South Africa’s military strength vs the world in 2025

 ·16 Jan 2025

Military website Global Firepower has published its military strength ranking for 2025, featuring 145 countries, with the ranking utilising more than 60 different factors to determine a given nation’s Power Index.

The Global Firepower Power Index is calculated by focusing on weapon diversity rather than the total number of weapons available to any country to provide a better balance of firepower.

The formula also allows smaller, more technologically advanced nations to compete with larger, lesser-developed powers, and special modifiers – in the form of bonuses and penalties – are applied to refine the list further, which is compiled annually.

One such special modifier is a nation’s access to nuclear weapons, and while they are not recognised directly, these nations receive an indirect score bonus.

However, some categories directly influencing the rankings include geographical factors, logistical flexibility, natural resources and local industry, among others.

In the 2025 ranking, the most powerful military forces have not changed significantly, with the United States still ranked as having the world’s strongest military power.

The only major change among the top 10 compared to last year is that France is now ranked seventh – kicking Japan to eighth.

Other changes include Turkiye dropping one spot to ninth and kicking Pakistan out of the top 10 in 2025.

Russia remains the second strongest military force, followed by China and India in third and fourth place, respectively.

Italy also remained in 10th place in 2025.

The US military budget, at $895 billion, is bigger than the remaining top 10 combined ($835.6 billion).

While the US doesn’t have the largest front line or the largest fleet of tanks, its massive military budget puts it far ahead of the rest in the rankings.

Top 10 military spenders (Defence Budget)

  1. US: $895 billion
  2. China: $267 billion
  3. Russia: $126 billion
  4. India: $75 billion
  5. Saudi Arabia: $74.7 billion
  6. UK: $71.5 billion
  7. Japan: $57 billion
  8. Australia: $55.7 billion
  9. France: $55 billion
  10. Ukraine: $53.7 billion

The USA has the largest air force among the top 10 global military powers, and China has the most troops and naval vessels.

Note: Some vehicles can fall under multiple classifications.

#CountryActive FrontlineReserveCombat tanksAir ForceNaval Vessels
1US1 328 000799 5004 64013 043440
2Russia1 320 0002 000 0005 7504 292419
3China2 035 000510 0006 8003 309754
4India1 455 5501 155 0004 2012 229293
5South Korea600 0003 100 0002 2361 592227
6United Kingdom184 860924 000227631109
7France 200 00026 000215976129
8Japan 247 15056 0005211 443159
9Turkiye355 200378 7002 2381 083182
10Italy165 50018 500200729196
40South Africa71 23529 35025218249

South Africa 

South Africa is ranked as having the 40th greatest military strength globally – dropping seven spots from 2024.

The country also dropped in the ranking of strongest military force in Africa, sliding by one spot from third in 2024 to fourth in 2025.

This puts the country behind Egypt (1st), Algeria (2nd), and Nigeria (3rd) on the African continent.

The ranking shows South Africa has 71,235 active and 29,350 reserve personnel.

It also estimates that the country has around 14,989,776 citizens who would be fit for service should it enforce conscription laws.

Notably, South Africa stands out for its land power but has fallen behind other nations in terms of air and naval power in recent years. The defence budget is estimated at $2.3 billion.


Airpower

South Africa has a total aircraft strength of 182 assets.

This includes:

  • 2 fighter aircraft
  • 12 transport aircraft
  • 81 trainer aircraft
  • 97 total helicopters (of which 10 are attack helicopters)

Army/Land power

  • 252 combat tanks
  • 18,692 armoured fighting vehicles
  • 49 self-propelled artillery
  • 134 towed artillery
  • 101 rocket projectors

Naval power

South Africa has a total naval strength of 49 assets.

Notably, the country currently has no aircraft carriers, destroyers or corvette-class vehicles.

This includes:

  • 4 frigates
  • 3 submarines
  • 33 patrol vessels
  • 2 mine warfare vessels
  • 7 unspecified

Read: The man with one of the hardest jobs in South Africa right now

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