How does NATO’s military power compare to Russia?

Sweden and Finland have submitted applications to join NATO. Although not officially approved, the two countries’ accession to the alliance will significantly add to NATO’s strength and promise to put new pressure on Russia.

So how does NATO’s military power compare to Russia’s?

Nuclear warheads

Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, according to data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRU).

SIPRI estimates the Kremlin has an arsenal of 6,255 warheads by 2021, more than every NATO country combined.

NATO has a total of 6,065 nuclear warheads, of which the US provides up to 3,750 warheads.

Ground Force

Ground forces and ground vehicles are the main components of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

However, compared to Russia, NATO is significantly superior, the Western alliance has nearly four times more troops. Russia has about 1,350,000 troops, while NATO estimates 5,405,700.

Russia possesses 6,574 self-propelled guns, 7,571 turrets and 3,391 self-propelled missile launchers. Meanwhile, the corresponding figures in NATO are 5,040, 5,495 and 2,803.

Even so, NATO has the upper hand in battle tanks and armor, with 14,682 and 115,855 respectively, compared to Russia’s 12,420 and 30,122.

Air Force

NATO is superior in all air categories to Russia.

Moscow has about 4,173 jets, including 772 fighters, 739 ground attack aircraft, 445 transport aircraft, 20 tankers and 132 dedicated units used for reconnaissance missions. close.

Meanwhile, NATO has 20,723 jets, 3,527 of which are combat aircraft, 1,048 ground attack aircraft, 543 transport aircraft, 678 tankers and 1,048 special forces units.

The alliance also has 8,485 helicopters, compared with 1,543 for Russia.

Navy

Once again, Russia is at an ocean disadvantage when looking at official naval unit figures.

The country has a total of 605 ships, divided into destroyers, frigates, corvettes, aircraft carriers, submarines, patrol boats and minesweepers.

The current total number of ships is likely lower because Russia has now lost Moscow, the flagship of the Black Sea fleet.

NATO has a total of 2,049 ships of the corresponding type, of which 17 are similar to Moscow.