overall. Traditional army ground forces, with no border patrol/police mission, etc)
- 445k reserve which has a higher level of readiness than many active units in other armies

Considering the relative sizes of the countries, its an amazing difference.

What makes Russia remain powerful is the other parts of it's military: Nuclear, navy (and especially subs), air-force.

Israel spends about 5.5% of GDP on defence, with majority going to ground forces. (Minimal navy).
Russia about 4%, with much focus on Navy, Airforce, and lately, technology.

Power & effectiveness is not the same as size, for sure. But we were talking size earlier, Russia is simply not as big as we tend to remember. With some unexpected names being much larger when adjusted to be apples to apples comparison (China, India, Pakistan, N Korea, S Korea, Turkey, etc)

India is on the move, with mil expenditures growing at the fastest rate of any, and is expected to pass Russia in terms of total expenditures. China is huge, (1.5M+) but there are questions on readiness, etc. But even if you discounted 50% or more it's still the largest ground force. Pakistan has a very large standing army, and may pass the US on paper if our cuts continue.

FYI: Most comparisons lump the US Army and Marines together as our Marines fight as a conventional Army for the most part. Where in most other country marines are much narrowly scoped in a true Marine role/mission as ship based infantry.

As far as sources, most consider Janes and IISS to be as accurate as any, and that's who most of the internet secondary sources reference. As an aside, it's the job of one of my sons to know this type of thing and he regularly disabuses me of past cold war Soviet perceptions. In no way does this mean Russia is not powerful, just in a different way than the classic Soviet juggernaut we remember.