Iranvs United Kingdom
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, the United Kingdom (#8) holds a solid edge over Iran (#16).
- The United Kingdom has nuclear weapons; Iran has none.
- The United Kingdom has aircraft carriers; Iran has none.
- The United Kingdom has destroyers; Iran has none.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyIran leads 3 of 4
- Land forcesIran leads 4 of 5
- Air powerUnited Kingdom leads 5 of 7
- Naval forcesUnited Kingdom leads 3 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsUnited Kingdom 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.
$7.4B
Military spending
$89.0B610K
Active personnel
141K350K
Reserves
32K220K
Paramilitary
0Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Iran: 2.1% of GDP; United Kingdom: 2.4% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
2,675
Tanks
28876K
Armored vehicles
94K424
Self-propelled artillery
141,803
Towed artillery
1261,550
Rocket artillery
43Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
551
Total aircraft
625188
Fighters
10321
Attack aircraft
38129
Helicopters
26213
Attack helicopters
506
Tankers
986
Transports
30Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
109
Total fleet
1160
Aircraft carriers
20
Helicopter carriers
025
Submarines
100
Destroyers
67
Frigates
73
Corvettes
0Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
0
Warheads
2250
Deployed warheads
120Compare other countries
Related matchups
- IranvsIsrael
- IranvsSaudi Arabia
- United StatesvsIran
- TurkeyvsIran
- United KingdomvsFrance
- GermanyvsUnited Kingdom
- RussiavsUnited Kingdom
- PakistanvsIran
Profiles: Iran and United Kingdom. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.