Submarines are some of the most important military assets among countries that possess them. Throughout naval arsenals around the world, these submarines act as a strategic deterrence from the encroachment of foreign powers. Whether as a nuclear deterrent or just to keep enemy ships at bay, submarines provide incredible utility to any navy that can field them.
On the world stage, these submarines could easily shift the balance of power in one swift attack as many are carrying nuclear warheads capable of hitting targets thousands of miles away. The U.S. Navy relies on a series of these subs particularly for that reason, but many other nations have submarine fleets of their own capable of significant destruction as well. (This is the Navy’s hidden arsenal: submarines and underwater military tech of today.)
To determine the country with the most military submarines, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed GlobalFirePower, an annually-updated website tracking defense-related statistics of 145 nations. Countries were ranked by the number of military submarines in active service, and only countries with four or more submarines were considered for the list. We also added the GlobalFirePower PowerIndex score, which denotes a country’s overall military strength, with lower scores denoting greater power. We included supplemental information regarding total naval fleet size per country and the types of submarines in each fleet.
While the United States is widely regarded as having one of the strongest navies in the world, it does not in fact have the most submarines in its arsenal. However, what it does have is some of the most technologically advanced submarines on the planet, making it a formidable naval force for any rival nation to come up against. (This country has the largest navy in the world.)
It’s worth noting that the countries that have the stronger GlobalFirePower PowerIndex scores (scores closer to zero) tend to have more submarines. And unsurprisingly, countries that spend more on their military tend to have more submarines.
Here is a look at the countries with the most military submarines:
30. Peru
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 4
- Total naval fleet size: 69 – #43 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.8475 – #53 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Type 209/1200-class
29. Chile
Source: davidstanleytravel / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 4
- Total naval fleet size: 130 – #24 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.8128 – #52 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Scorpene-class, U-209-class
28. Colombia
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 4
- Total naval fleet size: 237 – #12 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.7347 – #44 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Type 209/1200, Type 206
27. Canada
- Number of submarines in active service: 4
- Total naval fleet size: 67 – #47 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.3813 – #27 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Victoria-class
26. Taiwan
Source: Courtesy of Naval Submarine Base New London via Facebook
- Number of submarines in active service: 4
- Total naval fleet size: 93 – #39 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.3302 – #24 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Guppy-class, Hai Lung-class
25. Indonesia
Source: stenlylam / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 4
- Total naval fleet size: 333 – #6 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.2251 – #13 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Cakra-class, Nagapasa-class
24. Brazil
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 4
- Total naval fleet size: 134 – #22 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1944 – #12 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Tupi-class, Scorpene-class
23. Sweden
Source: mikecogh / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 5
- Total naval fleet size: 353 – #5 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.4009 – #29 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Abborren-class, Hajen-class
22. Israel
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 5
- Total naval fleet size: 67 – #46 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.2596 – #17 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Dolphin-class, AIP Dolphin 2 class
21. Norway
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 6
- Total naval fleet size: 25 – #71 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.5664 – #41 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Ula-class
20. Algeria
Source: austinevan / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 6
- Total naval fleet size: 213 – #14 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.3589 – #26 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Project 636, Project 877
19. Vietnam
Source: Trinhvan21 / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 6
- Total naval fleet size: 97 – #37 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.3158 – #22 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Kilo-class
18. Germany
Source: Aastels / Shutterstock.com
- Number of submarines in active service: 6
- Total naval fleet size: 64 – #49 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.2847 – #19 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Type 212-class
17. Australia
Source: offchurch-tam / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 6
- Total naval fleet size: 43 – #59 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.2515 – #16 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Collins-class
16. Singapore
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 7
- Total naval fleet size: 43 – #58 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.4087 – #30 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Archer-class, Challenger-class
15. Egypt
Source: lt45 / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 8
- Total naval fleet size: 140 – #21 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.2283 – #15 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Romeo-class, Type 209-class
14. Italy
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 8
- Total naval fleet size: 309 – #7 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1863 – #10 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Todaro-class, Sauro-class
13. Pakistan
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 8
- Total naval fleet size: 114 – #31 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1711 – #9 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Agosta 90-class, Agosta 70-class, Cosmos-class
12. France
Source: dennisvdw / iStock via Getty Images
- Number of submarines in active service: 9
- Total naval fleet size: 128 – #25 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1878 – #11 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Rubis-class, Barracuda-class, Triomphant-class
11. United Kingdom
Source: Handout / Getty Images News via Getty Images
- Number of submarines in active service: 10
- Total naval fleet size: 117 – #29 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1443 – #6 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Vanguard-class, Astute-class, Trafalgar-class
10. Greece
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 11
- Total naval fleet size: 187 – #17 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.4349 – #32 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Glavkos-class, Poseidon-class, Okeanos-class, Papanikolis-class
9. Turkey
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 12
- Total naval fleet size: 186 – #18 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1697 – #8 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Atilay-class, Preveze-class, Gur-class
8. India
Source: Chanakyathegreat~commonswiki / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 18
- Total naval fleet size: 294 – #8 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1023 – #4 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Arihant-class, Kalvari-class, Singhughosh-class, Shishumar-class
7. Iran
Source: Hossein Zohrevand / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 19
- Total naval fleet size: 101 – #36 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.2269 – #14 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Kilo-class, Fateh-class, Ghadir-class
6. South Korea
- Number of submarines in active service: 22
- Total naval fleet size: 200 – #15 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1416 – #5 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Sohn Wonyil-class, Chang Bogo-class
5. Japan
Source: southtopia / Flickr
- Number of submarines in active service: 23
- Total naval fleet size: 155 – #20 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1601 – #7 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Taigei-class, Soryu-class, Oyashio-class
4. North Korea
Source: JohnCrux / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Number of submarines in active service: 35
- Total naval fleet size: 505 – #3 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.5313 – #36 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Simpo-class, Sango-class, Yono-class, Type 033-class
3. China
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Number of submarines in active service: 61
- Total naval fleet size: 730 – #2 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.0706 – #3 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Jin-class, Shang-class, Han-class, Yuan-class
2. United States
- Number of submarines in active service: 64
- Total naval fleet size: 472 – #4 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.0699 – #1 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Ohio-class, Seawolf-class, Los Angeles-class, Virginia-class
1. Russia
Source: Serega / iStock via Getty Images
- Number of submarines in active service: 65
- Total naval fleet size: 781 – #1 out of 145
- GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.0702 – #2 most powerful out of 145
- Submarines in fleet: Typhoon-class,Borey-class, Victor-class, Akula-class
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