Question by aarik l: Can the U.S. beat Russia
how big is Russia s army and if we had to could the U.S. defeat Russia in war.?
Answers and Views:
Answer by toms1266
In a conventional war the US would win. That doesn’t give Russia a good incentive to fight a conventional war.
Answer by diablo14
as long as Spetsnaz doesnt get involved, we’re golden
Answer by Elements
Yes USA can win definately but it would most certainly come out a former shadow of its greatself just like the British after WWII. Even though our nation can win one cannot rule out the fact that Russia can inflict the most damage than probably any nation on earth to us therefore leaving us deeply wounden. After the dust has settled China would most likely see its opportunity to finally rise as the new dominant power in the world.
Answer by Joe S
Yes handsdown we did it before and we have nukes but i heard russia have alot of chemical weapons so if they got us by suprise it would be an uphill battle
Answer by magpie
Lets go back several years to a newscaster who part of his name was Williams and he, in his cocky glee-filled face said as much that the USSR?Russia was no longer a player and the US is the only big dog on the block. I cringed and decided I can’t watch this guy any more. I think Mr. Putin and I both saw and heard a big mistake, the difference being I can’t do anything but watch the news. Mr. Putin has lots of resources.
Answer by loic hamilton
why all the fuss havent we been doing what russia is doing for 5 years now?
just saying.
Answer by Steve
Yes, we would win. The Russians got quite a bit of their military supplies from the US. As far as allies are concerned the US would have more allies that could help them that wouldn’t mess up any past alliances.
Answer by Sergey
It’s unknown , throughout history many nations assumed that their army were superior to Russia’s and their struggle against russia was a catastrophe in all cases . They like to say mongol were the only one to invade russia successfully but surprisingly one fact doesn’t match is that during mongol invasion there was ok russia to invade instead it was represented by small waring states which all combined were smaller than USA .
Russia has a long history , with large number of patriots not militant patriots . If someone invade russia and russia loses the ground , they won’t hesitate using nuclear weapon due to their historical and cultural values . Russian are not aggressors they won’t use nuclear weapon as a political leverega how USA does but in case russia fall to outlanders invaders , they will do it
Read all the answers in the comments.
What do you think?
Mwa says
No!!!
1 EMP/Nuke on US = 104+ Fukushima’s!!!!
Think about it~~~
http://usercontent2.hubimg.com/4779732_f520.jpg
Richard says
The US has twice as many warplanes as Russia, not even counting the planes of allies. US Naval power is also much stronger than Russia. Russia holds an advantage in land forces and possibly ground-based missile forces. Ultimately, however, the victor in protracted struggles is the nation better able to build the forces of war by virtue of it’s larger economy. This played out in WWII where Germany had superior war machines but lacked the production capability of the US. The US economy is about 8 times that of Russia. Consequently, Russia will definitely lose any protracted conventional war with the US.
respos says
Russian social structure is in total ruins despite few economic coverups. In last 10 years their population decreased by 5 million people. That alarms very bad bad stuff going on deep inside Russian society.
Well their bad trend has many decades of long lasting.
Julius Caesar says
Billion, it’s Billion.
dryinyanggo says
russians are lean and mean and were too fat to fight-forget it
Aleksei S says
USA should not try 🙂
Even if USA makes 100% nuclear defence…
If Russia blows all nuclear bombs in its territory there will be nuclear winter on the Earth.
Schillinger Joseph says
@Aqua who hilariously registered to post Russian propaganda on this question
I’ll entertain your stupid idea. – 1) Russia is extremely corrupt country, where buying a degree is a common practice, one can acquire BsC, hell even average police officer, in the middle of city will ask for a bribe. – 2) False, illegal does not mean good. Back up your claim.
Again false.
USA has biggest and most advanced NAVY(As well as AF) in whole world
– It has more aircraft carriers
– contrary to your claim it has more submarines than Russia http://www.globalfirepower.com/navy-submarines.asp
USA has total of 442 Warships in service, whereas Russia only has only has 202 (most of which are Soviet-era junk)
– This is plain funny and nothing else.
Russian AMD A-135(Which is only active in Moscow has reach of 6,000KM)
Russian S-300 is hilariously bad(and failed numerous tests)
and Russian S-400 probably their best bet, but they have very low amount of those and won’t do them good.
Now let’s take a look at American AMD’s
Unlike crumbling Russia America has 4 class AMD’s
Short-range ballistic missiles(which hilariously has bigger reach than Russia’s “high”-reach missiles)
medium range – 1000-3000km reach
Intermediate range – 3000-5500km
as wel as missiles designed for intercontinental safety.
I won’t even mention Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, PAC-3,Space-based infrafred systems or PTSS.
– Again a big fat lie, How much is Mr.Puting paying you?
