Russia has taken second place in the updated Global Firepower military strength ranking for 2026, placing near the top of a list that evaluates the armed forces of 145 countries worldwide.

According to the findings of the analytical project, Russia ranks first globally in the number of self-propelled and towed artillery systems. It also leads in the number of submarines and corvettes in active service. Across several other key categories-including tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, combat aircraft, helicopters, and military transport planes-Russia holds second place.

The United States once again topped the overall ranking. China and India followed in third and fourth positions. The rest of the top ten, in descending order, includes South Korea, France, Japan, Britain, Turkey, and Italy. Ukraine placed twentieth in the updated list.

Global Firepower analysts also compiled a separate ranking of naval forces covering 51 countries, based on total fleet tonnage. In this assessment, the Russian Navy secured third place, behind the naval forces of the United States and China.

Global Firepower is an international analytical initiative that publishes annual assessments of military capability. Its methodology relies on more than 60 indicators, including troop numbers, weapons structure, defense spending, industrial capacity, logistics, geography, and access to resources. Nuclear arsenals are deliberately excluded from the formula to prevent distortion of the final results.