Question: how many soldiers did the soviet union have
Answer: Soviet Air Forces Soviet Navy Soviet Air Defence Forces Strategic Missile Troops Headquarters Moscow , Russian SFSR Leadership Supreme Commander Joseph Stalin ( 1941 -- 1953 ) Mikhail Gorbachev ( 1990 -- 1991 ) Minister of Defence Joseph Stalin ( 1946 -- 1947 ) Yevgeny Shaposhnikov ( 1991 ) Chief of the General Staff Aleksandr Vasilevsky ( 1946 -- 1948 ) Vladimir Lobov ( 1991 ) Manpower Military age 18 -- 27 Conscription 18 Available for military service 92,345,764 ( 1991 ) , age 18 -- 27 Active personnel 4,230,920 ( 1991 ) Expenditures Budget $300 billion ( 1990 ) Percent of GDP 15 - 17 % ( 1989 ) Related articles History Military history of the Soviet Union Ranks Military ranks of the Soviet Union