Naval Power — Which NATO Countries Have the Most Submarines?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance of countries in North America and Europe that work together to maintain global peace. A few of the landlocked members of NATO have no military ships or submarines, while a handful of countries dominate NATO’s naval forces, with one country, in particular, owning nearly half of the number of submarines of the other countries combined. (Also see which NATO countries boast the most troops.)

24/7 Wall St. reviewed GlobalFirePower, an annually updated website tracking defense-related statistics of 145 nations, to determine the NATO countries with the most military submarines. We ranked countries by the number of military submarines in active service. 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 the total naval fleet size per country and the types of submarines in each fleet, excluding any countries that do not have submarines in their navy.

Why Is This Important?

NATO members work together to tackle crisis management, promote democracy, and create peaceful resolutions of disputes. Its principle of collective defense is the group’s hallmark and speaks to the cooperation encouraged between countries.

Here is a look at the NATO countries with the most submarines.

14. Poland

• Number of submarines in active service: 1
• Total naval fleet size: 45 – #15 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.2917 – #21 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Kilo-class, Kobben-class

13. Portugal

• Number of submarines in active service: 2
• Total naval fleet size: 113 – #10 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.5609 – #38 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Type 209, Tridente-class

12. Netherlands

• Number of submarines in active service: 3
• Total naval fleet size: 112 – #11 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.5644 – #40 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Walrus-class

11. Spain

• Number of submarines in active service: 3
• Total naval fleet size: 168 – #7 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.2882 – #20 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Peral-class

10. Canada

• Number of submarines in active service: 4
• Total naval fleet size: 67 – #13 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.3813 – #27 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Victoria-class

9. Sweden

• Number of submarines in active service: 5
• Total naval fleet size: 353 – #2 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.4009 – #29 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Abborren-class, Laxen-class

8. Norway

• Number of submarines in active service: 6
• Total naval fleet size: 25 – #18 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.5664 – #41 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Ula-class

7. Germany

• Number of submarines in active service: 6
• Total naval fleet size: 64 – #14 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.2847 – #19 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: 212A

6. Italy

• Number of submarines in active service: 8
• Total naval fleet size: 309 – #3 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1863 – #10 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Argonauta-class, Balilla-class

5. France

• Number of submarines in active service: 9
• Total naval fleet size: 128 – #8 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1878 – #11 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Rubis-class, Suffren-class, Triomphant-class

4. United Kingdom

• Number of submarines in active service: 10
• Total naval fleet size: 117 – #9 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1443 – #6 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Vanguard-class, Trafalgar-class

3. Greece

• Number of submarines in active service: 11
• Total naval fleet size: 187 – #5 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.4349 – #32 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Glavkos-class, Okeanos-class

2. Turkey

• Number of submarines in active service: 12
• Total naval fleet size: 186 – #6 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.1697 – #8 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Balao-class, Dumlupinar, Sakarya

1. United States

120119-N-FG395-002 (CC BY 2.0) by Submarine Group Ten

• Number of submarines in active service: 64
• Total naval fleet size: 472 – #1 out of 32 NATO countries
• GlobalFirepower PowerIndex score: 0.0699 – #1 most powerful out of 145 countries
• Submarines in fleet: Ohio-class, Los Angeles-class, Virginia-class