The Global Firepower Index uses 50 individual factors to rank a given country’s Power Index score with categories ranging from weapon numbers, available industries, weapon diversity, manpower, financial stability, natural resources, geography, and logistical capability to determine the ranking.
China by far has the best manpower in its military, with around 2 million active military personnel in its armed forces according to Global Firepower Index as of January 2022. In comparison, the US has 1.4 million military personnel while India has the second-highest manpower in its armed forces with 1.45 million.
However manpower alone is not remotely sufficient to challenge any country in the 21st century and more importantly the Chinese structure of Top-Down command means that the majority of its soldiers are not capable of making high-profile decisions in real-time, they have to be approved by the central command. The Chinese man like many Asians is generally short and of weak body stature unlike the Americans, Russians, African or European soldiers.
In Africa
Egypt was ranked number one after a series of investments in its military forces. It has nearly 1.3 million soldiers across deferent forces, a total of 1062 military planes including the deadly F16 and the brand new Rafale from France, and 243 naval ships.
Second is South Africa then Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco, Ethiopia, Angola, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia, DRC, Kenya, Chad, Zambia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Mali, South Sudan, and Cameroon to complete the top 20.
Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe National Army has eight brigade-sized formations, plus two district commands. These are Presidential Guard Brigade, Mechanized Brigade, 1 to 5 Infantry Brigades, and Artillery Brigade, Harare District, and Bulawayo District.
How the brigades are organized?
Three Combat Groups with 35 APCs each
Advanced battery
Engineer company
Supply and transport
Reconnaissance Company (12 EE-9 Cascavel)
Signals Company
Mortar Battery (6 81/82-mm or 120-mm) SAM 3
Workshop
Medical units
Equipment and Personnel
Zimbabwe has a total of 90 military craft including 10 fighter jets and 6 attack helicopters, 318 armed vehicles, and 23 rocket projectors. The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) are composed of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ). The current manpower stands at an estimated strength of 29,000 in the Army, and an estimated 4,000 in the Air Force as well as 10 000 special forces.
