Recently, social media has been abuzz with rumors claiming that the Pakistani Armed Forces are no longer among the 10 strongest militaries in the world. Although it used to be the 10th strongest military in 2021 and then ascended to the 9th strongest military in the year 2022-2023, it still possesses the sixth-largest number of active-duty personnel, numbering around 600,000+ personnel, one of the largest Air Forces in the world, Conventional and Non-Conventional Ballistic missiles and a rapidly expanding Navy. As Pakistan possesses such a titanic arsenal then what’s the reality behind this fuzz.
The reality is that Pakistan is no longer one of the world’s top 10 strongest militaries. According to data provided by the Global Firepower Index, Pakistan has descended from being the 9th most powerful military to the 12th most powerful military.
Although this fact is unbelievable and difficult to understand what happened that our nation descended to such a rank. The real cause itself is a bit absurd.
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. Anti-Pakistan terrorists have made Afghanistan a safe haven for their attacks on the Pakistani Army and security forces resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries resulting in massive casualties and loss of manpower. IED attacks and suicide bombings targeting military personnel and civilian infrastructure have caused massive damage to our nation’s economy and the military’s inability to rapidly deploy forces to stop such attacks and border infiltration attempts is the reason behind Pakistan’s Armed Forces losing its global position.
The army has recently carried out operations in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to curb terrorists in these regions, and the goverment has increased spending on defense. The army has ordered Thai made First Win Mine Resistant Ambush Proof vehicles (MRAPs) for its personnel to carry out border patrol missions, convoy escort and armed assaults.
However, much more is required to do so such as launching a massive Zarb-e-Azb style military operation, precise/coordinated airstrikes on militant hideouts in Afghanistan, extensive border patrolling and fencing, use of modern equipment on the Afghan border and intelligence based missions.
Pakistan is surely to make it back on the world stage and join the ranks of the 10 powerful militaries on earth in no time. The nation has ambitious plans to modernize its armed forces through Indigenous projects such as the Hamza 6×6 MRAPs, Haider MBTs, Fatteh multiple rocket launch systems, and future collaborations with Turkey and China in the manufacturing of attack drones, helicopters, fighter jets and Jinnah-class frigates. The nation is also expected to receive fifth-generation J-35 jets from China soon.
For the Navy, the nation is ambitiously manufacturing 4 new attack submarines dubbed the Hangor-class submarines 4 more are being built in China, and 4 Corvettes have been ordered from Turkey dubbed Babur-class Corvettes. 1 has been delivered while others are still being built of which 2 will be made in Pakistan, furthermore the navy has also tested Smash Anti-ship ballistic missiles.
After the deliveries of such systems, the Armed Forces of Pakistan would surely rank up.
