Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
Nuclear Arsenal
Indonesia
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Malaysia
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Philippines
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Thailand
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Vietnam
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
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
Vietnam
LARGEST
482K
TROOPS
Indonesia
82.1% OF LARGEST
395.5K
TROOPS
Thailand
74.9% OF LARGEST
360.85K
TROOPS
Philippines
29.7% OF LARGEST
143.1K
TROOPS
Malaysia
23.4% OF LARGEST
113K
TROOPS
Air Force Total Aircraft
Thailand
LARGEST
555
AIRCRAFT
Indonesia
81.3% OF LARGEST
451
AIRCRAFT
Vietnam
57.3% OF LARGEST
318
AIRCRAFT
Philippines
31.4% OF LARGEST
174
AIRCRAFT
Malaysia
30.8% OF LARGEST
171
AIRCRAFT
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Indonesia
|
Malaysia
|
Philippines
|
Thailand
|
Vietnam
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 395,500 | 113,000 | 143,100 | 360,850 | 482,000 |
| Reserve Personnel | 400,000 | 51,600 | 131,000 | 200,000 | 5,000,000 |
| Total Military Personnel | 795,500 | 164,600 | 274,100 | 560,850 | 5,482,000 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $9,300,000,000 | $4,000,000,000 | $4,400,000,000 | $7,300,000,000 | $5,500,000,000 |
| Tanks | 315 | 48 | 0 | 737 | 2,575 |
| Armored Vehicles | 1,280 | 1,159 | 530 | 2,614 | 2,800 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 0 | 19 | 0 | 24 | 120 |
| Towed Artillery | 356 | 110 | 270 | 426 | 1,000 |
| Rocket Projectors | 36 | 36 | 0 | 64 | 1,000 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Indonesia
|
Malaysia
|
Philippines
|
Thailand
|
Vietnam
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 451 | 171 | 174 | 555 | 318 |
| Fighters | 49 | 36 | 12 | 76 | 114 |
| Attack Aircraft | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Transport Aircraft | 165 | 39 | 41 | 57 | 34 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 88 | 69 | 40 | 143 | 34 |
| Helicopters | 133 | 27 | 81 | 279 | 136 |
| Attack Helicopters | 16 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Indonesia
|
Malaysia
|
Philippines
|
Thailand
|
Vietnam
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 282 | 61 | 119 | 164 | 65 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Destroyers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frigates | 8 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 8 |
| Corvettes | 24 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Submarines | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Patrol Vessels | 156 | 34 | 39 | 81 | 32 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 12 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison.
View full Indonesia vs Malaysia vs Philippines vs Thailand vs Vietnam comparison →
Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research.
Last updated June 2026.
Sources & methodology