Artillery units have evolved significantly since World War II by technological advancement as well as military doctrine. Mobility is perhaps the most significant area of advancement as well as range, allowing for maneuverability to avoid counterattack and the ability to hit longer-range targets with more precision. Most modern militaries have a complement of these assets that support their troops when needed.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is the most recent battlefield to see the engagement of these artillery units. While Russia may have more artillery in its arsenal than any other country on the planet, Ukrainian forces have a formidable stock of their own that has been put to use. (These are the countries with the strongest support for Ukraine.)
Having a massive stock of artillery does not necessarily determine a country’s overall military strength in any given conflict, but it does help significantly in conflicts that are fought on the ground with troops.
To identify the countries with the most artillery units, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Countries were ranked on the total number of artillery units in their arsenal. We included supplemental information regarding the total military vehicles, tanks and MLRS units, as well as each country’s overall military strength score.
As previously mentioned, the Russian military is in possession of the largest artillery arsenal in the world. This is comprised of over 14,000 towed and self-propelled units. In complement to these artillery units, Russia also has the largest tank army in the world with nearly 15,000 tanks at its disposal. For the Red Army it makes sense to have some of the largest ground forces on the planet, as Russia is the largest country in the world by square mileage, with at least one not-too-friendly neighbor. (Comparing Russia and NATO’s military strength.)
Here is a look at the countries with the most artillery in their arsenal:
30. Bosnia and Herzegovina
Source: usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
- Total artillery: 590
- Total tanks: 91
- Total military vehicles: 450
- Total MLRS: 79
- Military strength score: 2.3996 – #116 out of 145
29. Azerbaijan
Source: usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
- Total artillery: 594
- Total tanks: 920
- Total military vehicles: 29,312
- Total MLRS: 218
- Military strength score: 0.9934 – #59 out of 145
28. Brazil
Source: dvids / Flickr
- Total artillery: 632
- Total tanks: 469
- Total military vehicles: 44,044
- Total MLRS: 78
- Military strength score: 0.1944 – #12 out of 145
27. Thailand
Source: mauriziobiso / iStock via Getty Images
- Total artillery: 639
- Total tanks: 648
- Total military vehicles: 14,040
- Total MLRS: 26
- Military strength score: 0.3389 – #25 out of 145
26. Japan
- Total artillery: 653
- Total tanks: 518
- Total military vehicles: 37,662
- Total MLRS: 54
- Military strength score: 0.1601 – #7 out of 145
25. Kazakhstan
Source: marine_corps / Flickr
- Total artillery: 696
- Total tanks: 300
- Total military vehicles: 6,012
- Total MLRS: 407
- Military strength score: 0.9495 – #58 out of 145
24. Algeria
Source: Stocktrek Images / Stocktrek Images via Getty Images
- Total artillery: 707
- Total tanks: 1,632
- Total military vehicles: 35,990
- Total MLRS: 236
- Military strength score: 0.3589 – #26 out of 145
23. Ethiopia
Source: Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images
- Total artillery: 713
- Total tanks: 680
- Total military vehicles: 10,028
- Total MLRS: 79
- Military strength score: 0.7938 – #49 out of 145
22. Romania
Source: usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
- Total artillery: 720
- Total tanks: 345
- Total military vehicles: 9,990
- Total MLRS: 225
- Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145
21. Finland
Source: thenationalguard / Flickr
- Total artillery: 792
- Total tanks: 200
- Total military vehicles: 11,716
- Total MLRS: 76
- Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145
20. Morocco
