This is a very subjective question, leaving people bound to claim their own country a having the best army in the world. In reality it comes down to what you define as best.
If you define best as "which individual Army is most likely to win a war against a foreign power?", then the answer is undoubtedly the United States. Although they have a smaller Army than the Chinese in terms of manpower, their technology is, at this time, far superior making them more likely to succeed in all out war.
That said, war is rarely straight forward and allegiances are often formed to bring down a common enemy who could not be defeated by an individual nation. For example, if the United States entered into war with A member of the European Union, the other members would probably come to it's aid. In this situation, the eventual victor of the conflict would probably be the allied Europeans as together they have similar technology to the United States but a greater number of troops and a stronger economy.
If the playing field was level in terms of man power and technology the situation changes again, with the emphasis being on the skill of the Individual soldier and the strategy of the army. Here the British probably excel, having regiments like the SAS, Royal Marines and Parachute regiment with a reputation for stringent discipline and intensive training (the Royal Marines have the longest basic training course of any normal infantry soldiers in the world at 33 weeks). Of course the US is not far behind with Delta Force or the Navy SEALs but the size of their special forces makes it harder to train all of the soldiers to the same level that other nations may do. The Gurkhas should probably receive and honorable mention - they fight as part of the British army but hail from Nepal, so in a way they could be seen as an unofficial Nepalese army - in which case they would be the best trained and most skilled of any Army in the world, although lacking technology and manpower, they have proved themselves time and again in conflict.
Historically, Britain and America have always been very strong militarily, although Britain has a richer history. Since the official creation of both the British Army, no foreign power has ever managed to invade Britain (although this could also be down to the fact it i an Island nation). The same can be said for the US; once the British left they have had no need to actually defend their country itself - just allies or overseas territories. Compare these two to places that may have faced similar threats militarily, like Russia, France and Germany and their long standing dominance is very impressive.
Going back even further, the title of best Army in the world could be given to the Roman Army, as for several hundreds of years, they were head and shoulders above their nearest rivals. The Greeks might have a claim to having the toughest soldiers in the Spartans, who even today are world renowned as being seriously good fighters (they won one of most one sided battles in History at Thermoplyae in 480BC. Their entire lives were devoted to fighting and training so it's easy to imagine how they were such good fighters.
In conclusion:
The Top ten "best" Armies at this time in terms of expenditure and man power, training and equipment.
1. United States
2. China
3. United Kingdom
4. France
5. Russia
6. Japan
7. Germany
8. Italy
9. India
10.Saudi Arabia
Historically (looking at the most militarily powerful nations of the last few hundred years) the list should probably go;
1. Britain
2. France
3. Germany
4. Russia
5. USA
Additional input from WikiAnswers Contributors:
This question could be interpreted in different ways. If it is asking about the most powerful conventional army in the world, most would say the US. However, many FAQ Farmers interpreted the question to be asking for a subjective opinion on the "best" military. Many people said the armies of their own nation were the best in order to be patriotic. Here are some of the facts and opinions that were given:
United States Army
British Army
Other Opinions:
The united states has the best army.
Pakistan Army is the best paid
Pakistan isn't even in the top 10. The United States has by far the best army in the world.
U.S. Army. The U.S. Army is the best in the world. Not necessarily the largest, but certainly the best.
According to me Indian army is best army in the world..........
Israel is the 3rd best army in the world and the most brutal.
AnswerU.S.A. !!! i believe INDIAN army is the bestthe greatest army is the british army combined with the american army together they make an unstoppable force!
Pakistani army is the best in earlier 1970's.but now Pakistani army is not the worst nor the best army of the world.every body ask what is the ranking of Pakistani army in the world .I think the Pakistani is at 15 army of the world .nothing more to say
Gurkhas were amongst the best.
the German army during world war 2
Britain is probably got the best army in the world. Even though it is small in size it is very powerfull nation, it has managed to won wars against many countries of the world and never backs down. If there army wasent the best in the world why would the Americans want them to be fighting along side them in Iraq and Afganistan. The British army also has the best trained units. These include the SAS and the SBS, so this showes that there army is one of the best in the world. No. Britain's army is not match to America's, China's, or even Russia's.
It is best funded army in the world, with about 1.2 million enlisted.
the greatest army is the british army combined with the american army together they make an unstoppable force!
Either Germany of The U.S.A.
india not republic of india
Call of duty 5,4,3,2,1
Britain easily, with superior tactics and training, history backs this up. Britain is renowned for having the best skilled army and best tactics even if it is not the largest army in the world
because they were so organized.because there were so many different positions.because they had the best weapons.because they had the best training.
the pira provisional Irish republican army Yeah, they're awesome.
Yes, I believe it is considered one of the best armies in the world, at this time.
Pakistan is one of the best country of the world. It is at 3rd number in the world.
It is very difficult to define the 'best army' and indeed what is a good one. But the British Army has been proved to have some of the most intense training courses of any army and is considered one of the best armies in the world. The British Army is generally considered to be the 4th best in the world and yet it consists of only 147,000 soldiers, compared to the US over 500,000 and china over a million. That has to show that the British army has the best trained soldiers in the world and that, soldier for soldier, they are the best in the world. They are also probably one of the oldest standing armies in the world, and have contributed more than a fair share to the development of modern military tactics.
1U.S.A.2China3Russia4India5U.K.6France7Germany8Brazil9Japan10TurkeyThese are considered to be the best armies in the world, although Britain is placed a #5, Britain has the SAS (Special Air Service) this is known as the best special forces unit in the world. Also Britain has the SBS (Special Boat Service) these are also a very good unit.Hope this helped!The best Army in the worldwould have to be Britain; in Iraq Britain has lost only 170 soldiers where the Americans, who claim to be the best but who actually are the 8th best army have lost over 3,600.The greatest army is the British army combined with the American army together they make an unstoppable force!The second best are Germany and the Norwegians are the same as Britain because they are trained by the SAS.U.S.A. !!!i believe INDIAN army is the best
This is an impossible question to answer because there are numerous ways to qualify the best, and each army has different needs. For example, I would say Switzerland has the best army for homeland defense, and the United States has the best army for going anwhere in the world on short notice, but there are many other ways to judge how good an army is.
the best army in the world would have to be the English sas(special air service) which have the toughest and most powerful,secret army ever to be known.sas have completed 99% of their missions, Americas navy seals have completed 76% of their missions and austrailias sas have completed 86% of their missions. so overall to conclude 'who has the best army in the world' it has to be by far the English sas