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
Source: thomas_vogt / Flickr
- 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
Source: 101561334@N08 / Flickr
- 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
Source: Tramino / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
- 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
Source: jfxberns / Flickr
- 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
Source: Igor Nikushin / iStock via Getty Images
- 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
Source: abhisheklegit / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- 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
Source: usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
- 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
Source: nyalr / Flickr
- 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
Source: usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
- 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
Source: rutgervandermaar / Flickr
- 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
Source: marine_corps / Flickr
- 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
Source: Konstantinos Stampoulis (el:User:Geraki) / Wikimedia Commons
- 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
Source: svarshik / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- 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
Source: edoug / Flickr
- 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
- 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
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- 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
Source: davidstanleytravel / Flickr
- 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
Source: ajw1970 / Flickr
- 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
Source: feserc / Flickr
- 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
Source: IC / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- 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
Source: Thinkstock
- 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
Source: ciagov / Flickr
- 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
Source: ganeshdhamodkar / Flickr
- 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
Source: mohit_s / Flickr
- 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
Source: Kevin Frayer / Getty Images
- 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
Source: Chris Hondros / Getty Images
- 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
- 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
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