These Countries Own the Most Military Submarines: See Where the US Ranks

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: