Russian dictator Vladimir Putin says the numerically and technologically inferior Russian Armed Forces are the most powerful on the planet in a quixotic rant meant more to reassure ordinary Russians the huge sums being spent to rearm isn't going to waste.

"We can say with certainty: We are stronger now than any potential aggressor," he told an annual yearend meeting of Russian defense chiefs.

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"Anyone!"

Putin said Russia must react swiftly in "adjusting plans to neutralize potential threats to our country."

Putin's speech, however, is all bluster and bravado when set against the harsh realities on the ground. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has a combined strength of over 760,000 men, of which 455,000 belong to the Russian Ground Forces.

Russia claims to have 15,000 tanks but only 2,600 main battle tanks are operational. The rest are obsolete or hulks that have to be refurbished.

Of this 2,600, 1,900 are various models of the T-72 that form the armored backbone of the Russian Army.

More tellingly, the army only has some 600 T-72B3 MBTs in service. The T-72B3 is the most modern tank in the Russian Army, and is the latest upgrade of the T-72 tank that is now over 40 years old.

It will be the armored spearhead of any Russian attack against the Baltic States and NATO. Russia will not be attacking lone states in the next European war but a coalition of states under NATO and backed by the United States.

The army does not have a single operational T-14 Armata because this tank will only enter service in 2025.

Only in number of nuclear warheads is Russia almost at par with the West, and Russia, like the unlamented Soviet Union before it, will do all it can to avoid a nuclear war with the United States. But Putin is calling for a further strengthening of Russia's nuclear arsenal to improve his chances of blackmailing the West and bending it to his will.

For this reason, Putin said strengthening Russia's nuclear capability will be a chief objective in 2017.

"We need to enhance the combat capability of strategic nuclear forces, primarily by strengthening missile complexes that will be guaranteed to penetrate existing and future missile defense systems," the dictator said.

TagsVladimir Putin, Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Russian Ground Forces, NATO, T-72, Nuclear weapons