Special Report

Countries with the Most Tanks

Kevin Frayer / Getty Images

Armored all-terrain fighting vehicles, known as tanks, first entered the battlefield in World War I. These tanks began the age of mechanized warfare where machines are now instrumental in determining the outcome of conflicts around the globe. Now much a countries 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.)

To identify the 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.

While the United States may have the strongest military on the planet, it pales in comparison to only a handful of other nations when it comes to its tank arsenal, numerically speaking. The U.S. military primarily relies on its Navy and Air Force for projecting power around the world, but when there are troops on the ground tanks are there to back them up.

Surprisingly, North Korea has more tanks than the United States and practically every other nation. However, its arsenal is aging with many tanks from the 1950s and 1960s, many 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 in 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 most tanks:

30. Belarus

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

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

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

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

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

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

nato+Tanks | Abrams Tanks
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

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

Public Domain / 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

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

Public Domain / 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

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

Israel Magach | Magach 3 (Patton M48A3) tank is on the Memorial Site near the Armored Corps Museum in Latrun, Israel | Magach 3 (Patton M48A3) tank is on the Memorial Site near the Armored Corps Museum in Latrun, Israel
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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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