Military Power.net

Iranvs Saudi Arabia

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Iran (#16) holds a solid edge over Saudi Arabia (#25).

  • Iran has submarines; Saudi Arabia has none.
  • Saudi Arabia spends 11× as much on its military.
  • Iran has 3.4× as many naval vessels.
  1. People and moneyIran leads 3 of 4
  2. Land forcesIran leads 5 of 5
  3. Air powerSaudi Arabia leads 6 of 7
  4. Naval forcesIran leads 2 of 7
  5. 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.

$7.4B
Military spending
$83.2B
610K
Active personnel
247K
350K
Reserves
0
220K
Paramilitary
150K

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Iran: 2.1% of GDP; Saudi Arabia: 6.5% of GDP).

Land forces

Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.

2,675
Tanks
1,085
76K
Armored vehicles
22K
424
Self-propelled artillery
380
1,803
Towed artillery
557
1,550
Rocket artillery
327

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

551
Total aircraft
917
188
Fighters
283
21
Attack aircraft
81
129
Helicopters
264
13
Attack helicopters
34
6
Tankers
22
86
Transports
49

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

109
Total fleet
32
0
Aircraft carriers
0
0
Helicopter carriers
0
25
Submarines
0
0
Destroyers
0
7
Frigates
7
3
Corvettes
9

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

0
Warheads
0
0
Deployed warheads
0

Compare other countries

Related matchups

Profiles: Iran and Saudi Arabia. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.