Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
Nuclear Arsenal
Iran
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Iraq
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Kuwait
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Saudi Arabia
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
United Arab Emirates
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
Iran
LARGEST
575K
TROOPS
Saudi Arabia
39.5% OF LARGEST
227K
TROOPS
Iraq
33.6% OF LARGEST
193K
TROOPS
United Arab Emirates
11.0% OF LARGEST
63K
TROOPS
Kuwait
2.7% OF LARGEST
15.5K
TROOPS
Air Force Total Aircraft
Saudi Arabia
LARGEST
897
AIRCRAFT
United Arab Emirates
61.5% OF LARGEST
552
AIRCRAFT
Iran
61.4% OF LARGEST
551
AIRCRAFT
Iraq
16.6% OF LARGEST
149
AIRCRAFT
Kuwait
9.4% OF LARGEST
84
AIRCRAFT
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Iran
|
Iraq
|
Kuwait
|
Saudi Arabia
|
United Arab Emirates
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 575,000 | 193,000 | 15,500 | 227,000 | 63,000 |
| Reserve Personnel | 350,000 | 0 | 23,700 | 0 | 0 |
| Total Military Personnel | 925,000 | 193,000 | 39,200 | 227,000 | 63,000 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $19,600,000,000 | $6,000,000,000 | $7,300,000,000 | $67,600,000,000 | $22,755,000,000 |
| Tanks | 1,650 | 336 | 293 | 1,062 | 538 |
| Armored Vehicles | 2,500 | 1,592 | 789 | 5,472 | 2,000 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 292 | 48 | 106 | 224 | 181 |
| Towed Artillery | 2,030 | 138 | 0 | 260 | 93 |
| Rocket Projectors | 1,900 | 294 | 27 | 322 | 88 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Iran
|
Iraq
|
Kuwait
|
Saudi Arabia
|
United Arab Emirates
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 551 | 149 | 84 | 897 | 552 |
| Fighters | 196 | 34 | 39 | 177 | 156 |
| Attack Aircraft | 0 | 0 | 0 | 245 | 0 |
| Transport Aircraft | 91 | 25 | 12 | 221 | 44 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 112 | 49 | 19 | 173 | 87 |
| Helicopters | 152 | 41 | 14 | 244 | 265 |
| Attack Helicopters | 12 | 0 | 16 | 39 | 28 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Iran
|
Iraq
|
Kuwait
|
Saudi Arabia
|
United Arab Emirates
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 398 | 60 | 32 | 55 | 72 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Destroyers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Frigates | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Corvettes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Submarines | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Patrol Vessels | 230 | 34 | 27 | 11 | 32 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 5 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison.
View full Iran vs Iraq vs Kuwait vs Saudi Arabia vs United Arab Emirates comparison →
Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research.
Last updated June 2026.
Sources & methodology