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Taiwan's military 13th strongest in the world: report

ROC Central News Agency

2016/04/24 22:03:28

Taipei, April 24 (CNA) Taiwan has the 13th most powerful military in the world, and is ranked the fifth strongest in terms of the number of attack helicopters, according to a report on globalization by the Credit Suisse Research Institute.

To determine comparative military strength among major military powers, the report assigns weighted values for six variables before tabulating a final score: number of active personnel (5 percent of total score), tanks (10 percent), attack helicopters (15 percent), aircraft (20 percent), aircraft carriers (25 percent), and submarines (25 percent).

The ranking defines military might in purely quantitative terms and does not account for the actual quality of the arms and training that the militaries may have. As such, the placement of some countries on the list may come as a surprise, according to a report of U.S. news website Business Insider.

Despite budget cuts and a reduction in size, the U.S. has maintained its position as the world's strongest military, which was followed by Russia, China, Japan, India, France, South Korea, Italy, U.K. and Turkey, according to the Business Insider.

Pakistan was ranked 11th, followed by Egypt, Taiwan, Israel, Australia, Thailand, Poland, Germany, Indonesia and Canada, the report said.

Threatened by China, which continues to have plans to invade and retake the country, Taiwan has focused its military development on defensive plans. As such, the island has the fifth highest number of attack helicopters on the list. It also has a fairly large fleet of 804 aircraft and 2,005 tanks, the Business Insider report said.

(By Evelyn Kao)
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