Chinavs Israel
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, China (#3) holds a solid edge over Israel (#15).
- China has aircraft carriers; Israel has none.
- China has destroyers; Israel has none.
- China has 12× as many active troops.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyChina leads 4 of 4
- Land forcesChina leads 5 of 5
- Air powerChina leads 6 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
$48.3B2.04M
Active personnel
170K510K
Reserves
465K625K
Paramilitary
35KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (China: 1.7% of GDP; Israel: 7.8% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
5,870
Tanks
1,300152K
Armored vehicles
62K2,940
Self-propelled artillery
3231,400
Towed artillery
1712,770
Rocket artillery
228Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
3,529
Total aircraft
5971,443
Fighters
239371
Attack aircraft
451,007
Helicopters
127281
Attack helicopters
489
Tankers
13287
Transports
14Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
841
Total fleet
823
Aircraft carriers
04
Helicopter carriers
061
Submarines
653
Destroyers
046
Frigates
050
Corvettes
7Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
620
Warheads
9034
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
- United StatesvsChina
- ChinavsIndia
- ChinavsRussia
- ChinavsTaiwan
- IranvsIsrael
- ChinavsJapan
- IsraelvsEgypt
- IsraelvsTurkey
Profiles: China and Israel. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.