Ever wonder what the largest private armies in the world are? Even though nowadays many countries are struggling to protect peace, there are several official “war” conflict zones on Earth. In many cases, major countries can interfere with their own troops. However, in order to prevent the risk of losing soldiers from a national army, or in case a country doesn’t have enough of a military force, a government can hire mercenaries.
Mercenaries are soldiers who are fighting in exchange for a gain or material compensation. If we look back in the history, such military force was used for thousands of years in Ancient Greece, Egypt, and the Roman Empire.
If we fast-forward to present times, we can observe that mercenaries have became a type of business. Companies engaged in recruitment and training of mercenaries, provide security services for private clients, as well as participate in war conflicts being hired by governments.
Even though an army can benefit a lot from the use of mercenaries, there are several risks involved with hiring soldiers, including training inefficiencies and above-average wage expenditures. Desertion is also a possibility.
With defense budget cuts being made around the globe, mercenary services are organizations that are worth investors’ attention, but only a few have managed what we’d truly consider to be “leaders” in this space.
Let’s take a look at the companies that control the 9 largest private armies in the world:
