There is one country in the world that is the only Muslim-majority state on Earth to have nuclear weapons. And it built that whole arsenal for a single purpose. That country is Pakistan. It has 241 million people, an army of 660,000, and missiles that can reach every corner of its giant neighbour. But its economy struggles to pay for all of it. In May 2025, this military was tested in live combat, in the first missile and air exchange ever fought between two nuclear-armed neighbours. So here is the question of this episode: how powerful is Pakistan, really? Let us measure it the way we have measured every nation in this series, honestly, number by number.
People and Money
Start with people and money, because Pakistan's power begins with its numbers. Its population is about 241 million. This is the fifth largest population on Earth. Analysts at the IISS put its active military at about 660,000 personnel. This is the fourth largest force in Asia.
Yet its defence budget for 2025 to 2026 is about $9 billion. Compare this with India, whose defence spending is roughly $86 billion. That is about 8 times larger. This single gap explains almost everything about how Pakistan fights. It cannot match its rival plane for plane or ship for ship. So it has built a force that is designed to make any attack far too costly to attempt.
Army, Air Force and Navy
On the ground, the army is the giant service. It has about 560,000 soldiers, more than 2,500 main battle tanks and over 4,600 artillery pieces. It is backed by one of the world's larger rocket artillery fleets.
In the air, the air force flies more than 400 combat-capable aircraft. It mixes American-built F-16s, Chinese J-10C fighters that carry long-range PL-15 missiles, and the JF-17 Thunder. The JF-17 is a jet that Pakistan builds itself with China. Pakistan now exports this jet to other countries.
At sea, the navy is the smallest arm. It has about 8 submarines and 12 frigates. New Chinese-built submarines are on order. The navy guards 1,000 kilometres of Arabian Sea coast, the port of Karachi and the deep-water harbour of Gwadar.
The Nuclear Deterrent
Then comes the deterrent. This is the real centre of Pakistan's power. Analysts estimate its stockpile at around 170 nuclear warheads. This is roughly level with India's stockpile.
Its Shaheen-3 ballistic missile can fly 2,750 kilometres. That is enough to reach all of India. The Ababeel missile has been tested with technology that is designed to carry several warheads at once. Its Babur cruise missiles can be launched from land, from aircraft and, in the Babur-3 version, from submarines. This gives Pakistan a second-strike option from the sea. And at the shortest range sits the Nasr. This is a tactical nuclear missile of about 60 kilometres. Pakistan openly describes it as its answer to a fast armoured attack across the border. Together, this is what its planners call full spectrum deterrence.
The Real Test in May 2025
In May 2025, this machine was tested for real. For 4 days, Pakistan and India exchanged missiles, drones and air strikes. Pakistan said its Chinese-built jets and air defences shot down several Indian aircraft, including Rafales. India acknowledged losses but did not confirm those numbers.
What is verified is simpler. Modern jets, long-range missiles, drones and layered air defences were used in live combat. And the world watched closely.
Since then, Pakistan's reach has grown in a new direction. China supplies roughly four fifths of its imported weapons. China also co-produces its jets, frigates and submarines. And in September 2025, Pakistan signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia. Since then, there have been reports that other Gulf states want similar arrangements. Pakistan is becoming an exporter of deterrence, not just an importer of weapons.
The Verdict
So, what is the verdict? Pakistan is not a global power. Its weak economy is the leg that everything stands on. It has heavy debts, repeated IMF programmes, and interest payments that swallow its budget.
But power is about purpose. This military was built for one job: to defend a country with a fraction of its rival's wealth, and to make war against it too dangerous to start. By that measure, analysts rank it around 12th in the world. And in May 2025, the world saw that deterrent work in real time.
Next episode, we cross the border and ask the mirror question: how powerful is India?
Watch the video: How Powerful Is Pakistan? | Most Powerful Nations on Earth #8 on YouTube. This article is the full written version of the video, in simple English. See all articles on the Blogs page and more videos in the History Series.