Israel Military Strength 2026
Rank #14 of 145Israel is ranked #14 of 145 nations on the Warfare Institute Strength Index, with a provisional score of 6.6 / 100. The comparable baseline weighs air power, land and naval forces, active manpower and financials, adjusted for equipment quality and readiness.
Category scores
| Air Superiority | 7.9 |
|---|---|
| Air Defense | Not scored |
| Long-Range Strike | Not scored |
| Land Forces | 9.4 |
| Naval Forces | 2 |
| Logistics | 0.9 |
| Manpower | 19.8 |
| Financials | 4.2 |
Key figures
- Active personnel
- 169,500
- Reserve personnel
- 465,000
- Total aircraft
- 597
- Fighters
- 239
- Attack helicopters
- 48
- Tanks
- 1,300
- Armored vehicles
- 62,380
- Self-propelled artillery
- 323
- Rocket artillery (MLRS)
- 228
- Naval vessels
- 79
- Aircraft carriers
- 0
- Submarines
- 6
- Defense budget
- $34.6B
- Population
- 9,402,617
What the ranking shows
Israel scores 6.6 out of 100. Its highest category score is Manpower (19.8); its lowest is Logistics (0.9). Category scores compare this country with the strongest inventory in each category, rather than measuring the probability of winning a war.
The inventory reports 169,500 active personnel, 239 fighters, 1,300 tanks and 79 naval vessels. Geography, alliances, logistics and deployment conditions affect how those forces can be used. Inventory totals and readiness estimates are explained in the methodology.
Data dates and sources
Dated model records range from 2026-07 to 2026-07. The 2026 label identifies the ranking edition; individual observations may refer to earlier periods. Figures are public-source estimates.
- Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance system pages — rolling (MDAA)
- National defense ministry / operator equipment pages & releases (US Army, Japan MOD, UK MOD, France Armed Forces Ministry, Turkish SSB, Israeli MoD, ROK DAPA, …) — rolling (MOD-NATIONAL)
- FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 — 2026 (FG-WAF26)
- Army Recognition, Janes-style public profiles, manufacturer pages (generation/rubric classification only) — rolling (OSINT-PROFILES)
- SIPRI Arms Transfers Database — rolling (SIPRI-AT)
- IISS, The Military Balance 2026 — 2026 (IISS-MB26)
- Naval News + official navy/shipbuilder releases — rolling (NAVAL-NEWS)
These citations identify the source families assigned to the model records; they do not imply every aggregate figure has been independently verified. See the source registry and corrections process.
Equipment by model
Model counts are estimates and may be reconciled to aggregate totals. — means undisclosed.
| Model | Category | In service | Data date | Source tag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Dome | Short-range C-RAM / point defense | 10 | Not dated | Not assigned |
| David's Sling | Medium/long-range SAM / lower-tier BMD | 2 | 2026-07 | MDAA |
| Arrow 2 | Upper-tier BMD (endo-atmospheric) | 3 | 2026-07 | MDAA |
| Arrow 3 | Exo-atmospheric BMD | 1 | 2026-07 | MDAA |
| Iron Beam | Laser point defense | 1 | 2026-07 | MOD-NATIONAL |
| F-35I Adir | Multirole (stealth) | 45 | 2026-07 | FG-WAF26 |
| F-15I Ra'am | Long-range strike / multirole | 25 | 2026-07 | OSINT-PROFILES |
| F-15C/D Baz | Air superiority | 17 | 2026-07 | OSINT-PROFILES |
| F-16I Sufa | Multirole / strike | 98 | 2026-07 | FG-WAF26 |
| F-16C/D Barak | Multirole | 75 | 2026-07 | FG-WAF26 |
| F-15IA | Long-range strike / multirole | 0 | 2026-07 | MOD-NATIONAL |
| AH-64A/D Apache | Attack helicopter | 36 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Other attack helicopters (israel) | Attack helicopter | 12 | 2026-07 | IISS-MB26 |
| UH-60 / CH-53 / Panther | Utility helicopter | 46 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Other helicopters (israel) | Utility helicopter | 33 | 2026-07 | IISS-MB26 |
| G550 Nachshon / CAEW / MPA fleet | AEW/ISR | 19 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| KC-707 / KC-46 transition | Tanker | 13 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| C-130H/J and liaison transports | Transport | 14 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Other submarines (israel) | Submarines | 6 | 2026-07 | NAVAL-NEWS |
| Other corvettes (israel) | Corvettes | 7 | 2026-07 | NAVAL-NEWS |
| Merkava IV Barak/Meil Ruach | Modern MBT | 624 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Merkava III/II reserve | MBT | 468 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Other tanks legacy (israel) | tank | 208 | 2026-07 | IISS-MB26 |
| Namer heavy APC | Heavy APC | 7,486 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Eitan / Achzarit / M113 | APC | 23,704 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Puma/Nagmachon engineering APCs | Armored vehicles | 11,228 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Other vehicles mixed (israel) | armored vehicle | 19,962 | 2026-07 | IISS-MB26 |
| M109 Doher / Roem | SPG | 226 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Other self-propelled artillery mixed (israel) | self-propelled artillery | 97 | 2026-07 | IISS-MB26 |
| M-71/Soltam and reserve guns | Towed artillery | 94 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Other towed artillery legacy (israel) | towed artillery | 77 | 2026-07 | IISS-MB26 |
| Lynx / M270 / LAR-160 | MLRS | 125 | 2026-07 | SIPRI-AT |
| Other rocket artillery mixed (israel) | rocket artillery | 103 | 2026-07 | IISS-MB26 |
| LORA ballistic launchers | strike | 32 | Not dated | Not assigned |
| Jericho conventional launcher-equivalent | strike | 16 | Not dated | Not assigned |
| IAI Harop long-range OWA salvo depth | strike | 120 | Not dated | Not assigned |