Military Power.net

Chinavs Egypt

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, China (#3) holds a clear lead over Egypt (#19).

  • China has nuclear weapons; Egypt has none.
  • China has aircraft carriers; Egypt has none.
  • China has destroyers; Egypt has none.

Who leads in each area

  1. People and moneyChina leads 4 of 4
  2. Land forcesChina leads 5 of 5
  3. Air powerChina leads 7 of 7
  4. Naval forcesChina leads 7 of 7
  5. Nuclear weaponsChina 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.

$336B
Military spending
$5.2B*
2.04M
Active personnel
439K
510K
Reserves
479K
625K
Paramilitary
300K

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (China: 1.7% of GDP). * SIPRI publishes no figure for this country, so the Global Firepower budget estimate is shown instead.

Land forces

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

5,870
Tanks
3,620
152K
Armored vehicles
55K
2,940
Self-propelled artillery
1,056
1,400
Towed artillery
962
2,770
Rocket artillery
648

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

3,529
Total aircraft
1,088
1,443
Fighters
242
371
Attack aircraft
90
1,007
Helicopters
348
281
Attack helicopters
100
9
Tankers
0
287
Transports
53

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

841
Total fleet
149
3
Aircraft carriers
0
4
Helicopter carriers
2
61
Submarines
8
53
Destroyers
0
46
Frigates
13
50
Corvettes
7

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

620
Warheads
0
34
Deployed warheads
0

Compare other countries

Related matchups

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