Germanyvs Italy
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Italy (#10) holds a narrow edge over Germany (#12).
- Italy has aircraft carriers; Germany has none.
- Italy has destroyers; Germany has none.
- Italy has 3× as many naval vessels.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyGermany leads 3 of 4
- Land forcesGermany leads 3 of 5
- Air powerItaly leads 4 of 7
- Naval forcesItaly leads 5 of 7
- 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.
$114B
Military spending
$48.1B184K
Active personnel
166K860K
Reserves
18K0
Paramilitary
105KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Germany: 2.3% of GDP; Italy: 1.9% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
296
Tanks
20387K
Armored vehicles
87K134
Self-propelled artillery
640
Towed artillery
10833
Rocket artillery
21Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
569
Total aircraft
714127
Fighters
8863
Attack aircraft
65292
Helicopters
35249
Attack helicopters
373
Tankers
855
Transports
31Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
96
Total fleet
2850
Aircraft carriers
20
Helicopter carriers
06
Submarines
80
Destroyers
311
Frigates
146
Corvettes
0Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
0
Warheads
00
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
Profiles: Germany and Italy. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.