United States of America vs Vietnam Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
United States of America
1M active troops
$800B budget
VS
Vietnam
500K active troops
$6B budget
6,612
Tanks
2,575
45,193
Armored Vehicles
2,800
2,837
Artillery
1,120
1,366
Rocket Systems
1,000
1,957
Fighter Jets
114
5,400
Helicopters
136
472
Warships
65
68
Submarines
6
Nuclear Arsenal
United States of America
LARGEST
5,044
WARHEADS
Vietnam
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Warheads Over Time
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI
Defense Budget vs GDP
Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.
Defense Budget Over Time ($B)
Defense Budget as % of GDP
Source: World Bank Open Data API (MS.MIL.XPND.CD)
Military Active Personnel
United States of America
LARGEST
1.35M
TROOPS
Vietnam
35.8% OF LARGEST
482K
TROOPS
United States of America has 2.80× the active personnel of Vietnam
Air Force Total Aircraft
United States of America
LARGEST
13.3K
AIRCRAFT
Vietnam
2.4% OF LARGEST
318
AIRCRAFT
United States of America has 41.82× the aircraft of Vietnam
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
United States of America
|
Vietnam
|
|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 1,347,300 | 482,000 |
| Reserve Personnel | 799,500 | 5,000,000 |
| Total Military Personnel | 2,146,800 | 5,482,000 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $816,000,000,000.0 | $5,500,000,000 |
| Tanks | 6,612 | 2,575 |
| Armored Vehicles | 45,193 | 2,800 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 1,498 | 120 |
| Towed Artillery | 1,339 | 1,000 |
| Rocket Projectors | 1,366 | 1,000 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
United States of America
|
Vietnam
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 13,300 | 318 |
| Fighters | 1,957 | 114 |
| Attack Aircraft | 2,800 | 0 |
| Transport Aircraft | 945 | 34 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 2,600 | 34 |
| Helicopters | 5,400 | 136 |
| Attack Helicopters | 983 | 28 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
United States of America
|
Vietnam
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 472 | 65 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 11 | 0 |
| Destroyers | 73 | 0 |
| Frigates | 0 | 8 |
| Corvettes | 23 | 0 |
| Submarines | 68 | 6 |
| Patrol Vessels | 13 | 32 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 8 | 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