United Kingdomvs Spain
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, the United Kingdom (#8) holds a solid edge over Spain (#18).
- The United Kingdom has nuclear weapons; Spain has none.
- The United Kingdom has destroyers; Spain has none.
- The United Kingdom fields 5× as many submarines.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyUnited Kingdom leads 3 of 4
- Land forcesSpain leads 3 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.
$89.0B
Military spending
$40.2B141K
Active personnel
122K32K
Reserves
24K0
Paramilitary
78KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (United Kingdom: 2.4% of GDP; Spain: 2.1% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
288
Tanks
29894K
Armored vehicles
49K14
Self-propelled artillery
96126
Towed artillery
18843
Rocket artillery
0Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
625
Total aircraft
440103
Fighters
13638
Attack aircraft
12262
Helicopters
16950
Attack helicopters
179
Tankers
030
Transports
51Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
116
Total fleet
1752
Aircraft carriers
10
Helicopter carriers
010
Submarines
26
Destroyers
07
Frigates
110
Corvettes
0Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
225
Warheads
0120
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
- United KingdomvsFrance
- GermanyvsUnited Kingdom
- RussiavsUnited Kingdom
- SpainvsItaly
- ChinavsUnited Kingdom
Profiles: United Kingdom and Spain. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.