Israelvs Saudi Arabia
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Israel (#15) holds a solid edge over Saudi Arabia (#25).
- Israel has nuclear weapons; Saudi Arabia has none.
- Israel has submarines; Saudi Arabia has none.
- Israel has 2.6× as many naval vessels.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneySaudi Arabia leads 3 of 4
- Land forcesSaudi Arabia leads 3 of 5
- Air powerSaudi Arabia leads 6 of 7
- Naval forcesEven, 2–2
- Nuclear weaponsIsrael leads 1 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.
$48.3B
Military spending
$83.2B170K
Active personnel
247K465K
Reserves
035K
Paramilitary
150KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Israel: 7.8% of GDP; Saudi Arabia: 6.5% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
1,300
Tanks
1,08562K
Armored vehicles
22K323
Self-propelled artillery
380171
Towed artillery
557228
Rocket artillery
327Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
597
Total aircraft
917239
Fighters
28345
Attack aircraft
81127
Helicopters
26448
Attack helicopters
3413
Tankers
2214
Transports
49Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
82
Total fleet
320
Aircraft carriers
00
Helicopter carriers
06
Submarines
00
Destroyers
00
Frigates
77
Corvettes
9Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
90
Warheads
00
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
Profiles: Israel and Saudi Arabia. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.