Military Power.net

Germanyvs United Kingdom

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, the United Kingdom (#8) holds a narrow edge over Germany (#12).

  • The United Kingdom has nuclear weapons; Germany has none.
  • The United Kingdom has aircraft carriers; Germany has none.
  • The United Kingdom has destroyers; Germany has none.
  1. People and moneyGermany leads 3 of 4
  2. Land forcesUnited Kingdom leads 3 of 5
  3. Air powerGermany leads 4 of 7
  4. Naval forcesUnited Kingdom leads 4 of 7
  5. 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.

$114B
Military spending
$89.0B
184K
Active personnel
141K
860K
Reserves
32K
0
Paramilitary
0

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Germany: 2.3% of GDP; United Kingdom: 2.4% of GDP).

Land forces

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

296
Tanks
288
87K
Armored vehicles
94K
134
Self-propelled artillery
14
0
Towed artillery
126
33
Rocket artillery
43

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

569
Total aircraft
625
127
Fighters
103
63
Attack aircraft
38
292
Helicopters
262
49
Attack helicopters
50
3
Tankers
9
55
Transports
30

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

96
Total fleet
116
0
Aircraft carriers
2
0
Helicopter carriers
0
6
Submarines
10
0
Destroyers
6
11
Frigates
7
6
Corvettes
0

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

0
Warheads
225
0
Deployed warheads
120

Compare other countries

Related matchups

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