Chinavs Australia
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, China (#3) holds a solid edge over Australia (#17).
- China has nuclear weapons; Australia has none.
- China has aircraft carriers; Australia has none.
- China fields 128× as many tanks.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyChina leads 4 of 4
- Land forcesChina leads 5 of 5
- Air powerChina leads 7 of 7
- Naval forcesChina leads 7 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsChina 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.
$336B
Military spending
$35.3B2.04M
Active personnel
59K510K
Reserves
33K625K
Paramilitary
0Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (China: 1.7% of GDP; Australia: 1.9% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
5,870
Tanks
46152K
Armored vehicles
17K2,940
Self-propelled artillery
01,400
Towed artillery
482,770
Rocket artillery
8Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
3,529
Total aircraft
3481,443
Fighters
24371
Attack aircraft
711,007
Helicopters
72281
Attack helicopters
229
Tankers
6287
Transports
37Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
841
Total fleet
453
Aircraft carriers
04
Helicopter carriers
261
Submarines
653
Destroyers
346
Frigates
750
Corvettes
0Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
620
Warheads
034
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
- United StatesvsChina
- ChinavsIndia
- ChinavsRussia
- ChinavsTaiwan
- ChinavsJapan
- AustraliavsIndonesia
- ChinavsUnited Kingdom
- IndonesiavsChina
Profiles: China and Australia. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.