Afghanistan vs Russia Military Comparison

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Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.

Afghanistan flag
Afghanistan
200K active troops $3B budget
VS
Russia flag
Russia
900K active troops $200B budget
150
Tanks
12,420
2,000
Armored Vehicles
30,122
235
Artillery
14,145
50
Rocket Systems
3,391
0
Fighter Jets
789
107
Helicopters
1,543
0
Warships
605
0
Submarines
70

Nuclear Arsenal

Russia
Russia flag LARGEST
5,580 WARHEADS
Afghanistan
Afghanistan flag NON-NUCLEAR
0 WARHEADS
Warheads Over Time
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI

Defense Budget vs GDP

Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.

Defense Budget Over Time ($B)

Defense Budget as % of GDP

Source: World Bank Open Data API (MS.MIL.XPND.CD)

Military Active Personnel

Russia
Russia flag LARGEST
900K TROOPS
Afghanistan
Afghanistan flag 20.0% OF LARGEST
180K TROOPS
Russia flag Russia 900Ktroops
LARGEST
Afghanistan flag Afghanistan 180Ktroops
20.0% of largest
Russia has 5.00× the active personnel of Afghanistan

Air Force Total Aircraft

Russia
Russia flag LARGEST
4.17K AIRCRAFT
Afghanistan
Afghanistan flag 4.0% OF LARGEST
167 AIRCRAFT
Russia flag Russia 4.17Kaircraft
LARGEST
Afghanistan flag Afghanistan 167aircraft
4.0% of largest
Russia has 24.99× the aircraft of Afghanistan

Land Forces — Detailed Metrics

Metric
Afghanistan flag Afghanistan
Russia flag Russia
Active Personnel 180,000 900,000
Reserve Personnel 0 2,000,000
Total Military Personnel 180,000 3,350,000
Defense Budget (USD) $2,800,000,000 $154,000,000,000
Tanks 150 12,420
Armored Vehicles 2,000 30,122
Self-Propelled Artillery 85 6,574
Towed Artillery 150 7,571
Rocket Projectors 50 3,391

Air Force — Detailed Metrics

Metric
Afghanistan flag Afghanistan
Russia flag Russia
Total Aircraft 167 4,173
Fighters 0 789
Attack Aircraft 0 1,391
Transport Aircraft 40 445
Trainer Aircraft 20 496
Helicopters 107 1,543
Attack Helicopters 0 544

Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics

See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison. View full Afghanistan vs Russia comparison →
Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research. Last updated June 2026. Sources & methodology