Taiwanvs United States
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, the United States (#1) holds a clear lead over Taiwan (#22).
- The United States has nuclear weapons; Taiwan has none.
- The United States has aircraft carriers; Taiwan has none.
- The United States spends 52× as much on its military.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyEven, 2–2
- Land forcesUnited States leads 5 of 5
- Air powerUnited States leads 7 of 7
- Naval forcesUnited States leads 6 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsUnited States 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.
$18.2B
Military spending
$954B230K
Active personnel
1.33M1.66M
Reserves
800K55K
Paramilitary
0Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Taiwan: 2.1% of GDP; United States: 3.1% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
1,090
Tanks
4,66624K
Armored vehicles
410K488
Self-propelled artillery
1,5211,360
Towed artillery
1,878223
Rocket artillery
1,731Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
720
Total aircraft
13,032258
Fighters
1,7910
Attack aircraft
926239
Helicopters
5,91391
Attack helicopters
1,0240
Tankers
61019
Transports
917Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
91
Total fleet
4650
Aircraft carriers
110
Helicopter carriers
94
Submarines
664
Destroyers
8321
Frigates
07
Corvettes
27Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
0
Warheads
3,7000
Deployed warheads
1,770Compare other countries
Related matchups
- United StatesvsChina
- United StatesvsRussia
- ChinavsTaiwan
- United StatesvsIran
- United StatesvsNorth Korea
- United StatesvsIndia
Profiles: Taiwan and United States. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.