Australiavs India
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, India (#4) holds a solid edge over Australia (#17).
- India has nuclear weapons; Australia has none.
- India has aircraft carriers; Australia has none.
- India fields 85× as many tanks.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyIndia leads 4 of 4
- Land forcesIndia leads 5 of 5
- Air powerIndia leads 6 of 7
- Naval forcesIndia leads 6 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsIndia leads 2 of 2
Leads count raw numbers in each category. Larger is not always stronger: a modern fleet can beat a bigger, older one.
People and money
Who can be put in uniform, and how much is spent keeping them there.
$35.3B
Military spending
$92.1B59K
Active personnel
1.43M33K
Reserves
1M0
Paramilitary
2.53MSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Australia: 1.9% of GDP; India: 2.3% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
46
Tanks
3,91317K
Armored vehicles
164K0
Self-propelled artillery
10048
Towed artillery
5,6408
Rocket artillery
300Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
348
Total aircraft
2,18324
Fighters
47671
Attack aircraft
12472
Helicopters
59422
Attack helicopters
796
Tankers
637
Transports
277Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
45
Total fleet
3430
Aircraft carriers
22
Helicopter carriers
06
Submarines
183
Destroyers
137
Frigates
180
Corvettes
21Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
0
Warheads
1900
Deployed warheads
12Compare other countries
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Profiles: Australia and India. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.