{"id":64396,"date":"2026-08-12T11:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/64396\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T11:37:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:37:28","slug":"what-are-saudi-arabia-turkiye-and-pakistans-joint-military-capabilities-military-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/64396\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan\u2019s joint military capabilities? | Military News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement<\/a> last Friday, pledging to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stating that an armed attack on any one of the three would be regarded as an attack on all.<\/p>\n

The pact comes as the three countries navigate growing regional tensions, including concerns over Israel\u2019s expanding military reach and Iran\u2019s regional influence.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Together, these countries form a sizeable military bloc. Riyadh is a top oil exporter, Ankara has NATO\u2019s second-largest military, and Islamabad is the only nuclear-armed Muslim country.<\/p>\n

In this explainer, Al Jazeera breaks down their combined land, air and naval strength.<\/p>\n

\"ThisSaudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, flanked by Turkiye\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, right, signing a joint defence agreement in Mecca, on August 7, 2026 [Handout\/Turkish Presidency Press Office via AFP]Joint land, air and naval strength<\/p>\n

Together, the three countries combine nearly 1.4 million active military personnel, 3,400 aircraft, 6,000 tanks and more than 340 naval assets according to the 2026 Global Firepower Index, which ranks the defence capabilities of 145 countries.<\/p>\n

The index scores each country\u2019s potential war-making capability across land, air and sea, drawing on factors including manpower, equipment, natural resources, finances and geography.<\/p>\n

\"INTERACTIVE_TRILATERAL_MAKKAH_DEFENSE_AUGUST9_2026-01-1786446849\"<\/p>\n

Manpower: Combined, the three countries include about 1.4 million active personnel, backed by large paramilitary and reserve forces. Pakistan provides the largest pool of active personnel at 660,000, followed by Turkiye at 481,000 and Saudi Arabia at 247,000.
\nAir power: Together they operate 3,415 military aircraft including fighter jets, helicopters, transporters and training military aircraft. Pakistan possesses some 1,397 aircraft, followed by Turkiye at 1,101 and Saudi Arabia with 917.
\nLand forces: The three countries field some 6,046 tanks and more than 179,000 armoured vehicles, alongside thousands of artillery systems and multiple-launch rocket systems. Pakistan has the highest number of tanks at 2,677, Turkiye has 2,284 and Saudi Arabia, 1,085.
\nNaval power: Their combined fleets include 344 naval assets, including 33 frigates, 24 corvettes and 22 submarines. Turkiye comes out top here with 192 naval assets, followed by Pakistan\u2019s 120 and Saudi Arabia\u2019s 32.
\nDefence spending: Their combined defence budgets amount to about $124.4bn annually. Saudi Arabia has the largest military budget of the three at $63.9bn in 2026, while Turkiye set aside $51.4bn and Pakistan $9.1bn according to Global Firepower.
\n\"Pakistan-madePakistan-made surface-to-surface missiles Fatah-I and launcher are displayed during a military parade to mark Pakistan National Day in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 23, 2024 [AP Photo]Complementary military powers<\/p>\n

Andreas Krieg, an academic, security analyst and political risk consultant specialising in the Middle East and North Africa, said the pact\u2019s significance lies in how the three countries\u2019 different capabilities could complement one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaudi Arabia contributes capital, geography, infrastructure and political convening power. Turkiye contributes an increasingly sophisticated defence-industrial base, drones, missiles, sensors, electronic warfare, naval systems and NATO-derived military expertise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Pakistan contributes manpower, a large professional military establishment, operational experience, defence production and nuclear capability.<\/p>\n

\"ISTANBUL,Turkish navy vessels navigate the Bosphorus in a parade to mark the 486th anniversary of the Naval victory of Preveza and Naval Forces Day on September 27, 2024, in Istanbul, Turkiye [Chris McGrath\/Getty Images]What does the alliance mean for each country?<\/p>\n

For Saudi Arabia, the pact diversifies its defence partnerships beyond the United States<\/a>, adding Turkiye\u2019s advanced military capabilities and Pakistan\u2019s nuclear deterrent, amid growing threats to vital maritime corridors such as the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb.<\/p>\n

Pakistan is one of nine states that possess nuclear weapons, which it first tested in 1998. The country of more than 250 million people relies heavily on China for its arms imports.<\/p>\n

Turkiye, which joined NATO in 1952, has no nuclear weapons of its own but hosts US warheads under NATO nuclear-sharing arrangements.<\/p>\n

David Des Roches, a former director of Arabian Peninsula affairs in the US Department of Defense, told Al Jazeera that the deal also serves Saudi arms diversification amid Western export unpredictability, since Turkiye and Pakistan can supply items like 155mm artillery shells at scale.<\/p>\n

For Turkiye and Pakistan, it opens Saudi financial markets for their defence industries \u2013 both have manufacturing capacity exceeding what their own economies can sustain.<\/p>\n

Zaid M Belbagi, managing partner at Hardcastle Advisory, told Al Jazeera that, for the US, the stakes are high. \u201cPakistan is a recipient of US aid, Saudi Arabia is the largest foreign buyer of US military equipment, and Turkiye is NATO\u2019s second-largest army after the United States \u2013 so the spectre of the US within this agreement is quite interesting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Krieg added that the US remains highly important, particularly for intelligence, advanced missile defence, and high-end military technology \u2013 but said that regional actors want to convert their own resources into usable power rather than purchasing from Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe old model was overwhelmingly hub-and-spokes, with Washington at the centre and individual states looking primarily to the United States for security. What is emerging now is horizontal connectivity between regional powers,\u201d said Krieg.<\/p>\n

Which other countries could join the pact?<\/p>\n

Egypt is the only country whose potential membership<\/a> has been publicly raised by a signatory. Turkiye\u2019s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called Egypt a \u201cnatural partner\u201d and said he expected Cairo to join once technical issues are resolved.<\/p>\n

Krieg said Egypt\u2019s military weight, strategic geography and control of the Suez Canal would make it a significant addition to the pact.<\/p>\n

But Cairo may be wary of binding military obligations and the impact on its existing agreements, analysts said. \u201cEgypt may join only if the language protects its aid relationship with Washington, doesn\u2019t undermine existing alliances and peace treaties, and maintains its own freedom to decide when and where it fights,\u201d said Karim Elgendy at Chatham House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement last Friday, pledging to strengthen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[949,8,3242,3243,3559,246,391,9,1425,951,7,971],"class_list":["post-64396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-stories","tag-asia","tag-headlines","tag-infographic","tag-interactive","tag-maps","tag-middle-east","tag-military","tag-news","tag-pakistan","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-top-stories","tag-turkey"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/117082340930525748","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}