Are we currently on the brink of seeing a
shift towards new global superpowers? If we look at the power wielded by any nation
right now, the United States could be said to be in a globally dominant position. Before it, Great Britain and its empire was
the dominant global force, and prior to that there is a long line of countries that have
at one time sat at the apex of the global economy, culture, science, and military strength. Great nations may also decline, a concept
known as declinism, while simultaneously other nations are busy evolving into powerful states. For a number of years now, a handful of nations
have been developing at a rapid pace, and today we’ll compare them with the mighty
USA, in this episode of the Infographics Show, the USA vs. BRICS. Don’t forget to subscribe and click the
bell button so that you can be part of our Notification Squad. BRICS is an acronym standing for the five
countries it represents: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The acronym at first was just BRIC, until
South Africa made an appearance in the association in 2010. BRIC was formally started in 2006 when the
first BRIC meeting was held, under the aegis of a mutual agreement to boost each member
country’s development. Not only developments relating to economy,
business and trade, but also education, agriculture, health, technology, science and the arts. Together BRICS is a powerful conglomerate,
accounting for 42.58 percent of the world’s population and according to the International
Monetary Fund, about 22 percent of the world GDP. Compared to the United States, in terms of
size alone, it’s Goliath staring down at David. If we look at the numbers, BRICS has a combined
population of about 3.6 billion people. The USA has a population of just 325 million
people. The U.S. GDP is the biggest in the world at
18 trillion-plus dollars, although BRICS combined has a GDP of 37 trillion dollars. The U.S. is not expected to make any headway
on BRICS any time soon regarding economic growth, with its estimated growth to be around
2 percent over the next few years. BRICS is expected to see growth of around
5 percent. In an article in the Atlantic published in
2012, Goldman Sachs projected that China's GDP alone would be equal to America's by 2027,
and then leap past it. In regard to economy, BRICS nations are ascending
quickly. This growth, it's believed, will lead to much
stronger militaries, especially those of China and India. Right now, the U.S. spends more on its military
than any other nation, with a defense budget of 639 billion dollars for 2018. It’s such a large budget, that even 5 emerging
nations’ defense budgets together don’t exceed it. According to the Global Firepower index, Brazil’s
military budget is currently 24.5 billion dollars, Russia’s is 44.6 billion, India’s
is 51 billion, China’s is 161.7 billion and South Africa’s is 4.6 billion. Combined, BRICS countries have a defense budget
of 286.4 billion dollars. This is even more astonishing when you consider
that China and India are both in the top countries for highest military expenditures. In terms of feet on the ground, you probably
already know the U.S. is severely outmanned. The U.S. has 1.3 million active military personnel,
and a further 811,000 acting as reserve personnel. China alone has 4.6 million total personnel,
India 3.4 million, Russia 3.2 million, Brazil 2.1 million, and South Africa 106,000. In total, that is almost 13.5 million people
ready to fight. Workforce aside, the USA still spends more
than all these other countries. So where does the money go? In terms of land equipment, the USA has around
5,884 tanks, 41,000 armored fighting vehicles, 1,934 self-propelled guns, 1,299 towed artillery,
and 1,331 multiple-launch rocket systems. Most of this equipment is the latest in military
innovations, with the U.S. continually developing more advanced war machines such as its latest
battle tank, the M1A2 SEP v4. Russia and China, the two strongest of the
BRICS militaries, alone make a formidable force on the ground. If the two nations were to form a military
duo, they’d have over 24,000 main battles tanks, over 35,000 armored fighting vehicles,
almost 8,000 self-propelled guns, over 12,000 towed artillery and over 5,000 multiple launch
rocket systems. As well as having strong fleets of tanks,
the two countries are currently developing two new tanks that are rated as highly as
the new M1A2, in China’s VT-4 and Russia’s T-14 Armata. India also has some modern land equipment,
and is currently investing billions of its new money into thousands of pieces of new
artillery. This will include a fleet of Arjun MK-II third-generation
