Military Power.net

Saudi Arabiavs Spain

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Spain (#18) holds a solid edge over Saudi Arabia (#25).

  • Spain has aircraft carriers; Saudi Arabia has none.
  • Spain has submarines; Saudi Arabia has none.
  • Spain has 5.5× as many naval vessels.
  1. People and moneySaudi Arabia leads 3 of 4
  2. Land forcesSaudi Arabia leads 4 of 5
  3. Air powerSaudi Arabia leads 6 of 7
  4. Naval forcesSpain leads 4 of 7
  5. Nuclear weaponsEven, 0–0

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.

$83.2B
Military spending
$40.2B
247K
Active personnel
122K
0
Reserves
24K
150K
Paramilitary
78K

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Saudi Arabia: 6.5% of GDP; Spain: 2.1% of GDP).

Land forces

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

1,085
Tanks
298
22K
Armored vehicles
49K
380
Self-propelled artillery
96
557
Towed artillery
188
327
Rocket artillery
0

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

917
Total aircraft
440
283
Fighters
136
81
Attack aircraft
12
264
Helicopters
169
34
Attack helicopters
17
22
Tankers
0
49
Transports
51

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

32
Total fleet
175
0
Aircraft carriers
1
0
Helicopter carriers
0
0
Submarines
2
0
Destroyers
0
7
Frigates
11
9
Corvettes
0

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

0
Warheads
0
0
Deployed warheads
0

Compare other countries

Related matchups

Profiles: Saudi Arabia and Spain. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.