The Military Balance in the Middle East: Israel, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt
Saudi Arabia outspends Iran more than ten to one, Egypt has the most tanks and Israel the only nuclear arsenal. How the region's five big militaries compare.
The Middle East is home to five of the region’s most powerful militaries: Turkey, Israel, Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. They are built in very different ways, reflecting different threats, budgets and sources of weapons.
Spending
| Country | Military spending, 2025 | Share of GDP |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | $83.2B (est.) | 6.5% |
| Israel | $48.3B | 7.8% |
| Turkey | $30.0B | 1.9% |
| Iran | $7.4B | 2.1% |
| Egypt | no SIPRI figure | — |
Source: SIPRI. Egypt’s budget is not published in enough detail for SIPRI to estimate; Global Firepower puts it at about $5.2 billion.
Saudi Arabia is the region’s biggest spender by a wide margin, and one of the world’s largest arms importers. Israel spends a higher share of its economy than almost any country outside Ukraine. Iran’s budget is small in dollar terms, partly because sanctions and a weak currency shrink it when converted at market exchange rates, though it goes further at home than the dollar figure suggests.
Manpower and armour
| # | Country | Active personnel |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇮🇷 Iran | 610K |
| 2 | 🇹🇷 Turkey | 481K |
| 3 | 🇪🇬 Egypt | 439K |
| 4 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 247K |
| 5 | 🇮🇱 Israel | 170K |
| # | Country | Tanks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇪🇬 Egypt | 3,620 |
| 2 | 🇮🇷 Iran | 2,675 |
| 3 | 🇹🇷 Turkey | 2,284 |
| 4 | 🇮🇱 Israel | 1,300 |
| 5 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 1,085 |
Iran has the largest active force in the region at about 610,000, split between the regular army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Turkey (481,000) and Egypt (438,500) are next. Israel keeps a smaller active force of about 169,500, but can call up some 465,000 reservists quickly.
Egypt has the most tanks in the region, about 3,620, followed by Iran (2,675) and Turkey (2,284).
Air power
Saudi Arabia (283 fighters), Egypt (242), Israel (239), Turkey (201) and Iran (188) have fighter fleets of broadly similar size, but very different quality. Israel flies F-35 stealth fighters and modern F-15s and F-16s. Saudi Arabia has American F-15s and European Typhoons. Iran’s fleet is largely made up of aircraft bought before 1979 or from the Soviet Union, and it has struggled to maintain them under sanctions. That gap is why Iran has invested so heavily in ballistic missiles and drones instead.
Sea
Turkey has the strongest navy in the group, with 14 submarines, 17 frigates and an amphibious assault ship. Iran has 25 submarines, many of them small, along with large numbers of fast attack boats for operations in the Gulf. Egypt operates two helicopter carriers.
Nuclear weapons
Israel is the only country in the region believed to have nuclear weapons, with an estimated 90 warheads, though it has never confirmed this. Iran’s nuclear programme, and efforts to stop it, have been at the centre of the region’s conflicts for two decades.
Reading the balance
These militaries rarely face each other in the way a straight comparison suggests. Israel and Iran are separated by more than a thousand kilometres; their confrontation is fought with missiles, drones, air strikes and allied armed groups rather than armies. Turkey and Egypt’s forces are shaped as much by their own borders and internal security as by regional rivals. And American, European and Russian partnerships shape every country’s capabilities.
Compare them directly: Iran vs Israel, Iran vs Saudi Arabia, Israel vs Turkey or Israel vs Egypt.