Military Power.net

Brazilvs Japan

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Japan (#7) holds a narrow edge over Brazil (#11).

  • Japan has destroyers; Brazil has none.
  • Japan fields 4.9× as many fighters.
  • Japan fields 3.8× as many submarines.
  1. People and moneyBrazil leads 3 of 4
  2. Land forcesJapan leads 5 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.

$23.9B
Military spending
$62.2B
376K
Active personnel
252K
1.34M
Reserves
56K
200K
Paramilitary
25K

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Brazil: 1.6% of GDP; Japan: 1.4% of GDP).

Land forces

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

294
Tanks
734
22K
Armored vehicles
54K
149
Self-propelled artillery
193
412
Towed artillery
480
82
Rocket artillery
99

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

495
Total aircraft
1,429
44
Fighters
217
30
Attack aircraft
47
186
Helicopters
583
0
Attack helicopters
118
0
Tankers
10
107
Transports
53

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

69
Total fleet
158
0
Aircraft carriers
0
1
Helicopter carriers
4
6
Submarines
23
0
Destroyers
41
8
Frigates
8
2
Corvettes
0

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

0
Warheads
0
0
Deployed warheads
0

Compare other countries

Related matchups

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