The war in Ukraine has served to make visible a few realities perhaps intuited up to now, but certainly not experienced with the harshness that the conflict has brought, such as the extent to which Russia influences the energy map of Europe, how complicated a campaign can be military—even one with a power imbalance as pronounced as that between Moscow and Kiev—or the importance of good international coordination. Also that armored tanks continue to be the order of the day in the middle of 2023.
And for sample, a button. One of the keys to the conflict over the last few weeks has been precisely whether Germany authorized the delivery of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. 2023 has started with a diplomatic tug of war with Berlin. And it makes sense that this is the case because their cars, advertised by their manufacturer, the firm Krauss-Maffei Wegman, as “the leading battle tank” on a global scale, they can represent a significant qualitative advantage on the ground.
With its 55 tons, a 120-millimeter gun capable of firing at 5,000 meters and a speed of up to 70 km/h, the Leopard 2 is an armored vehicle capable of successfully competing with the ex-Soviet battleships of Ukraine or Russia.
Despite being a World War I heritage, tanks are still key on the battlefield. The big question is: how are they distributed? which countries have a larger fleet of this type of combat vehicles?
The GlobalFirepower (GFP) website has decided to review the arsenals and prepare some tables that VisualCapitalist has shown in the following graph, which clearly shows the distribution of tanks globally. And its imbalance.
When preparing the tables, their authors have included the main tanks belonging to all branches of the armies, such as the Russian Leopard 2 or T-90, as well as medium and light models, among which would be the Stingray from Thailand. Armored personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles and those tanks commissioned or under development would be left out.
The first obvious conclusion is the overwhelming weight of Russia in the deal. The power governed by Putin has, according to GlobalFirepower calculations, 12,556 tanks, which makes it the nation with the largest arsenal. The data is impressive, but as pointed out in VisualCapitalist, it is important to read its fine print: only a part of that fleet corresponds to main battle tanks.
In 2020, some specialized media pointed out that these would add a lower figure, almost 2,700 units, with another 400 variants used as range tanks. A second key is that only a part are considered modern.
In second place, North Korea stands out, with a combat fleet made up of 6,645 tanks. The third and fourth positions would be occupied, respectively, by the US and China, with 5,500 and 4,950 units. Always taking as reference the data collected by GlobalfirePower. The “TOP 10” is completed by Egypt, India, Iran, Pakistan, Syria and South Korea, which closes that club with 2,331 units.
The website places Spain in 45th place, with 327.
The results, evidently, do not necessarily coincide with the position that each of the countries occupies in the global classification elaborated by the experts according to “the current available firepower”, a ranking for which dozens of factors are valued, such as military units , financial position or logistical capabilities. that ranking it is led by the USAfollowed by Russia, China, India and the UK.
Images: Kevin Schmid (Unsplash) and Visual Capitalist