Which Countries Are Most Technologically Advanced?

Which countries are most advanced technologically, or at least, more advanced than the U.S., in various areas?

Civilian technologies

Civil engineering

* Rapid construction of public works and high rise buildings: China

* Earthquake resistant construction: Japan

* Dikes and canals: Netherlands

Electronics, digital technology, and consumer products

* Software and Artificial Intelligence: U.S.

* Technologically advanced voting systems: Estonia 

* 5G cell phone networks: Finland

* Wi-Fi and broadband access: Lithuania and Finland

* Satellites (GPS, communications, Earth monitoring, and "telescopes"): U.S.

* Cashless consumer transactions: Sweden, Finland, China, South Korea, and the Netherlands

* Computer chip manufacturing and advance electronics design: Taiwan and Japan

* Cell phone design: U.S., Sweden, Japan

* Toilets: Japan

Medical and biotechnology

* Trauma centers and stroke centers: U.S.

* Using drones to deliver medical care: Sweden (e.g. to deliver AEDs or drugs to medical emergency scenes)

* Public health, epidemiology, and health oriented population genetics research: All Scandinavian countries (including Iceland)

* Pharmaceutical development: U.S., Denmark (e.g. inventing Ozempic), Finland, Germany

* Ancient DNA analysis: Germany

* Animal Cloning: South Korea

* Cannabis horticulture and processing: U.S.

Energy

* Fracking: U.S.

* Geothermal energy: Iceland

* Tidal energy generation: South Korea, France, and the U.K.

* Co-generation (efficiently using waste heat from power plants): Germany

* Nuclear power and nuclear fuel reprocessing: France

Transportation

* Commercial aircraft manufacturing: Europe (Airbus) and U.S.

* Civilian supersonic aircraft: U.S.

* Electric car batteries: Japan and the U.S.

* Electric car adoption: In order by market share: Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, and China.

* High Speed Trains: Japan, France, and China

* Ferries: U.K. and Australia

* Airport Security Technology: U.K.

* Ice breaker ships and civilian nuclear ships: Russia

Pure Science

* Particle Accelerators: Switzerland. The U.S. and China are in second place.

* Moon exploration: China

* Mars and other solar system exploration: U.S.

* Space telescopes: U.S.

* Graduate science and engineering education: U.S.

Military technologies

Naval

* Diesel-electric submarines and air independent propulsion: Sweden

* Military nuclear submarines: U.S.

* Anti-submarine warfare: U.S.

* Aircraft carriers: U.S.

* Amphibious assault ships: U.S. and China

* Missile boats: China, with Iran also leading the U.S. in this area

* Torpedos: Russia, China, and U.S.

* Littoral patrol warcraft: Sweden and U.S.

Air Forces

* Military carrier based aircraft: U.S.

* Maritime patrol aircraft: U.S.

* Warplanes (including stealth): U.S.

* Military helicopters: U.S. followed closely by Russia

* Military transport planes: Europe (Airbus) followed closely by the U.S.

* Guided aircraft launched bombs: U.S.

* Military aerial drone production: U.S., followed by Turkey and Iran

Missiles and strategic weapons and counter-missile systems

* Tactical nuclear weapons: Russia

* Active defense systems to missiles and rockets: Israel and U.S.

* Localized active defenses (e.g. against artillery and anti-tank missiles): Israel

* Anti-aircraft missiles: Russia, U.S., Israel

* Artillery missiles and long range artillery rounds: U.S.

* Anti-tank missiles: U.S. and Germany

* Hypersonic missiles: China

Ground military systems and small arms

* Tanks: Israel and Germany, followed by U.S. and Russia.

* Recoilless rifles: Sweden

* Mortars: Finland

* Small arms (e.g. machine guns): U.S. and Israel

* Mine resistant armored vehicles: South Africa and U.S.

* Sniper and gunshot location: U.S.

* See though wall and around corners tech: Israel

Other Military Technology

* Military field medicine: U.S.

* Electronic intelligence and cryptography: U.S.