Turkeyvs Iran
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Turkey (#9) holds a solid edge over Iran (#16).
- Turkey spends 4.1× as much on its military.
- Turkey fields 2× as many total aircraft.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyEven, 2–2
- Land forcesIran leads 3 of 5
- Air powerTurkey leads 5 of 7
- Naval forcesTurkey leads 4 of 7
- 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.
$30.0B
Military spending
$7.4B481K
Active personnel
610K380K
Reserves
350K150K
Paramilitary
220KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Turkey: 1.9% of GDP; Iran: 2.1% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
2,284
Tanks
2,67598K
Armored vehicles
76K1,045
Self-propelled artillery
424635
Towed artillery
1,803237
Rocket artillery
1,550Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
1,101
Total aircraft
551201
Fighters
1880
Attack aircraft
21509
Helicopters
129111
Attack helicopters
137
Tankers
684
Transports
86Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
192
Total fleet
1090
Aircraft carriers
01
Helicopter carriers
014
Submarines
250
Destroyers
017
Frigates
79
Corvettes
3Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
0
Warheads
00
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
Profiles: Turkey and Iran. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.