15 Countries With Highest Defense Spending and Largest Military Budgets

3. Russia

Military Spending: $69.2 Billion

Up next in our list of countries with highest defense spending and largest military budgets is Russia that is a military superpower, unsurprisingly ranking as one of 15 countries with the highest defense spending and largest military budgets. Russia has been involved in a number of conflicts, including the one in eastern Ukraine and in Syria, where it launched an air campaign in support of the Syrian government. In addition, the relationship between Russia and the United States has been deteriorating lately, which has sparked global concerns and a lot of uncertainty. The deterioration of the U.S-Russia relationship also led to an estrangement between Russia and European Union countries, as well as countries that are members of NATO. Russia is currently the second-largest exporter of weapons, accounting for 23% of total exports. Its military spending is equal to 5.3% of its GDP and it surged by 87% between 2007 and 2016. Russia has the largest number of warheads at 7,000, and the largest number of deployed warheads at 1,950.

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