Military Power.net

Saudi Arabiavs Taiwan

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Taiwan (#22) holds a narrow edge over Saudi Arabia (#25).

  • Taiwan has submarines; Saudi Arabia has none.
  • Taiwan has destroyers; Saudi Arabia has none.
  • Saudi Arabia spends 4.6× as much on its military.
  1. People and moneySaudi Arabia leads 3 of 4
  2. Land forcesTaiwan leads 4 of 5
  3. Air powerSaudi Arabia leads 6 of 7
  4. Naval forcesTaiwan 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.

$83.2B
Military spending
$18.2B
247K
Active personnel
230K
0
Reserves
1.66M
150K
Paramilitary
55K

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

Land forces

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

1,085
Tanks
1,090
22K
Armored vehicles
24K
380
Self-propelled artillery
488
557
Towed artillery
1,360
327
Rocket artillery
223

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

917
Total aircraft
720
283
Fighters
258
81
Attack aircraft
0
264
Helicopters
239
34
Attack helicopters
91
22
Tankers
0
49
Transports
19

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

32
Total fleet
91
0
Aircraft carriers
0
0
Helicopter carriers
0
0
Submarines
4
0
Destroyers
4
7
Frigates
21
9
Corvettes
7

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

0
Warheads
0
0
Deployed warheads
0

Compare other countries

Related matchups

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