Countries with the Largest Tank Armies

By Melissa Bauernfeind Published Mar 1, 12:10PM EST

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Countries with the Largest Tank Armies — © Featured photos (CC BY 2.0) by @USArmy

Tanks have always been an integral part of combined arms combat, vital to infantry support, and are a suitable combination of various components during conflicts, such as aviation, infantry, and firepower. Critical to success in battle, all components are essential in their unified actions to overpower the ground forces of the opposition. According to US Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Jameson Mead, the tank will always have some sort of role in the modern battlespace.

First used in war by the British in September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, tanks began an age of mechanized warfare. Since then, vast improvements have made these armored all-terrain fighting vehicles instrumental in determining the outcome of conflicts around the globe. Today, much of a country’s military strength can be attributed to how many aircraft, navy vessels, or tanks are in its arsenal for any given conflict. (This is the latest generation of modern-era tanks.)

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries to identify the countries with the largest inventory of tanks. Countries were ranked on the total number of tanks in their arsenal. We included supplemental information regarding the total military vehicles, artillery, and MLRS units, as well as each country’s overall military strength score.

The U.S. military may have the strongest military in the world but when it comes to its tank arsenal, they pale in comparison to only a handful of other nations. America relies primarily on its Navy and Air Force for projecting power around the world, but tanks are there to back them up when on the ground. It may come as a surprise to know that North Korea has more tanks than the United States and practically every other nation. Although its arsenal is aging with many tanks not only from the 1950s and 1960s but of Soviet origin or left over from the Korean War.

Although tanks may not be as important now as they once were, as military technology and tactics continue to evolve, they are still an integral part of any ground defense or invasion providing armored support to troops and holding the front line. (These are revolutionary vehicles that transformed warfare.)

Here is a look at the countries with the largest inventory of tanks:

30. Belarus

Total tanks: 517
Total military vehicles: 6,700
Total artillery: 539
Total MLRS: 206
Military strength score: 1.0901 — #64 out of 145

29. Japan

Total tanks: 518
Total military vehicles: 37,662
Total artillery: 653
Total MLRS: 54
Military strength score: 0.1601 — #7 out of 145

28. Poland

Total tanks: 612
Total military vehicles: 13,956
Total artillery: 525
Total MLRS: 211
Military strength score: 0.2917 — #21 out of 145

27. Thailand

Total tanks: 648
Total military vehicles: 14,040
Total artillery: 639
Total MLRS: 26
Military strength score: 0.3389 — #25 out of 145

26. Turkmenistan

Total tanks: 680
Total military vehicles: 8,312
Total artillery: 530
Total MLRS: 160
Military strength score: 1.4906 — #83 out of 145

25. Ethiopia

Total tanks: 680
Total military vehicles: 10,028
Total artillery: 713
Total MLRS: 79
Military strength score: 0.7938 — #49 out of 145

24. Myanmar

Total tanks: 705
Total military vehicles: 8,139
Total artillery: 2,083
Total MLRS: 586
Military strength score: 0.5251 — #35 out of 145

23. Iraq

Total tanks: 848
Total military vehicles: 39,872
Total artillery: 1,727
Total MLRS: 425
Military strength score: 0.7441 — #45 out of 145

22. Azerbaijan

Total tanks: 920
Total military vehicles: 29,312
Total artillery: 594
Total MLRS: 218
Military strength score: 0.9934 — #59 out of 145

21. Taiwan

Total tanks: 1,010
Total military vehicles: 19,868
Total artillery: 1,420
Total MLRS: 223
Military strength score: 0.3302 — #24 out of 145

20. Jordan

Total tanks: 1,365
Total military vehicles: 24,148
Total artillery: 283
Total MLRS: 88
Military strength score: 1.4651 — #80 out of 145

19. Greece

Total tanks: 1,365
Total military vehicles: 57,030
Total artillery: 1,318
Total MLRS: 152
Military strength score: 0.4349 — #32 out of 145

