Germanyvs Iran
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Germany (#12) holds a narrow edge over Iran (#16).
- Germany spends 15× as much on its military.
- Iran fields 9× as many tanks.
- Iran fields 4.2× as many submarines.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyEven, 2–2
- Land forcesIran leads 4 of 5
- Air powerGermany leads 4 of 7
- Naval forcesEven, 2–2
- Nuclear weaponsEven, 0–0
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.
$114B
Military spending
$7.4B184K
Active personnel
610K860K
Reserves
350K0
Paramilitary
220KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Germany: 2.3% of GDP; Iran: 2.1% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
296
Tanks
2,67587K
Armored vehicles
76K134
Self-propelled artillery
4240
Towed artillery
1,80333
Rocket artillery
1,550Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
569
Total aircraft
551127
Fighters
18863
Attack aircraft
21292
Helicopters
12949
Attack helicopters
133
Tankers
655
Transports
86Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
96
Total fleet
1090
Aircraft carriers
00
Helicopter carriers
06
Submarines
250
Destroyers
011
Frigates
76
Corvettes
3Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
0
Warheads
00
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
- IranvsIsrael
- IranvsSaudi Arabia
- United StatesvsIran
- TurkeyvsIran
- GermanyvsFrance
- GermanyvsUnited Kingdom
- PolandvsGermany
- PakistanvsIran
Profiles: Germany and Iran. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.