Russiavs South Korea
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Russia (#2) holds a narrow edge over South Korea (#5).
- Russia has nuclear weapons; South Korea has none.
- Russia has aircraft carriers; South Korea has none.
- Russia spends 4× as much on its military.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyRussia leads 3 of 4
- Land forcesRussia leads 5 of 5
- Air powerRussia leads 7 of 7
- Naval forcesRussia leads 4 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsRussia 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.
$190B
Military spending
$47.8B1.32M
Active personnel
450K2M
Reserves
3.1M250K
Paramilitary
120KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Russia: 7.5% of GDP; South Korea: 2.6% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
5,630
Tanks
1,831127K
Armored vehicles
117K3,603
Self-propelled artillery
2,7805,920
Towed artillery
5,8002,486
Rocket artillery
525Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
4,237
Total aircraft
1,540861
Fighters
242698
Attack aircraft
981,643
Helicopters
827556
Attack helicopters
11318
Tankers
4458
Transports
40Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
747
Total fleet
2151
Aircraft carriers
00
Helicopter carriers
266
Submarines
2213
Destroyers
1412
Frigates
1879
Corvettes
3Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
4,400
Warheads
01,796
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
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Profiles: Russia and South Korea. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.