Military Strength: Brunei vs Bhutan

Brunei (ranked #136 globally) holds a stronger overall military position than Bhutan (#175) on the ARMS Index. Brunei fields 8,000 active troops vs 6,000 for Bhutan, backed by 700 reserves and 500 paramilitary. Brunei allocates $0.6B to defense.

ARMS (Aggregate Rating of Military Strength) Index face-off Full ranking →

BruneiWorld #136 13.2

ARMS Index / 100

Brunei leads on 3 of 6 pillars

BhutanWorld #175 0.9

44.08,000 active troops Manpower15 % 0.06,000 active troops
0.00 battle tanks Ground forces20 % 0.00 battle tanks
0.00 warships Naval power20 % 0.00 warships
19.90 combat aircraft Air power25 % 4.00 combat aircraft
0.00 warheads Nuclear deterrent10 % 0.00 warheads
29.0$560M budget Defense budget10 % 0.0$0 budget

Brunei Bhutan Pillar scores 0–100 (weight under each label) over a headline figure from that domain · readiness modifier ×1.05 vs ×1.00 · Methodology

Key figures

	Brunei	Bhutan	Ratio
Defense budget	$560M	—	🇧🇳
– share of GDP	3.7%	—	🇧🇳
Active personnel	8,000	6,000	🇧🇳 1.3×
Combat aircraft	0	0	—
Warships	0	0	—
– submarines	0	0	—
Main battle tanks	0	0	—
Nuclear warheads	0	0	—

Show full breakdown · 11 more rowsHide the 11 extra rows

Reserve troops	700	0	🇧🇳
Paramilitary forces	500	0	🇧🇳
Military aircraft (all types)	26	2	🇧🇳 13×
– helicopters	19	2	🇧🇳 9.5×
Budget share of govt spending	12.2%	—	🇧🇳
Budget per capita	$1,216	—	🇧🇳
Population	462K	791K	🇧🇹 1.7×
GDP	$15B	$3B	🇧🇳 5.1×
GDP per capita	$33,153	$3,806	🇧🇳 8.7×
Land area	5,265 km²	38,394 km²	🇧🇹 7.3×
Coastline	161 km	0 km	🇧🇳