The 30 Countries with the Most Towed Artillery

Military

Ukraine artillery | The flight of a projectile during a shot from a cannon

Published: June 11, 2024 1:50 pm

Artillery units have advanced significantly since World War II. Some of the newest artillery units are self-propelled and incredibly mobile, but not all militaries have access to the newest technology. In fact, many still use tried-and-tested towed artillery. Even modern militaries still rely on these and have a complement of these assets that support their troops on the ground. (This is the U.S. Army’s longest range artillery weapons, ranked.)

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.

Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at countries with large arsenals of artillery. To identify the countries with the most towed artillery, 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. Countries were ranked on the total number of towed artillery 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.

The Russian military is home to the largest artillery arsenal in the world. This comprises over 14,000 towed and self-propelled units. In addition 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. (These are the NATO countries with the most artillery firepower.)

Here is a look at the countries with the most towed artillery units:

Why Are We Covering This?

M7+Priest | M7 Priest at MusÃ©e des Ã©paves

Artillery is important in modern warfare because of the firepower that it implies. While these units are not as mobile as self-propelled artillery units, they are still capable of laying down serious fire from a distance. Many countries have invested heavily in these units and understanding which countries have the most gives further context to modern military strategy.

30. Bangladesh

Azerbaijan+artillery | Romanian artillery

Towed artillery: 437
Self-propelled artillery: 27
Total artillery: 464
Total military vehicles: 13,100
Total tanks: 320
Total MLRS: 71
Military strength score: 0.5419 – #37 – out of 145

29. Kazakhstan

Towed artillery: 450
Self-propelled artillery: 246
Total artillery: 696
Total military vehicles: 6,012
Total tanks: 300
Total MLRS: 407
Military strength score: 0.9495 – #58 – out of 145

28. Turkmenistan

Towed artillery: 457
Self-propelled artillery: 73
Total artillery: 530
Total military vehicles: 8,312
Total tanks: 680
Total MLRS: 160
Military strength score: 1.4906 – #83 – out of 145

27. Brazil

Towed artillery: 460
Self-propelled artillery: 172
Total artillery: 632
Total military vehicles: 44,044
Total tanks: 469
Total MLRS: 78
Military strength score: 0.1944 – #12 – out of 145

26. Japan

Towed artillery: 480
Self-propelled artillery: 173
Total artillery: 653
Total military vehicles: 37,662
Total tanks: 518
Total MLRS: 54
Military strength score: 0.1601 – #7 – out of 145

25. Algeria

Towed artillery: 483
Self-propelled artillery: 224
Total artillery: 707
Total military vehicles: 35,990
Total tanks: 1,632
Total MLRS: 236
Military strength score: 0.3589 – #26 – out of 145

24. Angola

Towed artillery: 552
Self-propelled artillery: 28
Total artillery: 580
Total military vehicles: 5,500
Total tanks: 310
Total MLRS: 123
Military strength score: 0.8702 – #55 – out of 145

23. Bosnia and Herzegovina

Towed artillery: 580
Self-propelled artillery: 10
Total artillery: 590
Total military vehicles: 450
Total tanks: 91
Total MLRS: 79
Military strength score: 2.3996 – #116 – out of 145

22. Thailand

Towed artillery: 589
Self-propelled artillery: 50
Total artillery: 639
Total military vehicles: 14,040
Total tanks: 648
Total MLRS: 26
Military strength score: 0.3389 – #25 – out of 145

21. Ethiopia

Towed artillery: 648
Self-propelled artillery: 65
Total artillery: 713
Total military vehicles: 10,028
Total tanks: 680
Total MLRS: 79
Military strength score: 0.7938 – #49 – out of 145

20. Finland

Towed artillery: 667
Self-propelled artillery: 125
Total artillery: 792
Total military vehicles: 11,716
Total tanks: 200
Total MLRS: 76
Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 – out of 145

19. Vietnam

Towed artillery: 700
Self-propelled artillery: 180
Total artillery: 880
Total military vehicles: 18,578
Total tanks: 2,029
Total MLRS: 450
Military strength score: 0.3158 – #22 – out of 145

18. Romania

Towed artillery: 720
Self-propelled artillery: 0
Total artillery: 720
Total military vehicles: 9,990
Total tanks: 345
Total MLRS: 225
Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 – out of 145

17. Greece

Towed artillery: 729
Self-propelled artillery: 589
Total artillery: 1,318
Total military vehicles: 57,030
Total tanks: 1,365
Total MLRS: 152
Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 – out of 145

