Military Power.net

Russiavs United Kingdom

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Russia (#2) holds a solid edge over the United Kingdom (#8).

  • Russia holds 20× as many nuclear warheads.
  • Russia fields 20× as many tanks.
  • Russia has 9.3× as many active troops.
  1. People and moneyRussia leads 4 of 4
  2. Land forcesRussia leads 5 of 5
  3. Air powerRussia leads 7 of 7
  4. Naval forcesRussia leads 5 of 7
  5. Nuclear weaponsRussia 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.

$190B
Military spending
$89.0B
1.32M
Active personnel
141K
2M
Reserves
32K
250K
Paramilitary
0

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Russia: 7.5% of GDP; United Kingdom: 2.4% of GDP).

Land forces

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

5,630
Tanks
288
127K
Armored vehicles
94K
3,603
Self-propelled artillery
14
5,920
Towed artillery
126
2,486
Rocket artillery
43

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

4,237
Total aircraft
625
861
Fighters
103
698
Attack aircraft
38
1,643
Helicopters
262
556
Attack helicopters
50
18
Tankers
9
458
Transports
30

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

747
Total fleet
116
1
Aircraft carriers
2
0
Helicopter carriers
0
66
Submarines
10
13
Destroyers
6
12
Frigates
7
79
Corvettes
0

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

4,400
Warheads
225
1,796
Deployed warheads
120

Compare other countries

Related matchups

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