The Powerful European Military No Smart Enemy Would Mess With

24/7 Wall St. Insights

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower to determine the countries with the strongest military might in Europe.
Despite its smaller size, the United Kingdom is one of the most powerful militaries on the continent.
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Poland has goals of increasing its military might with the hopes of becoming the strongest military in Europe. According to Euronews, this European nation’s military is upping its defense spending and has plans to increase its vehicles, equipment, and personnel. Today, Poland falls within the top 10 strongest European militaries, but it’s not anywhere near number one. (These are the most powerful militaries in the world.) Which European country has the most powerful military? Let’s find out.

Here 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look into the military powers in Europe. To determine the countries with the strongest military might in Europe, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Global Firepower ranked 145 countries based on their PowerIndex, a composite of over 60 measures in categories such as military might, financials, logistical capability, and geography. The smaller the PowerIndex value the more powerful a nation’s theoretical conventional fighting capability is. We included supplemental information regarding active military personnel, military aircraft, vehicles, and naval power as well.

Despite its smaller size, the United Kingdom is one of the most powerful militaries on the continent. With nuclear capabilities and powerful aircraft carriers, this island nation boasts one of the largest and most advanced fighting forces in the region.

Beyond the size of military fleets and advanced technology, military alliances such as NATO play a part in the military strength of a nation. Although not every European nation is a part of NATO, the ones that do have considerable military support. Interestingly, Iceland has no military but relies on the collective defense agreement of NATO should they need protection. (These are the countries with the most military expenditures.)

Here is a look at the European countries with the strongest militaries:

Why Are We Covering This?

The military might of most European countries comes from their historical involvement in World War II. This would ultimately shape how Europe looks today and much of the geopolitical relationships within the region. Each of these nations has its own strengths and weaknesses, most of these arising from geography, national industry, and military alliances.

38. Moldova

Military strength score: 4.2311
Active military personnel: 8,500
Total military aircraft: 3
Total military vehicles: 450
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

37. Iceland

Military strength score: 3.5038
Active military personnel: 0
Total military aircraft: 0
Total military vehicles: 175
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

36. Kosovo

Military strength score: 3.4115
Active military personnel: 10,000
Total military aircraft: 0
Total military vehicles: 922
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

35. Montenegro

Military strength score: 2.9109
Active military personnel: 2,350
Total military aircraft: 11
Total military vehicles: 662
Total navy ships and submarines: 13

34. Bosnia and Herzegovina

Military strength score: 2.3996
Active military personnel: 12,770
Total military aircraft: 24
Total military vehicles: 450
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

33. North Macedonia

Military strength score: 2.1717
Active military personnel: 9,000
Total military aircraft: 20
Total military vehicles: 2,156
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

32. Luxembourg

Military strength score: 2.1458
Active military personnel: 1,000
Total military aircraft: 1
Total military vehicles: 180
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

31. Latvia

Military strength score: 1.9911
Active military personnel: 17,250
Total military aircraft: 7
Total military vehicles: 1,544
Total navy ships and submarines: 18

30. Ireland

Military strength score: 1.8779
Active military personnel: 7,765
Total military aircraft: 25
Total military vehicles: 1,064
Total navy ships and submarines: 6

29. Slovenia

Military strength score: 1.8286
Active military personnel: 7,300
Total military aircraft: 38
Total military vehicles: 1,502
Total navy ships and submarines: 2

28. Albania

Military strength score: 1.8188
Active military personnel: 6,600
Total military aircraft: 19
Total military vehicles: 976
Total navy ships and submarines: 19

27. Lithuania

Military strength score: 1.7395
Active military personnel: 23,000
Total military aircraft: 9
Total military vehicles: 1,356
Total navy ships and submarines: 11

26. Estonia

Military strength score: 1.7237
Active military personnel: 7,700
Total military aircraft: 7
Total military vehicles: 1,409
Total navy ships and submarines: 10

25. Austria

Military strength score: 1.2351
Active military personnel: 16,000
Total military aircraft: 104
Total military vehicles: 848
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

