Indiavs United Kingdom
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, India (#4) holds a narrow edge over the United Kingdom (#8).
- India fields 14× as many tanks.
- India has 10× as many active troops.
- India fields 4.6× as many fighters.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyIndia leads 4 of 4
- Land forcesIndia leads 5 of 5
- Air powerIndia leads 6 of 7
- Naval forcesIndia leads 5 of 7
- 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.
$92.1B
Military spending
$89.0B1.43M
Active personnel
141K1M
Reserves
32K2.53M
Paramilitary
0Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (India: 2.3% of GDP; United Kingdom: 2.4% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
3,913
Tanks
288164K
Armored vehicles
94K100
Self-propelled artillery
145,640
Towed artillery
126300
Rocket artillery
43Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
2,183
Total aircraft
625476
Fighters
103124
Attack aircraft
38594
Helicopters
26279
Attack helicopters
506
Tankers
9277
Transports
30Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
343
Total fleet
1162
Aircraft carriers
20
Helicopter carriers
018
Submarines
1013
Destroyers
618
Frigates
721
Corvettes
0Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
190
Warheads
22512
Deployed warheads
120Compare other countries
Related matchups
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Profiles: India and United Kingdom. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.