The Most Powerful Military Powers In The World

[Davros?]

it's the japanese constitution which the u.s. helped them draw up of course.

but the main obstacle to japanese military growth is the people itself.

japan paid a terrible price for ww2 and the younger generations are very pacifist.


japan does still use f-4j phantoms still but they also have a large number of f-15j eagles.

i doubt japan buys the eurofighter. japanese military likes to share hardware with the u.s. which makes sense. the u.s. is closer to japan and has military pacts with japan. sloc's also depends on the u.s. navy.

my guess is the talk of the eurofighter is similar to talk of japan designing it's own stealth fighter......to get the u.s. to sell them f-22 raptors. the u.s. congress does not allow any nation to buy or license produce the f-22 raptor.

this is what japan wants.

every fighter of the japanese air self defence force have been bought or license-produced from the united states. from the f-104j starfighter and f-4j phantom to the f-15j eagle. the japanese desperately want the f-22 raptor.

Yeah America made the Japanese constitution after the war, I agree about the Eurofighter thing it was talked about due to the US not wanting to sell the F-22, I saw a pic of that Stealth Japanese fighter it looked cool but doubt they will go ahead with it in the near future, I think if the Japanese did start producing there own kit it could turn out to be some of the best in the world, Its a good idea for them to link them self's to America technology wise, they did the same with the British back in the 1900's-1920's, I liked there rebuilds during the 20-30's there ships look dam right bizarre.

[SonnyG8R]

Mr Obama promised greater use of diplomacy and greater emphasis on building alliances around the world as he formally introduced his national security team, which included Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

But the former Illinois senator, whose rise was built on his opposition to the Iraq war, delivered a message of surprising toughness that at times could have come from George W Bush.

Mr Obama said: "To ensure prosperity here at home and peace abroad, we all share the belief we have to maintain the strongest military on the planet."

With the responsibilities of office just seven weeks away, he added that his administration was "absolutely committed to eliminating the threat of terrorism".

"We cannot tolerate a world where innocents are being killed by extremists," Mr Obama said in the wake of Bombay attacks, adding that he was "heartbroken" by the deaths of six Americans in the massacre.

"We have to bring the full force of our power, not only military but diplomatic and political, to deal with the threats," he said, also vowing that the US would stand with India.

Flanked by his new appointments, Mr Obama said he was a "believer in strong personalities and strong opinions", in order to avoid the White House lapsing into "group think". But, recalling the model of former President Harry Truman, he said that "the buck will stop with me".

Mr Obama offered fulsome praise for Hillary Clinton, whom he confirmed as secretary of state and his most controversial appointment. During the Democratic primary campaign he repeatedly criticised her support in the senate for the Iraq war, and dismissed her foreign experience as first lady as little more than drinking tea on the fringes of power.

Acknowledging that "it is fun for the press to stir up old quotes" from the heat of a campaign, he referred to Mrs Clinton as a "dear friend" and left the stage arm in arm with his former foe.

Janet Napolitano will be the new head of homeland security, and Susan Rice, will be ambassador to the United Nations.

Eric Holder, will become the first black attorney general if confirmed.

Robert Gates is staying on as defence secretary, and Gen James Jones, a former marine who led Nato in Afghanistan and who since November 2007 has acted as a special security envoy in the Middle East, becomes national security adviser.

[Left Hook Tua]

Yeah America made the Japanese constitution after the war, I agree about the Eurofighter thing it was talked about due to the US not wanting to sell the F-22, I saw a pic of that Stealth Japanese fighter it looked cool but doubt they will go ahead with it in the near future, I think if the Japanese did start producing there own kit it could turn out to be some of the best in the world, Its a good idea for them to link them self's to America technology wise, they did the same with the British back in the 1900's-1920's, I liked there rebuilds during the 20-30's there ships look dam right bizarre.

the japs are good businessmen.

they can make their own stealthfighters but at what cost?

cheaper to just license-produce american hardware no?

plus in a war......america can resupply them since they share weapons.



sidenote i think eventually the americans will give in.

they can't keep selling f/a-18's , f-16's and f-15's forever.

even australia wants to hold off any future f/a-18 or f-35 purchases because they're hoping the f-22's become available.

[Enayze]

So then this isn't about military strengths ..It's about Nuclear arsenals..

and didn't you just recite the gasoline and matches story?????

Of course its about Nuclear arsenal, and the matches story is absolutely true, it is just that America has very good positioning as opposed to the rest of the world, economically and geographically.

