MilitaryCompare / Japan vs Iran
Japan vs Iran
Japan ranks #10 and Iran ranks #18 in the 2026 Military Atlas Index. Japan spends $62.2B on defense with 247K active personnel; Iran spends $7.4B with 610K.
| Overview | ||
|---|---|---|
| #10 | Global Rank | #18 |
| $62.2B | Defense Budget | $7.4B |
| 1.4% | Budget % of GDP | 2.1% |
| $4.44T | GDP | $363B |
| 123.37M | Population | 92.42M |
| Personnel | ||
| 247K | Active Personnel | 610K |
| 56K | Reserve Personnel | 350K |
| 15K | Paramilitary | 40K |
| Air | ||
| 1,214 | Military Aircraft | 1,402 |
| 264 | Combat Aircraft | 245 |
| 264 | Fighter Jets | 213 |
| 47 | 5th Gen Fighters | 0 |
| 0 | Bombers | 0 |
| 488 | Helicopters | 124 |
| 83 | Attack Helicopters | 11 |
| 43 | Military Drones (UAV) | 750 |
| Land | ||
| 340 | Main Battle Tanks | 1,513 |
| 70 | Infantry Fighting Vehicles | 610 |
| 766 | Armoured Personnel Carriers | 640 |
| 772 | Artillery Systems | 3,798 |
| Naval | ||
| 22 | Submarines | 4 |
| 0 | Nuclear Submarines | 0 |
| 2 | Aircraft Carriers | 0 |
| 2 | Helicopter / Amphibious Carriers | 0 |
| Strategic | ||
| 0 | Nuclear Warheads | 0 |
| — | Ballistic Missile Systems | 9 |
| — | ICBM Systems | 0 |
| — | Cruise Missile Systems | 3 |
| — | Hypersonic Systems | 1 |
| — | Longest Missile Range | 3,000 km |
Japan leads in 11 of the 19 measured categories, Iran in 8. Numbers alone do not decide a war: training, logistics, geography, alliances and nuclear deterrence matter too. A dash means the source publishes no figure.
Sources: CSIS Missile Threat, Federation of American Scientists, IISS Military Balance, Military Atlas Index, SIPRI, Wikipedia, Wikipedia / FlightGlobal, World Bank.