World Navies of 2019

American and Japanese warships conducting exercises in the South China Sea

The following is an inventory and ranking of every navy of note in the beginning of 2019. Unlike most rankings, which only consider combat power, this ranking attempts to consider the entire fleet of each nation. Ships not included in the following rankings include auxiliaries and landing ships of less than 100 meters, combatants without missiles of less than 75 meters, and missile boats and mine countermeasures vessels of less than 25 meters.

Given the diverse sizes and capabilities of the various ships of the world and the lack of any globally accepted system of classification, I have have eschewed traditional labels (i.e. cruiser, destroyer, frigate) in favor of more general descriptions (i.e combatant).

For the sake of easy comparison, I have also given each navy a points value. This value is purely based on how many ships of each type the navy possess, with different amounts of points given for different types of ships. While such a simplistic system obviously doesn't give the full picture of a navy's strength, it still does a far better job than the all too common methods of merely looking at raw numbers or cumulative displacement.

For reference, also see my World Navies of 2018 (although that is not directly comparable as it uses a slightly different classification system and an earlier version of the points system).



1. United States of America - 897 points
11 carriers, 9 assault ships
89 air defense combatants, 24 combatants, 14 small combatants
14 ballistic missile submarines, 55 nuclear submarines
102 auxiliaries, 27 landing ships, 11 mine countermeasures

2. People's Republic of China - 505 points
1 carrier
53 air defense combatants, 51 combatants, 51 small combatants, 109 missile boats
5 ballistic missile submarines, 9 nuclear submarines, 57 submarines
81 auxiliaries, 38 landing ships, 34 mine countermeasures

3. Russia - 325 points
1 carrier
12 air defense combatants, 25 combatants, 14 small combatants, 40 missile boats
11 ballistic missile submarines, 15 nuclear submarines, 23 submarines
46 auxiliaries, 20 landings ships, 41 mine countermeasures

4. Japan - 193 points
4 helicopter carriers
27 air defense combatants, 36 combatants, 45 small combatants, 6 missile boats
22 submarines
13 auxiliaries, 3 landing ships, 24 mine countermeasures

5. India - 139 points
1 carrier
20 air defense combatants, 23 combatants, 23 small combatants, 8 missile boats
1 ballistic missile submarine, 1 nuclear submarine, 14 submarines
7 auxiliaries, 6 landing ships, 1 mine countermeasures

6. Republic of Korea - 124 points
1 assault ship
9 air defense combatants, 34 combatants, 35 small combatants, 18 missile boats
16 submarines
7 auxiliaries, 8 landing ships, 9 mine countermeasures

7. France - 118 points
1 carrier, 3 assault ships
4 air defense combatants, 13 combatants, 13 small combatants
4 ballistic missile submarines, 6 nuclear submarines
6 auxiliaries, 14 mine countermeasures

8. United Kingdom - 111 points
1 carrier
6 air defense combatants, 13 combatants, 4 small combatants
4 ballistic missile submarines, 6 nuclear submarines
14 auxiliaries, 5 landing ships, 13 mine countermeasures

9. Republic of China - 88 points
20 air defense combatants, 10 combatants, 9 small combatants, 44 missile boats
4 submarines
2 auxiliaries, 10 landing ships, 9 mine countermeasures

10. Italy - 77 points
2 carriers
11 air defense combatants, 7 combatants, 11 small combatants
8 submarines
4 auxiliaries, 3 landing ships, 10 mine countermeasures

11. Turkey - 71 points
12 air defense combatants, 4 combatants, 14 small combatants, 18 missile boats
12 submarines
3 auxiliaries, 3 landing ships, 11 mine countermeasures

12. Egypt - 53 points
2 assault ships
4 air defense combatants, 5 combatants, 4 small combatants, 34 missile boats
8 submarines
3 auxiliaries, 14 mine countermeasures

13. Greece - 51 points
4 air defense combatants, 9 combatants, 17 missile boats
11 submarines
3 auxiliaries, 5 landing ships, 4 mine countermeasures

14t. Australia - 49 points
2 assault ships
12 air defense combatants
6 submarines
3 auxiliaries, 1 landing ship, 6 mine countermeasures

14t. Germany - 49 points
7 air defense combatants, 2 combatants, 5 small combatants
6 submarines
11 auxiliaries, 12 mine countermeasures

14t. Indonesia - 49 points
8 combatants, 10 small combatants, 16 missile boats
4 submarines
6 auxiliaries, 15 landing ships, 9 countermeasures

17. Spain - 48 points
1 assault ship
11 air defense combatants, 8 small combatants
3 submarines
4 auxiliaries, 2 landing ships, 6 mine countermeasures

18. Democratic People's Republic of Korea - 41 points
2 combatants, 2 small combatants, 20 missile boats
10 submarines, 40 mini-submarines

