Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
Nuclear Arsenal
United States of America
LARGEST
5,044
WARHEADS
India
3.4% OF LARGEST
172
WARHEADS
Australia
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Japan
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Warheads Over Time
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI
Defense Budget vs GDP
Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.
Defense Budget Over Time ($B)
Defense Budget as % of GDP
Source: World Bank Open Data API (MS.MIL.XPND.CD)
Military Active Personnel
India
LARGEST
1.45M
TROOPS
United States of America
93.2% OF LARGEST
1.35M
TROOPS
Japan
17.1% OF LARGEST
247.15K
TROOPS
Australia
4.1% OF LARGEST
59K
TROOPS
Air Force Total Aircraft
United States of America
LARGEST
13.3K
AIRCRAFT
India
16.4% OF LARGEST
2.18K
AIRCRAFT
Japan
10.9% OF LARGEST
1.45K
AIRCRAFT
Australia
3.5% OF LARGEST
465
AIRCRAFT
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Australia
|
India
|
Japan
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 59,000 | 1,445,000 | 247,150 | 1,347,300 |
| Reserve Personnel | 28,850 | 1,155,000 | 56,000 | 799,500 |
| Total Military Personnel | 88,450 | 2,610,550 | 303,150 | 2,146,800 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $31,800,000,000 | $81,400,000,000 | $49,100,000,000 | $816,000,000,000.0 |
| Tanks | 59 | 4,614 | 579 | 6,612 |
| Armored Vehicles | 1,426 | 12,000 | 3,137 | 45,193 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 54 | 100 | 166 | 1,498 |
| Towed Artillery | 75 | 4,175 | 492 | 1,339 |
| Rocket Projectors | 6 | 266 | 99 | 1,366 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Australia
|
India
|
Japan
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 465 | 2,182 | 1,449 | 13,300 |
| Fighters | 85 | 538 | 297 | 1,957 |
| Attack Aircraft | 24 | 172 | 287 | 2,800 |
| Transport Aircraft | 47 | 250 | 192 | 945 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 168 | 359 | 447 | 2,600 |
| Helicopters | 141 | 812 | 622 | 5,400 |
| Attack Helicopters | 22 | 68 | 119 | 983 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Australia
|
India
|
Japan
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 47 | 295 | 155 | 472 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| Destroyers | 3 | 12 | 36 | 73 |
| Frigates | 8 | 13 | 10 | 0 |
| Corvettes | 0 | 19 | 6 | 23 |
| Submarines | 6 | 17 | 22 | 68 |
| Patrol Vessels | 13 | 139 | 6 | 13 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 6 | 3 | 22 | 8 |
See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison.
View full Australia vs India vs Japan vs United States of America comparison →
Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research.
Last updated June 2026.
Sources & methodology