U.S. Military Not Cheap.

The United States will spend about $573 billion on its military in 2007, which puts it way over the top among the world’s big defense spenders.

The closest rival is China, which spent $81.5 billion in 2005, according to the most recent spending figures published by the CIA. Russia spent about $21 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The CIA says North Korea spends about $5 billion and Iran about $4.3 billion.

Britain spends about $43 billion on its military; France and Japan each spend about $45 billion; Germany about $35 billion; and Italy about $28 billion.

From Defense News, via this blog.