How strong is Venezuela’s military and how does it compare to the US in planes, ships, missiles and soldiers?

Tensions between the United States and Venezuela appear to have escalated sharply, with multiple explosions reported early Saturday in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. President Nicolás Maduro accused Washington of a “grave military aggression” and declared a nationwide state of emergency.

Maduro has previously stated that his nation would enter into an “armed struggle” with the US if it “is attacked.”

The accusations raise an obvious question, one that resurfaces whenever relations between Caracas and Washington spiral: Could Venezuela realistically stand up to the United States in the event of an armed conflict?

US vs. Venezuela: A massive imbalance in military power

The military strength of the United States is well established. According to the website Global Firepower, Washington ranks as the world’s leading military power, while Venezuela sits 50th out of 140 countries.

A comparative summary from that source shows the United States outmatching Venezuela in virtually every category: manpower, air power, land forces, naval strength, finances, and logistics. Venezuela’s few advantages lie elsewhere, namely in natural resources and geography.

Aircraft, armor, and warships

The disparity becomes even clearer when focusing on equipment. The United States has 13,043 combat aircraft, compared to just 229 for Venezuela. Washington also possesses 391,963 armored vehicles and 440 warships, dwarfing Venezuela’s totals of 8,802 armored vehicles and 34 naval vessels.

In other words, the US does not simply lead in these areas, it overwhelms them.

Troop numbers tell a similar story

Personnel figures reinforce the same conclusion. The United States has roughly 1,328,000 active-duty troops, while Venezuela fields about 109,000. The imbalance is even more striking among reserve forces. Washington has nearly 800,000 reserve personnel, compared to Venezuela’s estimated 8,000.

Oil rich, capacity poor

Despite the vast military gap, Venezuela does hold one key advantage: oil. The country has an estimated 303.8 billion barrels in reserves, far exceeding the United States’ 38.2 billion.

That figure, however, comes with a major caveat. Caracas lacks the infrastructure and operational capacity to produce and refine all the crude beneath its territory, limiting how much of that resource can be translated into economic or strategic power.

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