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
United Kingdom
4.5% OF LARGEST
225
WARHEADS
Australia
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Canada
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
New Zealand
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
United States of America
LARGEST
1.35M
TROOPS
United Kingdom
11.4% OF LARGEST
153.29K
TROOPS
Canada
5.0% OF LARGEST
68K
TROOPS
Australia
4.4% OF LARGEST
59K
TROOPS
New Zealand
0.7% OF LARGEST
9.65K
TROOPS
Air Force Total Aircraft
United States of America
LARGEST
13.3K
AIRCRAFT
United Kingdom
5.5% OF LARGEST
733
AIRCRAFT
Australia
3.5% OF LARGEST
465
AIRCRAFT
Canada
3.5% OF LARGEST
464
AIRCRAFT
New Zealand
0.4% OF LARGEST
52
AIRCRAFT
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Australia
|
Canada
|
New Zealand
|
United Kingdom
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 59,000 | 68,000 | 9,650 | 153,290 | 1,347,300 |
| Reserve Personnel | 28,850 | 30,000 | 2,300 | 81,500 | 799,500 |
| Total Military Personnel | 88,450 | 100,000 | 11,950 | 234,790 | 2,146,800 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $31,800,000,000 | $26,500,000,000 | $3,000,000,000 | $68,400,000,000 | $816,000,000,000.0 |
| Tanks | 59 | 82 | 0 | 227 | 6,612 |
| Armored Vehicles | 1,426 | 1,788 | 106 | 5,015 | 45,193 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 54 | 89 | 0 | 89 | 1,498 |
| Towed Artillery | 75 | 37 | 24 | 126 | 1,339 |
| Rocket Projectors | 6 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 1,366 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Australia
|
Canada
|
New Zealand
|
United Kingdom
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 465 | 464 | 52 | 733 | 13,300 |
| Fighters | 85 | 62 | 0 | 137 | 1,957 |
| Attack Aircraft | 24 | 86 | 0 | 143 | 2,800 |
| Transport Aircraft | 47 | 60 | 11 | 288 | 945 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 168 | 103 | 14 | 175 | 2,600 |
| Helicopters | 141 | 151 | 27 | 332 | 5,400 |
| Attack Helicopters | 22 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 983 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Australia
|
Canada
|
New Zealand
|
United Kingdom
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 47 | 64 | 11 | 76 | 472 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| Destroyers | 3 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 73 |
| Frigates | 8 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0 |
| Corvettes | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| Submarines | 6 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 68 |
| Patrol Vessels | 13 | 8 | 9 | 22 | 13 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 8 |
See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison.
View full Australia vs Canada vs New Zealand vs United Kingdom 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