Mexico vs United States of America Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
Mexico
300K active troops
$7B budget
VS
United States of America
1M active troops
$800B budget
0
Tanks
6,612
695
Armored Vehicles
45,193
375
Artillery
2,837
0
Rocket Systems
1,366
33
Fighter Jets
1,957
273
Helicopters
5,400
189
Warships
472
0
Submarines
68
Nuclear Arsenal
United States of America
LARGEST
5,044
WARHEADS
Mexico
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Warheads Over Time
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI
Defense Budget vs GDP
Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.
Defense Budget Over Time ($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
Mexico
20.6% OF LARGEST
277.15K
TROOPS
United States of America has 4.86× the active personnel of Mexico
Air Force Total Aircraft
United States of America
LARGEST
13.3K
AIRCRAFT
Mexico
3.7% OF LARGEST
493
AIRCRAFT
United States of America has 26.98× the aircraft of Mexico
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Mexico
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 277,150 | 1,347,300 |
| Reserve Personnel | 81,500 | 799,500 |
| Total Military Personnel | 358,650 | 2,146,800 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $7,000,000,000 | $816,000,000,000.0 |
| Tanks | 0 | 6,612 |
| Armored Vehicles | 695 | 45,193 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 0 | 1,498 |
| Towed Artillery | 375 | 1,339 |
| Rocket Projectors | 0 | 1,366 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Mexico
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 493 | 13,300 |
| Fighters | 33 | 1,957 |
| Attack Aircraft | 0 | 2,800 |
| Transport Aircraft | 128 | 945 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 47 | 2,600 |
| Helicopters | 273 | 5,400 |
| Attack Helicopters | 0 | 983 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Mexico
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 189 | 472 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 0 | 11 |
| Destroyers | 0 | 73 |
| Frigates | 8 | 0 |
| Corvettes | 0 | 23 |
| Submarines | 0 | 68 |
| Patrol Vessels | 143 | 13 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 0 | 8 |
See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison.
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Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research.
Last updated June 2026.
Sources & methodology