Jane's World Armies

Formatted for ease of use and country comparisons, this resource will enable you to confidently assess recent developments and overall capabilities of a national force.

Content Structure
This title is a country by country analysis of the world’s armies in terms of manpower, capabilities and formation. In preparing this publication, the sometimes conflicting information available has been assessed by a team and, at times, the interpretation are the Editors’ own. However, the aim is to provide the user with an impartial assessment, and to provide further information in those areas where there are few details currently available.

Structure
This publication describes the world’s land forces and each entry begins with a summary detailing the strength and major formations of the army. Following this, the content contains analysis and information about their capabilities, quality of organisation, recent operations and training. Tabular information regarding the equipment in service of that country concludes the entry.

The less well-known acronyms and abbreviations are spelt out as they occur and also feature in the Glossary. There are references throughout the book to military organisations such as divisions, brigades, battalions and so on. Because of a wide divergence in national classifications, the system adopted is as follows:

• Corps - A command headquarters that generally commands two or three divisions.
• Division - A command headquarters usually commanding two or three brigades.
• Brigade - A command headquarters commanding a fighting formation that might consist of two or three infantry battalions, one or two tank battalions, one artillery battalion and combat support troops. The exact composition of brigades differs widely and individual national organisations are shown in the book.
• Regiment - Under the old Soviet system, a tank regiment or a motor rifle regiment was roughly equivalent to a NATO-style brigade. Some countries still use this system. In the West the term ‘regiment’ can refer to widely differing organisations. In the US it can mean a number of battalions. In the UK a single major armoured (cavalry) unit will generally be described as a regiment and, in the majority of cases, a UK infantry regiment consists of two infantry battalions (though not always and there are many variations). In South America a cavalry regiment may only equate to a large NATO-style armoured company. The lesson here is to beware of the term ‘regiment’; it can mean a number of things and, where it is used in the text, efforts have been made to specify exactly what is meant.
• Battalion - This generally refers to an armoured unit with three companies and a battalion HQ, an infantry unit with three companies and a battalion HQ, or an artillery unit with three batteries and a battalion HQ. However, some countries designate their artillery battalions as regiments and the reader should once again be aware of the problem.
• Company - Generally consists of three platoons and a platoon HQ. An infantry platoon usually consists of three eight-man sections (squads) commanded by a young officer. A tank platoon (sometimes called a troop) usually consists of three to four tanks and between 12 and 15 personnel. An artillery company (in many armies still called a battery) may have between six and eight guns.
• Squadron - Many countries use this term to denote a company-sized armoured or engineer unit. It is almost always used to describe an army aviation unit with about twelve aircraft.

Record Structure
Countries are listed in the alphabetical order of their English language name and each national entry is subdivided into eight sections as follows:

• Summary Figures pertaining to the land force’s strength in terms of manpower and major formations.
• Assessment Provides analysis and information about the capabilities and quality of the army.
• Deployments, tasks and operations Missions and tasks that the army have undertaken and are currently performing, as well as deployment and its core tasks.
• Command and Control Contains information relating to the chain of command.
• Organisation An outline of how the army is organised, including changes to force structure, modernisation programmes and so on.
• Training Assesses and details the training provided to the land forces.
• Army Procurement Future or current procurement projects and major upgrade programmes.
• Equipment in Service Tabular information containing the land force’s inventory.

Images
Line drawings and maps are annotated with a seven digit number which uniquely identifies them in Jane’s image database.

Other Information
Much of the information provided in this publication comes from Jane’s sources, from the armies themselves or from unclassified releases from the military and intelligence communities. Background briefings are also an important source of information. You may find interpretations that reflect a comprehensive reappraisal of the available information, looking at the likelihood and credibility of defence budget information and inventory levels linked to past performance, rather than accepting what has been provided. Jane’s always endeavours to be impartial, and we have stated clearly what we believe to be correct. Whenever information is unavailable, it is marked: ‘e’ providing what the Editors’ team considers to be a realistic estimate.