16. Ukraine

Towed artillery: 1,012
Self-propelled artillery: 1,205
Total artillery: 2,217
Total military vehicles: 22,110
Total tanks: 1,777
Total MLRS: 491
Military strength score: 0.2598 – #18 – out of 145

15. Taiwan

afghanistan (CC BY 2.0) by @USArmy

Towed artillery: 1,120
Self-propelled artillery: 300
Total artillery: 1,420
Total military vehicles: 19,868
Total tanks: 1,010
Total MLRS: 223
Military strength score: 0.3302 – #24 – out of 145

14. United States

Towed artillery: 1,267
Self-propelled artillery: 1,595
Total artillery: 2,862
Total military vehicles: 360,069
Total tanks: 4,657
Total MLRS: 694
Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 – out of 145

13. China

China artillery | Armored tank and combat drone on the background of the Chinese flag

Towed artillery: 1,434
Self-propelled artillery: 3,850
Total artillery: 5,284
Total military vehicles: 174,300
Total tanks: 5,000
Total MLRS: 3,180
Military strength score: 0.0706 – #3 – out of 145

12. Iraq

Towed artillery: 1,446
Self-propelled artillery: 281
Total artillery: 1,727
Total military vehicles: 39,872
Total tanks: 848
Total MLRS: 425
Military strength score: 0.7441 – #45 – out of 145

11. Egypt

Towed artillery: 1,557
Self-propelled artillery: 1,489
Total artillery: 3,046
Total military vehicles: 77,596
Total tanks: 5,340
Total MLRS: 1,119
Military strength score: 0.2283 – #15 – out of 145

10. Turkey

Towed artillery: 1,747
Self-propelled artillery: 1,038
Total artillery: 2,785
Total military vehicles: 55,104
Total tanks: 2,231
Total MLRS: 286
Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 – out of 145

9. Myanmar

Towed artillery: 1,868
Self-propelled artillery: 215
Total artillery: 2,083
Total military vehicles: 8,139
Total tanks: 705
Total MLRS: 586
Military strength score: 0.5251 – #35 – out of 145

8. Saudi Arabia

Operation Desert Storm (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Lietmotiv

Towed artillery: 2,017
Self-propelled artillery: 1,236
Total artillery: 3,253
Total military vehicles: 20,694
Total tanks: 1,485
Total MLRS: 490
Military strength score: 0.3235 – #23 – out of 145

7. Iran

Towed artillery: 2,050
Self-propelled artillery: 580
Total artillery: 2,630
Total military vehicles: 65,765
Total tanks: 1,996
Total MLRS: 775
Military strength score: 0.2269 – #14 – out of 145

6. Syria

Towed artillery: 2,400
Self-propelled artillery: 295
Total artillery: 2,695
Total military vehicles: 14,550
Total tanks: 2,720
Total MLRS: 614
Military strength score: 1.0026 – #60 – out of 145

5. Pakistan

Luxembourg+artillery | American Bunker-Buster WWII artillery

Towed artillery: 3,238
Self-propelled artillery: 752
Total artillery: 3,990
Total military vehicles: 50,523
Total tanks: 3,742
Total MLRS: 602
Military strength score: 0.1711 – #9 – out of 145

4. India

Artillery Gun. (CC BY 2.0) by Mohit S

Towed artillery: 3,243
Self-propelled artillery: 140
Total artillery: 3,383
Total military vehicles: 151,248
Total tanks: 4,614
Total MLRS: 702
Military strength score: 0.1023 – #4 – out of 145

3. North Korea

Towed artillery: 4,500
Self-propelled artillery: 4,500
Total artillery: 9,000
Total military vehicles: 24,696
Total tanks: 5,845
Total MLRS: 2,920
Military strength score: 0.5313 – #36 – out of 145

2. South Korea

Towed artillery: 4,863
Self-propelled artillery: 3,189
Total artillery: 8,052
Total military vehicles: 66,492
Total tanks: 2,501
Total MLRS: 581
Military strength score: 0.1416 – #5 – out of 145

1. Russia

Soviet 2K11 Krug long-range su... by Andrey Korchagin

Soviet 2K11 Krug long-range su... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Andrey Korchagin

Towed artillery: 8,356
Self-propelled artillery: 6,208
Total artillery: 14,564
Total military vehicles: 161,382
Total tanks: 14,777
Total MLRS: 3,065
Military strength score: 0.0702 – #2 – out of 145

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