Making complex military data understandable – and enabling a more informed debate about Europe's security.
How strong is Europe in conventional military terms? Public debate about security threats, defence spending and military preparedness often relies on headline figures, political declarations or broad assumptions about the balance of power. A more informed debate requires a clearer picture of the military capabilities behind these claims.
Visualising Military Capabilities, a project by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in cooperation with 23degrees, transforms data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies' (IISS) The Military Balance into accessible, interactive visualisations. The Military Balance is a key reference work on military capabilities, traditionally used primarily by defence specialists, researchers and policymakers. Our project makes this complex data more accessible, allowing a wider audience to explore and compare military resources and equipment.
By visualising the quantity and technological composition of military equipment, defence expenditure, economic resources and personnel, the project compares NATO, the EU and different groups of European countries with Russia and Belarus. It also traces changes in military capabilities over time, providing a basis for understanding how Europe's conventional military position has evolved.
The aim is to make citizens better informed and better equipped to engage in debates about security threats and political responses. By making military capabilities easier to understand and compare, the project contributes to a more transparent, evidence-based discussion about European defence, investment priorities and the choices that will shape Europe's future security.
Explore the visualisations and draw your own conclusions.
The Economic Foundations of Military Power
Economic resources shape a country's long-term capacity to sustain military power. Comparing GDP provides essential context for assessing the resources available to NATO, the EU, Russia and Belarus. Economic size alone does not determine military strength, but it helps put defence spending and military capabilities into perspective.
Defense Spending: Resources and Choices
How have defence expenditures evolved in the EU compared with Russia and Belarus? This comparison tracks the financial resources committed to defence over time. Spending figures provide an important starting point for assessing military potential, while differences in purchasing power, procurement costs and the efficiency with which resources are converted into capabilities must also be considered.
Who Holds the Edge?
Who holds the conventional military advantage in Europe? Explore six key categories of military equipment: main battle tanks, armoured personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, combat aircraft, helicopters, and air defence systems. The interactive visualisation compares the quantity and technological composition of military stocks, revealing where European countries hold advantages and where important gaps remain.
The EU vs. Russia and Belarus
How does the European Union's combined military equipment compare with the forces of Russia and Belarus? This interactive dashboard allows users to examine individual equipment categories, compare different generations of weapon systems and explore the balance of conventional capabilities. It provides an evidence-based perspective on Europe's military position beyond headline figures and broad claims of vulnerability.
Air Power: Quantity and Quality
Fighter aircraft offer a concrete illustration of why military strength cannot be assessed by numbers alone. This comparison examines the combat aircraft stocks of the EU and Russia plus Belarus, distinguishing between different generations of aircraft. It highlights the importance of technological quality alongside quantity when assessing conventional military capabilities.