battle tanks. Brazil has modern weapons, much of which was
bought from the USA, the world’s biggest arms exporter. It’s most extolled land weapon is its almost
400-strong fleet of German-made Leopard 1 tanks that it acquired in 2006. If the USA can’t compete on the ground,
it certainly can in the air. The United States air force is by far the
most advanced in the world. The number of modern aircraft alone in the
U.S. air force can match a number of leading nations put together. This can be credited to the U.S. air force
having a bigger budget than any other nation’s entire military budget. From its 13,444 aircrafts, the U.S. can choose
from a number of some of the world’s most advanced machines. This includes almost a thousand F-16 Fighting
Falcons, 195 F-22A Raptors, 257 F-15E Strike Eagles, a large fleet of McDonnell Douglas
CF-18 Hornets and F/A-18E Super Hornets, as well as its new pride of the skies, a fleet
of F-35A Lightning IIs. As we said, no air force comes close to this,
but Russia, India and China have highly rated equipment and are often part of lists containing
what is said to be the world’s best air forces. It’s worth noting that the latter two countries
are investing heavily in aerial military developments. Russia’s most advanced aircraft is it’s
highly rated Sukhoi Su-35, followed by its Sukhoi Su-27s and MiG-31 interceptors, all
of which are part of a fleet of 3,000 aircraft. That’s why Russia usually follows the U.S.
on the most powerful list. India also has a considerable cache of aircraft,
including Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30MKIs and Mikoyan MiG-29s, as well as the respected
French-built multi-role fighter, the Dassault Mirage 2000. China is perhaps playing catch-up, but it’s
doing a good job. Its fleet consists of Russia’s Su-35s and
Su-27s but the country is also looking to match America’s F-35 with its own Chengdu
J-20 stealth fighter. Brazil’s most modern aircraft, the Saab
JAS 39 Gripen multirole fighter, is another top ten aerial fighting machine. Currently the South African air force has
nothing that compares to its BRICS partners. As we take to the seas, again the United States
spends as much on its navy - about 170 billion dollars - as other countries could only hope
to spend on all military branches. Much of this money goes on infrastructure,
operations and maintenance, personnel, research and development, as well as acquiring new
ships. The USA currently leads the world in terms
of aircraft carriers, owning 11 of them. It’s currently developing the Gerald R.
Ford class super-carrier, which should help bolster the navy’s position as a global
leader. These ships are of great importance as they
are in effect floating militaries. The U.S. also has 22 cruisers, 67 destroyers,
8 frigates, 75 submarines, 0 corvettes, 9 amphibious assault ships, 11 mine warfare
ships and 55 patrol ships. According to National Interest, the USA and
the UK will be followed by three countries as the most powerful navies in the near future. You guessed it, those countries are China,
India and Russia. While Russia is to be expected, both India
and China have been pouring money into their respective navies. Pundits believe that by 2030, India will have
the second largest navy in the world, and will also have its own supercarrier. It currently has one aircraft carrier, 0 cruisers,
11 destroyers, 14 frigates, 15 submarines, 23 corvettes, 0 amphibious assault ships,
7 mine warfare ships and 72 patrol ships. China is on track to have the largest fleet
come 2030, and is close to finishing its secret supercarrier, the CV-18. Russia’s greatest threat is its large fleet
of 60 submarines, some carrying devastating ballistic missiles. Again, both Brazil and South Africa are not
regarded as having strong navies in terms of global power, but together the former triumvirate
of BRICS navies would be dominant if they were all on the same side. As we come to the end of this episode we must
mention nuclear capabilities. The U.S. and Russia own around half of all
the nuclear weapons in the world, with China’s small arsenal of around 260 non-deployed weapons
being a matter of speculation in terms of numbers. India is said to have around 120 warheads,
and is believed to be working on increasing its nuclear arsenal. Brazil and South Africa have no nuclear weapons. So, do you think the US would stand a chance
against BRICS, or would it be a total wipeout? Let us know in the comments! And if you liked this video, be sure to check
out our other video, North Korea vs South Korea! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!
