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Military Strength: Flag of Bahrain Bahrain vs Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka

Bahrain (ranked #58 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Sri Lanka (#65) on the ARMS Index. Sri Lanka fields 317,000 active troops — 17:1 Bahrain's 19,000, backed by 5,500 reserves and 94,050 paramilitary. Bahrain allocates $1.4B to defense compared to $1.5B for Sri Lanka.

ARMS (Aggregate Rating of Military Strength) Index face-off Full ranking →
Flag of Bahrain BahrainWorld #58 35.4
ARMS Index / 100

Bahrain leads overall, ahead on 2 of 6 pillars

Flag of Sri Lanka Sri LankaWorld #65 32.8
  • 47.319K active troops Manpower15 % 76.1317K active troops
  • 50.1150 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 45.344 battle tanks
  • 29.465 warships Naval power20 % 48.9271 warships
  • 41.344 combat aircraft Air power25 % 34.417 combat aircraft
  • 0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
  • 36.0$1.4B budget Defense budget10 % 36.4$1.5B budget
Bahrain Sri Lanka Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×1.10 vs ×0.87 · Methodology
Key figures
Bahrain Sri Lanka Ratio
Defense budget $1.4B $1.5B 🇱🇰 1.1×
– share of GDP 3.0% 1.5% 🇧🇭 2.0×
Active personnel 19,000 317,000 🇱🇰 17×
Combat aircraft 44 17 🇧🇭 2.6×
Warships 65 271 🇱🇰 4.2×
– submarines 0 0 —
Main battle tanks 150 44 🇧🇭 3.4×
Nuclear warheads 0 0 —
Show full breakdown · 11 more rowsHide the 11 extra rows
Reserve troops 0 5,500 🇱🇰
Paramilitary forces 11,260 94,050 🇱🇰 8.4×
Military aircraft (all types) 136 99 🇧🇭 1.4×
– helicopters 80 62 🇧🇭 1.3×
Budget share of govt spending — — —
Budget per capita $890 $68 🇧🇭 13×
Population 1.6M 21.9M 🇱🇰 14×
GDP $47B $99B 🇱🇰 2.1×
GDP per capita $29,654 $4,516 🇧🇭 6.6×
Land area 786 km² 62,732 km² 🇱🇰 80×
Coastline 161 km 1,340 km 🇱🇰 8.3×
Backbone systems most numerous in service
🇧🇭 BahrainF-16 Fighting Falcon ×32M60A3 TTS Patton ×100Oliver Hazard Perry-class ×2
🇱🇰 Sri LankaJL-8 ×6T-54 / T-55 / TM-800 ×62Hamilton-class ×2
Defense budget history Bahrain ×0.9 · Sri Lanka ×0.9 since 2020
Military personnel history

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who has more military personnel, Bahrain or Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka has approximately 317,000 active military personnel compared to Bahrain's 19,000, giving Sri Lanka a 17:1 numerical advantage.
Which country has more combat aircraft, Bahrain or Sri Lanka?
Bahrain operates 44 combat aircraft compared to Sri Lanka's 17. This includes fighters, strike aircraft, and multirole combat jets.
Who has the larger navy, Bahrain or Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka has a larger navy with 271 vessels compared to Bahrain's 65 ships.
Which country spends more on defense, Bahrain or Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka has a larger defense budget at $1.5 billion compared to Bahrain's $1.4 billion annually.
Do Bahrain and Sri Lanka have nuclear weapons?
Neither Bahrain nor Sri Lanka currently possesses nuclear weapons.
How do the tank forces of Bahrain and Sri Lanka compare?
Bahrain operates 150 main battle tanks compared to Sri Lanka's 44. Tank numbers reflect both active inventory and reserves.