Military Power.net

Japanvs Taiwan

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Japan (#7) holds a clear lead over Taiwan (#22).

  • Japan fields 10× as many destroyers.
  • Japan fields 5.8× as many submarines.
  • Japan spends 3.4× as much on its military.
  1. People and moneyEven, 2–2
  2. Land forcesTaiwan leads 4 of 5
  3. Air powerJapan leads 6 of 7
  4. Naval forcesJapan leads 4 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.

$62.2B
Military spending
$18.2B
252K
Active personnel
230K
56K
Reserves
1.66M
25K
Paramilitary
55K

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Japan: 1.4% of GDP; Taiwan: 2.1% of GDP).

Land forces

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

734
Tanks
1,090
54K
Armored vehicles
24K
193
Self-propelled artillery
488
480
Towed artillery
1,360
99
Rocket artillery
223

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

1,429
Total aircraft
720
217
Fighters
258
47
Attack aircraft
0
583
Helicopters
239
118
Attack helicopters
91
10
Tankers
0
53
Transports
19

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

158
Total fleet
91
0
Aircraft carriers
0
4
Helicopter carriers
0
23
Submarines
4
41
Destroyers
4
8
Frigates
21
0
Corvettes
7

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

0
Warheads
0
0
Deployed warheads
0

Compare other countries

Related matchups

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