Sections

• Analysis
• Glossary
• Personnel figures and land systems in service
• Spreadsheet: army aviation equipment in service inventory
• Spreadsheet: world armies equipment in service inventory
• World armies

Commonly Used Terms
Afghan National Army, Air Defence, Allied Command Operations (NATO formerly Allied Command Europe - ACE), Allied Command Transformation (NATO), Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (NATO), Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Anti-Aircraft Gun, Anti-Personnel Mine, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Anti-Tank Guided Missile, Anti-Tank Guided Weapon, Armoured, Armoured Combat Vehicle, Armoured Engineer Vehicle, Armoured Fighting Vehicle, Armoured Infantry Vehicle, Armoured Personnel Carrier, Armoured Recovery Vehicle, Armoured Specialised Vehicle, Armour-Piercing, Artillery, Assault Helicopter Company, Attack, Automatic Grenade Launcher, Aviation, Aviation Legere de l'Armee de Terre (French Army aviation arm), Baltic Battalion, Baltic Defence College, Battalion, Battery, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brigade, Caribbean Community, Cavalry, Central African Republic, Chief of Staff, Chief of the Defence Staff, Chief of the General Staff, Coalition Provisional Authority (Iraq), Combined Joint Task Force, Command and Control, Command Aviation Company, Command Post, Command, Control and Communications, Command, Control, Communications and Computers, Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence, Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Commandement de la Force d'Action Terrestre (Land Combat Command, French Army), Commandement de la Force Logistique Terreste (Land Logistics Command, French Army), Company, Complementary Low-Altitude Weapon System, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, Confidence-Building Measures, Continental United States, Counter-Insurgency, Counter-Terrorism, Democratic Republic of Congo, Department of Defence/Defense, Department of National Defence (Canada), Division, Echelon, Economic Community of West African States, Electronic Warfare, Engineer, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Explosive Ordnance Vehicle, Explosive Reactive Armour, Fantassin à Équipements et Liaisons Intégrées (infantry soldier system for the French Army), Fast Attack Craft /Forward Air Controller, Field, Fire Support Element, Fire-Control System/ Future Combat Systems (US), Forces Command (US Army), Foreign Military Assistance, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Forward, Forward Operating Location, Future Rapid Effect System (UK), General-Purpose Vehicle, Global Positioning System, Gross Domestic Product, Gross National Product, Group, Headquarters, Heavy, Helicopter, High-Explosive Anti-Tank, Immediate Reaction Force (NATO), Infantry, Infantry Fighting Vehicle, Intelligence, Interim Administration (Afghanistan), Internal Security, International Security Assistance Force (Afghanistan), Israel Defence Forces, Kosovo Force, Light Anti-Aircraft Gun, Light Anti-tank Weapon, Light Armoured Vehicle, Line of Control, Logistics, Low-Level Air Defence, Machine Gun, Main Battle Tank, Maintenance, Mechanised, Medium Anti-tank Weapon, Military Police, Mine Clearance Training Unit, Mines Advisory Group, Ministry of Defence, Missile d'Infanterie Leger Antichar, Mobile Gun System, Mortar, Mortar Fire Controller, Motor Rifle, Motorised, Multiple Launch Rocket System, Multiple Rocket Launcher, NATO Response Force, New Iraqi Army, Non-Commissioned Officer, Non-Government Organisation, Non-Line-of Sight - Cannon, Nordic Battalion, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Papua New Guinea Defence Force, Passive Night-vision Goggles, People's Liberation Army (China), Platoon, Precision-Guided Munitions, Reconnaissance, Recovery Vehicle, Regiment, Remotely Piloted Vehicle, Republic of China (Taiwan), Republic of the Congo/, Request for Proposals, Request for Tenders, Rocket-Propelled Grenade, Security, Self-Propelled, Self-Propelled Gun, Self-Propelled Howitzer, Signals, Signals Intelligence, Special Air Service, Special Forces, Squadron, Stabilisation Force (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Support, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (NATO), Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Surface-Launched Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, Surface-to-Air Missile, Surface-to-Surface Missile, Tank, Target, Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, Training, Training and Doctrine Command (US Army), Transport, Troop, United Nations office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, US Army Europe, US Army Space and Missile Defence Command, US Army Special Operations Command, US Central Command, US Special Operations Command, Vehicle, Vehicule Blinde de Combat d'Infanterie (infantry armoured combat vehicle, France), Vehicule Blinde Leger (light armoured vehicle, France), Weapon-Locating Radar, Western European Union, Workshops

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