I won’t even go into details about stealth jets, bombers or fifth gen fighters(Which hilariously russia has NONE in its service)
I’ll tell you one very simple fact
USA has active 13,683 aircrafts which Russia only has 3,082
http://www.globalfirepower.com/aircraft-total.asp
– Fifth point is same as second one. i.e blatant lie without any backup.
Game set and match, obvious winner is United States of America.
Avangard says
Wow… You’re so far out of touch that I won’t even try to respond to your idiocy.
Aqua says
@allterrainwarrior.
I would like to answer this rather old question because I actually care about USA. As a former Russian special forces operatives who now resides in US and teaches certain aspects of survival to US special force (Navy Seals included), here is my opinion. Sadly, Russian military will tear anything US can throw at it as of 3/3/2014 apart and quick. I say “sadly”, because I live in US, raise my children in US and have a deep understanding of Russia’s autolitarian regime. So here is a breakdown:
(1) Infantry. To qualify as a drill sergeants in Russian army, one must have an education equivalent of US Bachelor of Science. Most of US drill sergeants are high school drop-outs. Every Russian citizen goes through a mandatory 2 years military service. All Russian men can shoot and know the basics of entrenching and strategic thinking. Even the dumbest.
(2) Marines. Any Russian “morpex” would slaughter an average US Marine Corp serviceman. What theuy go through in training is illegal in US.
(3) Navy. Although Russia has less aircraft carriers, it has glorious naval tradition as well as more submarines than the US. Russian navy has kept Ottoman empire at bay through pure strategy.
(4) Air Force. Russian air force easily matches that of US by both, skills and technology. Russian missiles and AMD are superior. Russian prototype jets are superior. Russia lacks in number however, it the very core of its manufacturing infrastructure presumes rapid switch to military proiduction. US manufacturers being indepenent stakeholders, such rapid switch is inconceivable.
(5) Special Forces. Neither First Recon Marines nor Green Berets nor Navy Seals are ever subjected to the extremes of training the Russian Spetsnaz (Spetsnaz is a very broad term actually, considering nearly every branch of Russian military and law inforcement, including intel and counter intel have their own special ubiyts), still what those guys go through whenh they are mere 18 year old would be deemed illegal in the Western World. The result is strong, swift and inhumanly deadly. Yes, everybody can be shot, but if you better be a good shot. Because with Russians, you won’t have a second chance.
All considered. in the majority of the situations, unless air superioirty could be established by the US (which is not a chance over any Russian controlled territory), US troops will likely suffer heavy losses.
Avangard says
Aqua is quite correct.
I would also add that Russia has 6 new Nuclear Weapons 5 of which are Hypersonic Missiles of which the U.S.A. has NONE. Avangard has a max velocity of Mach 27 and it doesn’t even have an engine – no propulsion system. It’s a Hypersonic Glide Vehicle.
China has Hypersonic Glide Vehicles as well.
Both Russia and China have thousands of Hypersonic Missiles.
Russia and China working collaboratively could completely destroy all of the U.S.A.’s Aircraft Carrier Battle Groups in less than 10 minutes using Hypersonic Missiles that cannot be shot down. By the time a missile traveling at Mach 10+ get into range of Anti Missile Defenses – it’s too late.
Russia and China working together could easily destroy all of the U.S.’s Minuteman Missile Silos within 15-20 minutes max. Most would be destroyed in the first 5 minutes.
The U.S.A. is playing checkers when Putin play chess.
Michelle says
The American military is just so advanced it has sprinted way ahead in the past 20 years with all it’s funding… The Russian troops don’t even carry bullet proof vest or vehicles.. I would say their anti air is very good but that’s about all they have if you count non WMD war.. Now the American troops pound for pounds right now are much better then the russian troops considering they have been at war actively since 90.. It would most likely come down to a short battle here and there and then it would be handled diplomaticly..
M S says
Not a chance. Judging the questionable “victories” “pax Americana” held in the past – they were always fighting against much weaker opponent. One might mention WWII, but again, US fought against heavily beaten German divisions – whatever left from the glorious Wehrmacht, SS and Luftwaffe after they’ve met Russians. On the other hand, through the whole modern history Russians mostly fought the toughest foes and almost ALWAYS win (on their soil – always). Put all the “screw ups” USA accumulated domestically and internationally, while Russia was seriously modernizing their military forces and you get the picture. For US to fight Russia could be suicidal at best.
Jack says
Possibly. They would send little children to fight though. On top of that, both of our countries have enough firepower to destroy each other. If we won, our county would never be the same with massive cities destroyed. Same with them, although their cities are mostly worthless dens of corruption and leftover, unintelligent, misguided anti-American communist propaganda that resonates their eastern population.
We don't need war with Russia because Russia will do what they do best: destroy themselves lol
Harvey says
Does a bear shit in the woods? USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
Mark says
Are you serious? The United States Military has a $ 700 million dollar budget. russia has a $ 90 million budget. The U.S. military is capable of taking on China, russia, and the U.K. at the same time. The US has military posts all over the world and the most advanced technology. russia lacks innovation, resources, and manpower.
