-How Philippine military power fares globally The Philippines made a brave move when it filed a memorial against China, but should the bitter rivals face off, it will be facing military power way out of its league. A global ranking of countries based on the strength of their armed forces placed the Philippines at 37th out of 106, with a “power index” of 1.3042. This means that the country almost made to the top third of the list, but it also showed that it is far behind its neighbor China, ranked third with an index score of 0.2594. The rising Asian power, whose broad territorial claims caused tensions with its neighbors, was only topped by the U.S. and Russia in terms of military power. The list was based on about 50 factors which have been used to determine the strength of countries’ armed forces. The perfect score is a “realistically unattainable” zero. The report claimed of the Philippines’ 50.6 million available manpower, some 41.6 million are fit for military service. Another 2 million reach military age annually. The country’s total aircraft count was pegged at 145, most choppers, while its navy had a fleet of 120, including two refurbished frigates acquired from the U.S. “Security at home and defense abroad are the call of the day for the modern Philippine military,” think tank Global Firepower said in its profile of the Philippines. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines stands in the middle of the rankings compared with its neighbors. It was below Indonesia (19th), Vietnam (23rd) and Thailand (24th). The country was ranked a notch higher than Malaysia (38th), with which tensions threatened to rise over Sabah in 2013, as wel as Singapore (44th) and Cambodia (84th). The report was released barely a month after the Philippines filed a memorial case against China’s “nine-dash line claim” before an international arbitration body. It also came as the country welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama, who will visit Manila as part of an Asian tour covering Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. The Philippines is also ironing out details of a new defense deal aimed at increasing the U.S. military’s “rotational presence,” a move seen as part of its “Asian pivot.” source:https://ph.news.yahoo/how-philippine-military-power-fares-globally-004741538.html -SKY
Posted on: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:20:38 +0000