Russia vs United States of America Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
Russia
900K active troops
$200B budget
VS
United States of America
1M active troops
$800B budget
12,420
Tanks
6,612
30,122
Armored Vehicles
45,193
14,145
Artillery
2,837
3,391
Rocket Systems
1,366
789
Fighter Jets
1,957
1,543
Helicopters
5,400
605
Warships
472
70
Submarines
68
Nuclear Arsenal
Russia
LARGEST
5,580
WARHEADS
United States of America
90.4% OF LARGEST
5,044
WARHEADS
Russia holds
1.1×
the warheads of United States of America
Warheads Over Time
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI
Defense Budget vs GDP
Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.
Defense Budget Over Time ($B)
Defense Budget as % of GDP
Source: World Bank Open Data API (MS.MIL.XPND.CD)
Military Active Personnel
United States of America
LARGEST
1.35M
TROOPS
Russia
66.8% OF LARGEST
900K
TROOPS
United States of America has 1.50× the active personnel of Russia
Air Force Total Aircraft
United States of America
LARGEST
13.3K
AIRCRAFT
Russia
31.4% OF LARGEST
4.17K
AIRCRAFT
United States of America has 3.19× the aircraft of Russia
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Russia
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 900,000 | 1,347,300 |
| Reserve Personnel | 2,000,000 | 799,500 |
| Total Military Personnel | 3,350,000 | 2,146,800 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $154,000,000,000 | $816,000,000,000.0 |
| Tanks | 12,420 | 6,612 |
| Armored Vehicles | 30,122 | 45,193 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 6,574 | 1,498 |
| Towed Artillery | 7,571 | 1,339 |
| Rocket Projectors | 3,391 | 1,366 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Russia
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 4,173 | 13,300 |
| Fighters | 789 | 1,957 |
| Attack Aircraft | 1,391 | 2,800 |
| Transport Aircraft | 445 | 945 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 496 | 2,600 |
| Helicopters | 1,543 | 5,400 |
| Attack Helicopters | 544 | 983 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
Russia
|
United States of America
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 605 | 472 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 1 | 11 |
| Destroyers | 15 | 73 |
| Frigates | 11 | 0 |
| Corvettes | 86 | 23 |
| Submarines | 70 | 68 |
| Patrol Vessels | 65 | 13 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 47 | 8 |
See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison.
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Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research.
Last updated June 2026.
Sources & methodology