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total artillery: 871
- Total tanks: 1,564
- Total military vehicles: 13,710
- Total MLRS: 208
- Military strength score: 1.0081 – #61 out of 145
19. Vietnam
Source: knittymarie / Flickr
- Total artillery: 880
- Total tanks: 2,029
- Total military vehicles: 18,578
- Total MLRS: 450
- Military strength score: 0.3158 – #22 out of 145
18. Israel
Source: Photo by Andrew Burton / Getty Images
- Total artillery: 950
- Total tanks: 1,370
- Total military vehicles: 43,407
- Total MLRS: 150
- Military strength score: 0.2596 – #17 out of 145
17. Greece
- Total artillery: 1,318
- Total tanks: 1,365
- Total military vehicles: 57,030
- Total MLRS: 152
- Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145
16. Taiwan
Source: Photo by Ashley Pon / Getty Images
- Total artillery: 1,420
- Total tanks: 1,010
- Total military vehicles: 19,868
- Total MLRS: 223
- Military strength score: 0.3302 – #24 out of 145
15. Iraq
Source: Stocktrek Images / Stocktrek Images via Getty Images
- Total artillery: 1,727
- Total tanks: 848
- Total military vehicles: 39,872
- Total MLRS: 425
- Military strength score: 0.7441 – #45 out of 145
14. Myanmar
Source: Maurizio Fabbroni / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total artillery: 2,083
- Total tanks: 705
- Total military vehicles: 8,139
- Total MLRS: 586
- Military strength score: 0.5251 – #35 out of 145
13. Ukraine
Source: usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
- Total artillery: 2,217
- Total tanks: 1,777
- Total military vehicles: 22,110
- Total MLRS: 491
- Military strength score: 0.2598 – #18 out of 145
12. Iran
- Total artillery: 2,630
- Total tanks: 1,996
- Total military vehicles: 65,765
- Total MLRS: 775
- Military strength score: 0.2269 – #14 out of 145
11. Syria
Source: 39955793@N07 / Flickr
- Total artillery: 2,695
- Total tanks: 2,720
- Total military vehicles: 14,550
- Total MLRS: 614
- Military strength score: 1.0026 – #60 out of 145
10. Turkey
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total artillery: 2,785
- Total tanks: 2,231
- Total military vehicles: 55,104
- Total MLRS: 286
- Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145
9. United States
Source: thenationalguard / Flickr
- Total artillery: 2,862
- Total tanks: 4,657
- Total military vehicles: 360,069
- Total MLRS: 694
- Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145
8. Egypt
- Total artillery: 3,046
- Total tanks: 5,340
- Total military vehicles: 77,596
- Total MLRS: 1,119
- Military strength score: 0.2283 – #15 out of 145
7. Saudi Arabia
Source: edoug / Flickr
- Total artillery: 3,253
- Total tanks: 1,485
- Total military vehicles: 20,694
- Total MLRS: 490
- Military strength score: 0.3235 – #23 out of 145
6. India
Source: abhisheklegit / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total artillery: 3,383
- Total tanks: 4,614
- Total military vehicles: 151,248
- Total MLRS: 702
- Military strength score: 0.1023 – #4 out of 145
5. Pakistan
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total artillery: 3,990
- Total tanks: 3,742
- Total military vehicles: 50,523
- Total MLRS: 602
- Military strength score: 0.1711 – #9 out of 145
4. China
Source: Photo by Kevin Frayer / Getty Images
- Total artillery: 5,284
- Total tanks: 5,000
- Total military vehicles: 174,300
- Total MLRS: 3,180
- Military strength score: 0.0706 – #3 out of 145
3. South Korea
Source: 101561334@N08 / Flickr
- Total artillery: 8,052
- Total tanks: 2,501
- Total military vehicles: 66,492
- Total MLRS: 581
- Military strength score: 0.1416 – #5 out of 145
2. North Korea
Source: Friemann / iStock via Getty Images
- Total artillery: 9,000
- Total tanks: 5,845
- Total military vehicles: 24,696
- Total MLRS: 2,920
- Military strength score: 0.5313 – #36 out of 145
1. Russia
Source: peer_gynt / Flickr
- Total artillery: 14,564
- Total tanks: 14,777
- Total military vehicles: 161,382
- Total MLRS: 3,065
- Military strength score: 0.0702 – #2 out of 145
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