New Zealand vs United States of America Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
New Zealand
10K active troops
$3B budget
VS
United States of America
1M active troops
$800B budget
0
Tanks
6,612
106
Armored Vehicles
45,193
24
Artillery
2,837
0
Rocket Systems
1,366
0
Fighter Jets
1,957
27
Helicopters
5,400
11
Warships
472
0
Submarines
68
Nuclear Arsenal
United States of America
LARGEST
5,044
WARHEADS
New Zealand
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Warheads Over Time
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI
Defense Budget vs GDP
Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.
Defense Budget Over Time ($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
New Zealand
0.7% OF LARGEST
9.65K
TROOPS
United States of America has 139.62× the active personnel of New Zealand
Air Force Total Aircraft
United States of America
LARGEST
13.3K
AIRCRAFT
New Zealand
0.4% OF LARGEST
52
AIRCRAFT
United States of America has 255.77× the aircraft of New Zealand
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
New Zealand
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 9,650 | 1,347,300 |
| Reserve Personnel | 2,300 | 799,500 |
| Total Military Personnel | 11,950 | 2,146,800 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $3,000,000,000 | $816,000,000,000.0 |
| Tanks | 0 | 6,612 |
| Armored Vehicles | 106 | 45,193 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 0 | 1,498 |
| Towed Artillery | 24 | 1,339 |
| Rocket Projectors | 0 | 1,366 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
New Zealand
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 52 | 13,300 |
| Fighters | 0 | 1,957 |
| Attack Aircraft | 0 | 2,800 |
| Transport Aircraft | 11 | 945 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 14 | 2,600 |
| Helicopters | 27 | 5,400 |
| Attack Helicopters | 0 | 983 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
New Zealand
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 11 | 472 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 0 | 11 |
| Destroyers | 0 | 73 |
| Frigates | 2 | 0 |
| Corvettes | 0 | 23 |
| Submarines | 0 | 68 |
| Patrol Vessels | 9 | 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