Military Power.net

Pakistanvs Iran

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Pakistan (#14) holds a narrow edge over Iran (#16).

  • Pakistan has nuclear weapons; Iran has none.
  • Iran fields 3.1× as many submarines.
  • Pakistan fields 2.5× as many total aircraft.
  1. People and moneyPakistan leads 4 of 4
  2. Land forcesPakistan leads 3 of 5
  3. Air powerPakistan leads 5 of 7
  4. Naval forcesPakistan leads 3 of 7
  5. Nuclear weaponsPakistan leads 1 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.

$11.9B
Military spending
$7.4B
660K
Active personnel
610K
550K
Reserves
350K
500K
Paramilitary
220K

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Pakistan: 2.9% of GDP; Iran: 2.1% of GDP).

Land forces

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

2,677
Tanks
2,675
59K
Armored vehicles
76K
662
Self-propelled artillery
424
2,629
Towed artillery
1,803
652
Rocket artillery
1,550

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

1,397
Total aircraft
551
331
Fighters
188
90
Attack aircraft
21
379
Helicopters
129
55
Attack helicopters
13
4
Tankers
6
63
Transports
86

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

120
Total fleet
109
0
Aircraft carriers
0
0
Helicopter carriers
0
8
Submarines
25
0
Destroyers
0
9
Frigates
7
6
Corvettes
3

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

170
Warheads
0
0
Deployed warheads
0

Compare other countries

Related matchups

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