In an era of civil strife, conflicts, territorial expansions, and threats of resorting to arms, any global data on supposed worldwide conventional military capabilities is bound to draw attention. And that is precisely what the recently released Global Firepower Index has achieved—instant stardom, enormous curiosity, but forgotten as another internet stunt. Except that it may be a tad more than just a simple stunt. The Global Firepower Index website has all the signs of sustained research, although with a significant hint at military psychological operations. The index aims to analyse and grade the conventional military capabilities of 145 countries.
This makes the grading of the countries a very interesting exercise, considering the stated goal is to look only at conventional military capabilities. Nuclear weapons are not part of this capabilities chart since they are not just a purely military arsenal, but hugely political. So Global Firepower has rightly put them aside, for, if taken into calculation, Pakistan would surely have landed an even higher grade. The Cold War cicadas, seeing an opportunity with all the worldwide sabre rattling, can rest easy since their plutonium fantasies are not a part of this capabilities chart.
Denial of key technologies
So, the denial of using nuclear weapons capabilities in preparing this chart is stated very early in the data explanation. However, it is the negation of two other aspects of technology that truly catches attention. While one is hidden within the text of each nation’s description, the other is worldwide contagion enunciated at the end of the text. The website declares its authenticity, so to say, when it ends with “No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans”. Curious explanation at the end of a strange exercise.
Which brings the rejection, and denial, of another more vital and already inducted military platform into the picture – there is no data on the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capabilities of the 145 countries. So the existence, integration, and combat deployment of drones were not part of the calculations when the ‘researchers’ of this website prepared the grading chart. This is more than simply curious, for drones have generated far more eyeballs of armchair analysts than the once favourite Special Forces. The owners declared on the website that UAVs were not considered due to discrepancies in data, since WDMMA does not track them.
That is not the acronym of a wrestling championship; it stands for the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft, a sister website of the Global Firepower Index that focuses on military aircraft – including trainers, but not for combat. Here, the vast aircraft holdings are meticulously charted in the detailed briefing of individual countries. So, for the Indian aviation buffs, the figures are a total of 2,210 military aircraft, out of which 1,658 are estimated to be ready for deployment. Of whom 577 are combat models, but only 433 are estimated to be available for operations. Within which 130 are of the attack type, and 98 are regarded as deployable.
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Stagnant picture for India
So it’s not a happy picture despite impressive Republic Day flypasts and a first-time display on Bastille Day on 14 June in Paris, though in French Rafales and not India’s Tejas. But this is merely an estimate and may not be entirely true. At the same time, it may well be close to the real picture. It, however, is an interesting indicator of India’s overall military capabilities, which, going by the Global Firepower charts over the years, has hovered at fourth worldwide. This is not surprising, given that the three leading the charts are the United States, Russia, and China.
Which is a subtle answer to the sustained political bravado over India’s growing military might and global positioning. Going by publicly available information deeply dependent on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s World Factbook, the Global Firepower Index declares that India has pretty much remained where it was a decade ago. Even while taking this grading with a pinch of salt, and catering to ‘human’ preferences, it is worth considering an essential fact about national military capabilities: The overall picture cannot be made by piecemeal purchases or political posturing; it is entirely dependent on an honest analysis of long-term threats and missing pieces.
There is an interesting rider in the subtext of the website, which will gladden the hearts of those hurt by the stagnant picture for India. And the owners of Global Firepower Index declare that the material presented throughout this website is only for historical and entertainment value. So it can be taken as a lark, especially since even the purveyors of the series claim it has ‘entertainment value’. But in the cruel world of military conflict, there are no medals for good performance, just survival with success, or perishing with punishment for shoddy preparations. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has highlighted this simple military axiom.
Manvendra Singh is a Congress leader, Editor-in-Chief of Defence & Security Alert and Chairman, Soldier Welfare Advisory Committee, Rajasthan. He tweets @ManvendraJasol. Views are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)