The 2024 NATO Summit marks the 75th anniversary of everyone’s favorite alliance: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This tightknit group of North American and European countries have joined together for decades, promising to defend each other in the event of war against other nations. Most recently, these countries are backing Ukraine in its fight against Russia, a longstanding NATO enemy.
In order to properly support each other, NATO countries need weapons, men, and machinery. Some of the largest and most impressive vehicles utilized by the American military are tanks. These behemoths, which came to power in World War II, are some of NATOs most necessary war machines.
While most NATO members have tank armies at their disposal, there are a few notable countries that do not employ these mechanized monsters. Iceland and Luxembourg are each known for their small population, and they do not have a strong military backing. However, other larger NATO powers more than make up for this discrepancy with their huge arsenals of tanks and artillery.
To identify the NATO countries with the most tanks, 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 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. We excluded NATO members that do not have any tanks.
Although Germany and France are largely considered some of the most powerful countries in the NATO Alliance, they do not have the largest tank armies when compared to other NATO countries. Among the tank armies in NATO, the United States, Turkey, and Greece take the top spots, each with more than 1,000 units in their arsenal. Some of these tanks are older models, but they are still capable of packing a punch on the battlefield.
Here is a look at the NATO countries with the most tanks:
Why We Are Talking About This
As we enter the third year of Russian attacks on Ukraine, the smaller country continues to endure. Despite Putin’s threat that he will consider using nuclear arms against the United States, America and NATO continue to back the underdog that is Ukraine. The sheer power of the combined NATO military may be reassuring to many Americans concerned about potential war-related threats. And much of this power derives from tanks.
25. Netherlands
- Total tanks: 18
- Total military vehicles: 3,176
- Total artillery: 72
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145
24. North Macedonia
- Total tanks: 23
- Total military vehicles: 2,156
- Total artillery: 191
- Total MLRS: 24
- Military strength score: 2.1717 – #110 out of 145
23. Portugal
- Total tanks: 34
- Total military vehicles: 11,173
- Total artillery: 106
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145
22. Norway
- Total tanks: 36
- Total military vehicles: 7,048
- Total artillery: 56
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145
21. Slovakia
- Total tanks: 36
- Total military vehicles: 2,048
- Total artillery: 44
- Total MLRS: 25
- Military strength score: 1.1891 – #69 out of 145
20. Albania
- Total tanks: 40
- Total military vehicles: 976
- Total artillery: 0
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 1.8188 – #90 out of 145
19. Denmark
- Total tanks: 44
- Total military vehicles: 4,056
- Total artillery: 19
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 0.7743 – #48 out of 145
18. Slovenia
- Total tanks: 55
- Total military vehicles: 1,502
- Total artillery: 18
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 1.8286 – #91 out of 145
17. Czechia
- Total tanks: 65
- Total military vehicles: 6,757
- Total artillery: 53
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145
16. Canada
- Total tanks: 74
- Total military vehicles: 18,054
- Total artillery: 0
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145
15. Croatia
- Total tanks: 75
- Total military vehicles: 3,076
- Total artillery: 181
- Total MLRS: 105
- Military strength score: 1.1333 – #66 out of 145
14. Sweden
- Total tanks: 120
- Total military vehicles: 7,958
- Total artillery: 26
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 0.4009 – #29 out of 145
13. Italy
- Total tanks: 200
- Total military vehicles: 61,892
- Total artillery: 172
- Total MLRS: 21
- Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145
12. Finland
- Total tanks: 200
- Total military vehicles: 11,716
- Total artillery: 792
- Total MLRS: 76
- Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145
11. Hungary
- Total tanks: 208
- Total military vehicles: 7,797
- Total artillery: 318
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145
10. United Kingdom
- Total tanks: 213
- Total military vehicles: 27,203
- Total artillery: 197
- Total MLRS: 41
- Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145
9. Bulgaria
- Total tanks: 215
- Total military vehicles: 7,420
- Total artillery: 273
- Total MLRS: 24
- Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145
8. France
- Total tanks: 222
- Total military vehicles: 85,023
- Total artillery: 96
- Total MLRS: 9
- Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145
7. Germany
- Total tanks: 295
- Total military vehicles: 79,317
- Total artillery: 134
- Total MLRS: 33
- Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145
6. Spain
- Total tanks: 327
- Total military vehicles: 15,046
- Total artillery: 236
- Total MLRS: 0
- Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145
5. Romania
- Total tanks: 345
- Total military vehicles: 9,990
- Total artillery: 720
- Total MLRS: 225
- Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145
4. Poland
- Total tanks: 612
- Total military vehicles: 13,956
- Total artillery: 525
- Total MLRS: 211
- Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145
3. 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
2. 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
1. 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
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