Global Fire Power: 1st time Saudi Army Rises 8 Spots Globally
Global Fire Power, a global army rankings website, revealed in its latest report on the 2020 list of the most important armies in the world, the rise of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s army for the first time to the 17th in the world and the second in the Arab world, ahead of 8 places at once.
It was ranked 25 last year, surpassing The Israeli army, which ranked No. 18 according to the classification list based on about 50 criteria, including manpower, land area, size of airports, ports and coasts, budget, road network, transportation lines, and railways, in addition to military standards and war equipment.
Global Fire Power stated that the number of enrolled in military service in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is 803,000 of various ranks, of whom 478,000 are in actual service and 325,000 are within the reserve forces, while in the Israeli army the number in service is 615,000 of various ranks, 170,000 of them actually in service, and 445,000 in the reserve forces.
The world-famous Military Classifications website stated that the defense budget allocated to the army of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia amounts to $67.6 billion annually, while the budget of the Israeli army is $20 billion, and the size of the Kingdom’s external debt reaches $205 billion, while in Israel it reaches $88.6 billion.
On the military standards comparing the Saudi and Israeli armies, Global Fire Power revealed that the number of aircraft in the Kingdom is 879 aircraft of different models, whether fighters, attack helicopters, transport and training aircraft, and ordinary helicopters, where the Kingdom has a clear advantage in transport aircraft with 49 aircraft compared to 15 in the Israeli army, as well as attack fighters, with 270 aircraft for the Saudi army compared to 259 for the Israeli army.
On the ground force between the Saudi and Israeli armies, Global Fire Power showed that Saudi Arabia has 1,026 battle tanks, while Israel has 2,760 tanks, and Saudi Arabia has 12,825 armored fighting vehicles, compared to 10,275 armored vehicles for the Israeli army, in addition to a clear superiority in field artillery for the Saudi forces. Furthermore, there are 1,818 cannons for only 300 of the Israeli army.
In terms of naval strength, the number of units in the Saudi army reached 55, while in the Israeli army 65 units, as Tel Aviv acquires a large number of coastal traffic boats, with 45 starches, while Saudi Arabia is only nine yachts, but the Kingdom excels in the number of frigates. It has three modern frigates, while Israel does not have any frigates, according to Global Fire Power’s information. In addition the two forces were equal in numbers of corvettes or caravans with four for each of the two armies, but the Saudi army outperformed in the acquisition of minesweepers by three to zero for the Israeli army.
On the airports in both Saudi Arabia and Israel, the site showed that the Kingdom exports 214 airports and air bases, compared to only 47 in Israel, as well as railways, reaching 1378 km in the Kingdom, while it reaches 975 km in Israel, and in terms of oil production, the superiority appeared.
The Global Fire Power website showed that the Kingdom’s daily oil consumption is 4 million barrels, while Tel Aviv is 250,000 barrels, while the length of the Saudi border with surrounding countries reached 4,272 square kilometers, while Israel is only 1,068 km, and the length of the coasts in the Kingdom reached 2,640. Km, compared to only 273 km Israel.