24. Belgium

Military strength score: 1.2064
Active military personnel: 25,000
Total military aircraft: 110
Total military vehicles: 4,606
Total navy ships and submarines: 9

23. Slovakia

Military strength score: 1.1891
Active military personnel: 19,500
Total military aircraft: 37
Total military vehicles: 2,048
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

22. Croatia

Military strength score: 1.1333
Active military personnel: 14,325
Total military aircraft: 81
Total military vehicles: 3,076
Total navy ships and submarines: 32

21. Belarus

Military strength score: 1.0901
Active military personnel: 63,000
Total military aircraft: 183
Total military vehicles: 6,700
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

20. Bulgaria

Military strength score: 1.0132
Active military personnel: 37,000
Total military aircraft: 65
Total military vehicles: 7,420
Total navy ships and submarines: 40

19. Serbia

Military strength score: 0.9038
Active military personnel: 25,000
Total military aircraft: 112
Total military vehicles: 3,954
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

18. Hungary

Military strength score: 0.8478
Active military personnel: 41,600
Total military aircraft: 62
Total military vehicles: 7,797
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

17. Finland

Military strength score: 0.7967
Active military personnel: 24,000
Total military aircraft: 164
Total military vehicles: 11,716
Total navy ships and submarines: 246

16. Denmark

Denmark+military | The military at Rosenborg castle

Military strength score: 0.7743
Active military personnel: 20,000
Total military aircraft: 119
Total military vehicles: 4,056
Total navy ships and submarines: 91

15. Romania

Romanian Defence Forces Join In Combative Training On Black Sea

Military strength score: 0.7712
Active military personnel: 81,300
Total military aircraft: 131
Total military vehicles: 9,990
Total navy ships and submarines: 20

14. Czechia

Military strength score: 0.7706
Active military personnel: 28,000
Total military aircraft: 88
Total military vehicles: 6,757
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

13. Switzerland

Military strength score: 0.6097
Active military personnel: 101,584
Total military aircraft: 147
Total military vehicles: 4,304
Total navy ships and submarines: 0

12. Norway

Military strength score: 0.5664
Active military personnel: 23,250
Total military aircraft: 102
Total military vehicles: 7,048
Total navy ships and submarines: 25

11. Netherlands

Military strength score: 0.5644
Active military personnel: 41,380
Total military aircraft: 143
Total military vehicles: 3,176
Total navy ships and submarines: 112

10. Portugal

Military strength score: 0.5609
Active military personnel: 24,000
Total military aircraft: 117
Total military vehicles: 11,173
Total navy ships and submarines: 113

9. Greece

Military strength score: 0.4349
Active military personnel: 142,700
Total military aircraft: 632
Total military vehicles: 57,030
Total navy ships and submarines: 187

8. Sweden

Military strength score: 0.4009
Active military personnel: 24,400
Total military aircraft: 212
Total military vehicles: 7,958
Total navy ships and submarines: 353

7. Poland

Military strength score: 0.2917
Active military personnel: 202,100
Total military aircraft: 468
Total military vehicles: 13,956
Total navy ships and submarines: 45

6. Spain

Military strength score: 0.2882
Active military personnel: 133,282
Total military aircraft: 513
Total military vehicles: 15,046
Total navy ships and submarines: 168

5. Germany

Military strength score: 0.2847
Active military personnel: 181,600
Total military aircraft: 618
Total military vehicles: 79,317
Total navy ships and submarines: 64

4. Ukraine

President Of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky Visits Turkey

Military strength score: 0.2598
Active military personnel: 900,000
Total military aircraft: 321
Total military vehicles: 22,110
Total navy ships and submarines: 104

3. France

Military strength score: 0.1878
Active military personnel: 200,000
Total military aircraft: 972
Total military vehicles: 85,023
Total navy ships and submarines: 128

2. Italy

Military strength score: 0.1863
Active military personnel: 165,500
Total military aircraft: 800
Total military vehicles: 61,892
Total navy ships and submarines: 309

1. United Kingdom

Military strength score: 0.1443
Active military personnel: 184,860
Total military aircraft: 664
Total military vehicles: 27,203
Total navy ships and submarines: 117

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