[fight_professor]

The mightiest army is Costa Ricas. Why? They dont have one, they overcome with the power to love.

That is true force. Love is a superweapon.

[Don Corleone]

they don't have nuclear weapons. they have nuclear weapons capability.

japan has had nuclear reactors for decades. japan has some of the smartest scientists in the world. japan has some of the best technology in the world. japan has long range rockets to send satellites into space. you do the math.

As I keep saying, Japan does have great technology but they wouldn't be allowed to own a nuke. And their Constitution forbids them from using their military to start a conflict.

in an all out war with north korea?

can north korean ships and subs close japan's sloc? no.

can north korean troops land in japan? no.

can north korean planes penetrate japan's airspace? no.

north korea would be wiped out in a war with japan. you have south korea to the south , the japanese to the east and the americans with troops in both countries and mutual defense treaties with both.

Obviously Japan has the advantage with their allied, but I'm talking about a one on one war. Not a war with allies.

Let's analyze: North Korea has 1.7 million active troops. Japan has 239,000 active troops.

North Korea has the largest reserve force in the entire world at 4.7 million reservists. Japan has 58,000 reservists.

Japan is said to spend about $59 billion on its military. North Korea spends 5.5 billion. So Japan wins in this category.

Japan has better technology and better weaponry but keep in mind North Korea has seven times more troops.

Japan has the better Air Force but it isn't the biggest advantage.

Japan has the better navy since North Korea has weapons that are outdated. However, their coastal defense is equipped with surface to surface missiles.

North Korea has 16,000 land based weapons. Japan has 2,000.

And lastly, North Korea has nuclear weapons and this would be the determining factor. Without these, I would say that Japan has many more advantages. And someone as insane as NK's leader, he would be willing to use em.

only damage north korea does to japan is with conventional missiles whose damage would be limited.

unless they're dumb enough to use nukes. hell even if the japanese don't retaliate back with nukes the nuclear fallout will effect north korea too.

Well not really. Despite the countries being right next to each other, it wouldn't really affect North Korea. I think you're exagerating a bit.

[Left Hook Tua]

And lastly, North Korea has nuclear weapons and this would be the determining factor. Without these, I would say that Japan has many more advantages. And someone as insane as NK's leader, he would be willing to use em.



Well not really. Despite the countries being right next to each other, it wouldn't really affect North Korea. I think you're exagerating a bit.

the winds would carry any nuclear fallout from japan to north korea and vice versa.

[fight_professor]

NK tested 1 nuke, and it may not have deployable nukes atop a missile. Any antique jet would get eaten up by SAM batteries and air defense systems.

Japan has a very real military.

[Left Hook Tua]

Obviously Japan has the advantage with their allied, but I'm talking about a one on one war. Not a war with allies.

Let's analyze: North Korea has 1.7 million active troops. Japan has 239,000 active troops.

North Korea has the largest reserve force in the entire world at 4.7 million reservists. Japan has 58,000 reservists.

Japan is said to spend about $59 billion on its military. North Korea spends 5.5 billion. So Japan wins in this category.

Japan has better technology and better weaponry but keep in mind North Korea has seven times more troops.

Japan has the better Air Force but it isn't the biggest advantage.

Japan has the better navy since their weapons are outdated. However, their coastal defense is equipped with surface to surface missiles.

North Korea has 16,000 land based weapons. Japan has 2,000.

numerical numbers don't account for anything.

in the 21st century , technology wins wars and battles.

iraq had a 1.5 million man army in the 1st gulf war. the allies were outnumbered almost 6-1 during desert shield. 3-1 or 4-1 even with the last minute reinforcements sent in right before the ground phase.

how did that war turn out for the iraqis?

any conflict between japan and north korea will be purely in the air and on the sea.

1 million north koreans are NOT gonna swim to japan.

[Don Corleone]

the winds would carry any nuclear fallout from japan to north korea and vice versa.

I didn't hear of nuclear fallout being pushed to North Korea at the end of the second world war during Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Also it would really depend which way the wind is blowing whether it's going east or not. Even with that, it would affect Japan much more. Such a situation would be disturbing and to be quite honest, I don't see why the United States didn't stop Kin Jong-Il from having nukes. They suspected Iraq of having them and invaded them leaving the country in chaos, and here we have Kim Jong-Il who is boasting about them and they don't do nothing at all. And the phucked up part is Kim Jong actually threatened the U.S. along with its allies with war whereas Saddam never ever threatened the U.S. Not even once!