Side-by-side military and economic comparison. White/black is United States, red is North Korea.
🇺🇸 United States
🇰🇵 North Korea
Active Conflicts
2026 Iran War
10,000+ deaths
Venezuela Crisis / US Intervention
500+ deaths
None tracked
Fleet Modernity — Quality, Not Just Count
ADVANCED
✈️ Air Fleet
AGING
ADVANCED
🛡️ Armor Fleet
AGING
LIKELY MODERN
⚓ Naval Fleet
UNKNOWN
Leads More Categories
★ United States
United States wins 5 of 6 · North Korea wins 1 of 6
Manpower
★ United States
Financials
★ United States
Airpower
★ United States
Land Power
★ United States
Naval Power
★ North Korea
Strategic
★ United States
Manpower
★ 335,000,000
👥 Total Population
26,000,000
★ 1,390,000
🪖 Active Personnel
1,280,000
442,000
🎖️ Reserve Personnel
600,000 ★
n/a
👮 Paramilitary Forces
n/a
Financials
★ $877B
💰 Defense Budget
$0B
★ $29,200B
📈 GDP (Nominal)
$0B
Airpower
★ 13,250
✈️ Total Aircraft
950
★ 1,850
🛩️ Fighter Aircraft
400
★ 11,400
🛫 Bombers & Other Aircraft
550
★ 5,463
🚁 Helicopters (Total)
n/a
Land Power
★ 4,650
🛡️ Tank Strength
4,000
★ 39,223
🚚 Armored Vehicles
n/a
★ 1,498
💥 Towed Artillery
n/a
Naval Power
440
⚓ Fleet Strength
500 ★
68
🌊 Submarines
70 ★
★ 11
🛳️ Aircraft Carriers
0
Strategic
★ 5,177
☢️ Nuclear Warheads
50
Figures are educated estimates or formula-modeled, not sourced intelligence. Team totals are simple sums. Want a different matchup? Use the interactive Compare tool.