Azerbaijan improves position in 2019 military strength ranking

By Azernews

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijan has ranked 52nd out of 137 countries in the Global Firepower list for 2019.

Compared to 2018, Azerbaijan has risen one step, according to the ranking’s website.

Global Firepower determines a given nation’s Powerindex score based on 55 factors such as manpower, airpower, land strength, naval strength sea and miscellaneous indicators were taken into consideration.

According to the list, Azerbaijan's available manpower amounts to 5,042,346 people; 3,781,760 people who are "fit-for-service"; 367,000 total military personnel (67,000 active and 300,000 reserve personnel); 

The country has 88 helicopters, thereby ranking 43rd in "total helicopter strength", as well as 17 attack helicopters, ranking 27th for this indicator.

As for the land strength, Azerbaijan has 665 combat tanks and ranks 32nd for this indicator. The other land strength indicators are as follows: 1,671 armored fighting vehicles (41st of 137); 187 self-propelled artillery (27th of 137); towed artillery (42nd of 137); 182 rocket projectors (21st of 137).

Azerbaijan has 31 total naval assets, among them frigates-1, submarines-4, patrol vessels-13, mine warfare-7.

An important place is given to the size of the military budget, external debt, foreign exchange reserves of a country and its purchasing power.

Global Firepower list for 2019 is headed by the U.S., followed by Russia, China, India and France. Turkey ranked 9th in the list. Azerbaijan’s other neighbor Georgia ranked 86th while Armenia ranked 96th.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan’s military budget amounted to $710.5 million in 2019 while Armenia’s military budget was $500 million in the same year.