Germanyvs Japan
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Japan (#7) holds a narrow edge over Germany (#12).
- Japan has destroyers; Germany has none.
- Japan fields 3.8× as many submarines.
- Japan fields 2.5× as many total aircraft.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyEven, 2–2
- Land forcesJapan leads 4 of 5
- Air powerJapan leads 5 of 7
- Naval forcesJapan leads 4 of 7
- 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
$62.2B184K
Active personnel
252K860K
Reserves
56K0
Paramilitary
25KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Germany: 2.3% of GDP; Japan: 1.4% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
296
Tanks
73487K
Armored vehicles
54K134
Self-propelled artillery
1930
Towed artillery
48033
Rocket artillery
99Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
569
Total aircraft
1,429127
Fighters
21763
Attack aircraft
47292
Helicopters
58349
Attack helicopters
1183
Tankers
1055
Transports
53Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
96
Total fleet
1580
Aircraft carriers
00
Helicopter carriers
46
Submarines
230
Destroyers
4111
Frigates
86
Corvettes
0Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
0
Warheads
00
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
- ChinavsJapan
- GermanyvsFrance
- GermanyvsUnited Kingdom
- PolandvsGermany
- JapanvsSouth Korea
- JapanvsRussia
- North KoreavsJapan
Profiles: Germany and Japan. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.