Alex says
America:
-superior tanks, jets, planes in which we POUR money into
-close bases in Europe to launch limited attacks
-at least six carrier groups to launch offshore attacks, plus various hidden subs
-most advanced and largest navy in the world
-most funded military in the world
-best equipped troops that are better trained than most of the worlds’ special forces
-first blood means it will destroy most of Russia’s land based nukes and bombers (excluding subs)
-limited anti-missile fields in East Europe and Alaska
Russia:
-more troops, but not well equipped. Certainly, all men 18-30something will be drafted at once.
-widespread anti-air defenses will repel American air superiority
-more, but less accurate, nukes, but also have hidden subs
-much more tanks and BMP’s which overwhelm NATO. Heavy casualties will be suffered.
-home turf advantage, but regular citizens are unarmed (unlike Americans in the case of a counter invasion)
-there’s a project to have mobile nukes on trains, but can’t be confirmed
Aqua says
No. US usual strategy is to move aircraft carrieers, do a preemptive strike then invade the ground backed with a heavy air and missile support. Russian fleet is powerful enough to repell any sea support, so it’s coming down to launching an attack from the European bases. At that, USA doesn’t possess the means to establish air superiority over russian territory, Russian anti missle defense would detect and destroy missiles and unsupported US ground forces would meet their match on ground and get slaughtered. What US can do is attacking Russian interests abroad, but then the favour would likely be returned and US infrastructure is far more dependent on foreign countries than that of Russia. I’d say, stay away. Americans had hard enough time in Iraq.
Anonymous says
no Russia has middle schooled children learning to use guns as a defense
allterrainwarrior says
Russia has a pretty decent army and over the past several years they have spent billions on modifying thier army to meet the threats that they face. The only threat to Russia is the US and its allies. From a Strategic standpoint we are in a better position to engage Russia and push them back into thier zone if they happened to occupy another nation.
If the war is fought on Russian soil it would pose a whole slew of issues. Nevertheless, the US can and will hit every major strategic and tactical point in Russia. It would be a war that would utilize both the full spectrum of Russian and US sophisticated arsenals without the use of nuclear. And on that note; Russia Vs the US is soooo big that its almost too big to happen. Beating Russia or Russia beating the US will send the world economy spiraling in an unrecoverable downowrd trend.
But for the sake of imagining such an event in realistic terms; If the US had to put ground troops in Russia to fight an all out war without the use of WMDs, I will give the US a pretty good marginal lead of the Russian forces. Only because the US has been engaged in strategic and tactical operations since the beggining of the 90s. You can train for war, but war with all of it’s inherit complexities cannot be mimicked in a training excersise. Russia hasn’t been involved in all out war for decades and therefore will test faulty equipment for the first time against an opponent that is the considered the best in the world.
Yes the US is battle ridden and overextended, but the US knows what will work and what will not. Russia on the other hand still has to find out. the only thing they are going on now is the high morale they have recieved from this recent engagement and that in its self is a false sense of security.
Trance says
It depends, if you are asking about fighting in one or another country, then the side trying to invade the other one would lose.
Now, Russia is not even likely to invade the US, they don’t have the resources to do that. The US could try to invade Russia, but Russia has the means to sink an entire fleet and shoot down any aircraft (even B2s wouldn’t be safe) or even satellites. That’s why we won’t be seeing war between those two.
Greetings.
Anne says
If all US military was put into it, US may win.
However, with our occupation elsewhere…
Won’t happen anyway. Calm down.
Paul Falcon says
Russia will not start the war, so the Russians will be in defending. They will fight for the own country, family and childs. There is no power that can defeat this.
US didn’t won the last wars ( Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam ), there is no reason to win with Russia.
MidwesternTyrant says
If the U.S. military does as always and is stupid enough to announce it’s intentions of an attack in the media, we will lose. The Russians would be simply waiting us to enter their country. Their country is immense compared to ours and we would have a lot of ground and air to cover.
By the way, the Russians have a much difficult training program than we do. How do I know this? In our military you have to be careful what you do or say to the troops. Ever since the mothers of new recruits started whining about harsh treatment 25 years ago Senators have been nagging at instructors to lighten up. In the Russian military there is no room for the ACLU and whining mothers.
Don’t get difficult training programs mixed up with weak. I’m not saying that at all.
I have served in our military and I have nothing against the U.S. military. Our military produces some very tough and skilled individuals. However, we do announce our intentions for an attack every time a war is imminent. Iran is already expecting one from us. So why wouldn’t Russia be waiting? They’re not stupid, but they are aware of the possibility.
Here’s another very good example: The speed of Russia’s attack surprised even the U.S. military. I had just seen this is the news. Russia never announced it’s intentions or the hardware involved, they just did it.
Our nosy media and the pentagon being controlled by weaker minded individuals prevents us from pulling something like this off.