Military Power.net

Ukrainevs United Kingdom

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, the United Kingdom (#8) holds a solid edge over Ukraine (#20).

  • The United Kingdom has nuclear weapons; Ukraine has none.
  • The United Kingdom has aircraft carriers; Ukraine has none.
  • The United Kingdom has submarines; Ukraine has none.
  1. People and moneyUkraine leads 3 of 4
  2. Land forcesUkraine leads 4 of 5
  3. Air powerUnited Kingdom leads 7 of 7
  4. Naval forcesUnited Kingdom leads 4 of 7
  5. Nuclear weaponsUnited Kingdom 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.

$84.1B
Military spending
$89.0B
900K
Active personnel
141K
4M
Reserves
32K
100K
Paramilitary
0

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Ukraine: 40% of GDP; United Kingdom: 2.4% of GDP).

Land forces

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

1,121
Tanks
288
45K
Armored vehicles
94K
682
Self-propelled artillery
14
625
Towed artillery
126
288
Rocket artillery
43

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

347
Total aircraft
625
88
Fighters
103
30
Attack aircraft
38
140
Helicopters
262
39
Attack helicopters
50
0
Tankers
9
22
Transports
30

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

169
Total fleet
116
0
Aircraft carriers
2
0
Helicopter carriers
0
0
Submarines
10
0
Destroyers
6
0
Frigates
7
0
Corvettes
0

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

0
Warheads
225
0
Deployed warheads
120

Compare other countries

Related matchups

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