18. Israel

Israel Magach | Magach 3 (Patton M48A3) tank is on the Memorial Site near the Armored Corps Museum in Latrun, Israel | Magach 3 (Patton M48A3) tank is on the Memorial Site near the Armored Corps Museum in Latrun, Israel

Total tanks: 1,370
Total military vehicles: 43,407
Total artillery: 950
Total MLRS: 150
Military strength score: 0.2596 — #45 out of 145

17. Saudi Arabia

Total tanks: 1,485
Total military vehicles: 20,694
Total artillery: 3,253
Total MLRS: 490
Military strength score: 0.3235 — #23 out of 145

16. Morocco

Cruiser+Tank+Mk+VIII+Cromwell+A27M | Cromwell Cruiser Tank, Bovington Tank Museum - Dorset.

Total tanks: 1,564
Total military vehicles: 13,710
Total artillery: 871
Total MLRS: 208
Military strength score: 1.0081 — #61 out of 145

15. Algeria

Total tanks: 1,632
Total military vehicles: 35,990
Total artillery: 707
Total MLRS: 236
Military strength score: 0.3589 — #26 out of 145

14. Eritrea

Total tanks: 1,756
Total military vehicles: 3,512
Total artillery: 210
Total MLRS: 219
Military strength score: 2.4152 — #117 out of 145

13. Ukraine

Total tanks: 1,777
Total military vehicles: 22,110
Total artillery: 2,217
Total MLRS: 491
Military strength score: 0.2598 — #18 out of 145

12. Iran

Total tanks: 1,996
Total military vehicles: 65,765
Total artillery: 2,630
Total MLRS: 775
Military strength score: 0.2269 — #14 out of 145

11. Vietnam

Total tanks: 2,029
Total military vehicles: 18,578
Total artillery: 880
Total MLRS: 450
Military strength score: 0.3158 — #22 out of 145

10. Turkey

Total tanks: 2,231
Total military vehicles: 55,104
Total artillery: 2,785
Total MLRS: 286
Military strength score: 0.1697 — #8 out of 145

9. South Korea

Total tanks: 2,501
Total military vehicles: 66,492
Total artillery: 8,052
Total MLRS: 581
Military strength score: 0.1416 — #5 out of 145

8. Syria

Total tanks: 2,720
Total military vehicles: 14,550
Total artillery: 2,695
Total MLRS: 614
Military strength score: 1.0026 — #60 out of 145

7. Pakistan

Total tanks: 3,742
Total military vehicles: 50,523
Total artillery: 3,990
Total MLRS: 602
Military strength score: 0.1711 — #9 out of 145

6. India

Total tanks: 4,614
Total military vehicles: 151,248
Total artillery: 3,383
Total MLRS: 702
Military strength score: 0.1023 — #4 out of 145

5. United States

Total tanks: 4,657
Total military vehicles: 360,069
Total artillery: 2,862
Total MLRS: 694
Military strength score: 0.0699 — #1 out of 145

4. China

Total tanks: 5,000
Total military vehicles: 174,300
Total artillery: 5,284
Total MLRS: 3,180
Military strength score: 0.0706 — #3 out of 145

3. Egypt

Total tanks: 5,340
Total military vehicles: 77,596
Total artillery: 3,046
Total MLRS: 1,119
Military strength score: 0.2283 — #15 out of 145

2. North Korea

Total tanks: 5,845
Total military vehicles: 24,696
Total artillery: 9,000
Total MLRS: 2,920
Military strength score: 0.5313 — #36 out of 145

1. Russia

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Total tanks: 14,777
Total military vehicles: 161,382
Total artillery: 14,564
Total MLRS: 3,065
Military strength score: 0.0702 — #2 out of 145

About the Author Melissa Bauernfeind →

Melissa Bauernfeind was born in NYC and got her degree in Journalism from Boston University. She lived in San Diego for 10 years and is now back in NYC. She loves adventure and traveling the world with her husband but always misses her favorite little man, "P", half Chihuahua/half Jack Russell, all trouble. She got dive-certified so she could dive with the Great White Sharks someday and is hoping to swim with the Orcas as well.