Indiavs Iran
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, India (#4) holds a solid edge over Iran (#16).
- India has nuclear weapons; Iran has none.
- India has aircraft carriers; Iran has none.
- India has destroyers; Iran has none.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyIndia leads 4 of 4
- Land forcesIndia leads 3 of 5
- Air powerIndia leads 6 of 7
- Naval forcesIndia leads 5 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsIndia 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.
$92.1B
Military spending
$7.4B1.43M
Active personnel
610K1M
Reserves
350K2.53M
Paramilitary
220KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (India: 2.3% of GDP; Iran: 2.1% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
3,913
Tanks
2,675164K
Armored vehicles
76K100
Self-propelled artillery
4245,640
Towed artillery
1,803300
Rocket artillery
1,550Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
2,183
Total aircraft
551476
Fighters
188124
Attack aircraft
21594
Helicopters
12979
Attack helicopters
136
Tankers
6277
Transports
86Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
343
Total fleet
1092
Aircraft carriers
00
Helicopter carriers
018
Submarines
2513
Destroyers
018
Frigates
721
Corvettes
3Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
190
Warheads
012
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
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Profiles: India and Iran. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.