19. Canada - 38 points
12 air defense combatants
4 submarines
6 auxiliaries, 12 mine countermeasures

20t. Brazil - 36 points
1 assault ship
9 combatants, 6 small combatants
6 submarines
2 auxiliaries, 4 landing ships, 6 mine countermeasures

20t. Singapore - 36 points
6 air defense combatants, 5 small combatants
4 submarines
6 missile boats, 4 landing ships, 4 mine countermeasures

22. Iran - 33 points
1 combatant, 6 small combatants, 36 missile boats
4 submarines, 30 mini-submarines
7 auxiliaries, 5 mine countermeasures

23t. Netherlands - 28 points
4 air defense combatants, 6 combatants
4 submarines
1 auxiliary, 2 landing ships, 6 mine countermeasures

23t. Norway - 28 points
4 air defense combatants, 4 combatants, 6 missile boats
6 submarines
2 auxiliaries, 6 mine countermeasures

23t. Vietnam - 28 points
4 combatants, 7 small combatants, 21 missile boats
6 submarines
1 landing ship, 8 mine countermeasures

26t. Peru - 26 points
7 combatants, 6 missile boats
6 submarines
2 auxiliaries, 3 landing ships

26t. Thailand - 26 points
1 helicopter carrier
3 air defense combatants, 5 combatants, 8 small combatants, 3 missile boats
1 auxiliary, 3 landing ships, 7 mine countermeasures

28t. Algeria - 25 points
5 combatants, 3 small combatants, 15 missile boats
6 submarines
1 auxiliary, 1 landing ship, 2 mine countermeasures

28t. Chile - 25 points
2 air defense combatants, 6 combatants, 4 small combatants, 3 missile boats
4 submarines
3 auxiliaries, 2 landing ships

30. Pakistan - 24 points
1 air defense combatant, 8 combatants, 7 missile boats
5 submarines
2 auxiliaries, 3 mine countermeasures

31. Malaysia - 22 points
5 combatants, 8 small combatants
2 submarines
5 landing ships, 4 mine countermeasures

32. Argentina - 19 points
5 combatants, 11 small combatants, 2 missile boats
2 submarines
5 auxiliaries, 1 landing ship

33. Mexico - 17 points
1 combatant, 18 small combatants
5 landing ships, 6 mine countermeasures

34t. Sweden - 16 points
9 missile boats
5 submarines
2 auxiliaries, 9 mine countermeasures

34t. Venezuela - 16 points
7 combatants, 4 small combatants
2 submarines
1 auxiliary, 2 landing ships

36t. Bangladesh - 15 points
6 combatants, 4 small combatants, 6 missile boats
2 submarines
5 mine countermeasures

36t. Denmark - 15 points
5 air defense combatants, 4 combatants, 3 missile boats

38t. Israel - 14 points
3 small combatants, 8 missile boats
5 submarines

38t. Poland - 14 points
2 air defense combatants, 2 small combatants, 3 missile boats
1 submarine, 2 mini-subs submarines
21 mine countermeasures

40t. Colombia - 12 points
4 combatants, 5 small combatants
2 submarines, 2 mini-submarines
2 auxiliaries

40t. Saudi Arabia - 12 points
7 combatants, 13 missile boats
2 auxiliaries, 3 mine countermeasures

40t. South Africa - 12 points
4 combatants
3 submarines
1 auxiliary, 4 mine countermeasures

43t. Myanmar - 11 points
5 combatants, 3 small combatants, 18 missile boats

43t. Portugal - 11 points
5 combatants, 3 small combatants
2 submarines
1 auxiliary

45. Philippines - 10 points
3 combatants, 1 small combatant
1 auxiliary, 4 landing ships

46t. Ecuador - 8 points
2 combatants, 9 missile boats
2 submarines

46t. Romania - 8 points
3 combatants, 5 small combatants, 3 missile boats
2 auxiliaries, 4 mine countermeasures

48t. Oman - 7 points
9 small combatants, 4 missile boats
1 landing ship

48t. Sri Lanka - 7 points
5 combatants, 1 small combatant, 2 missile boats

50t. Bulgaria - 6 points
3 combatants, 1 small combatant, 1 missile boat
10 mine countermeasures

50t. New Zealand - 6 points
2 combatants, 2 small combatants
1 auxiliary, 2 landing ships

52. United Arab Emirates - 5 points
1 small combatant, 16 missile boats
2 mine countermeasures

53. Nigeria - 4.5 points
3 combatants, 2 small combatants
2 mine countermeasures

54. Morocco - 4 points
1 combatant, 6 small combatants

55t. Bahrain - 3.5 points
1 air defense combatant, 6 missile boats

55t. Belgium - 3.5 points
2 combatants
6 mine countermeasures

55t. Finland - 3.5 points
2 small combatants, 4 missile boats
6 mine countermeasures

58. Uruguay - 3.25 points
2 combatants
1 auxiliary, 3 mine countermeasures

59. Ireland - 3 points
6 small combatants

60t. Kuwait - 2.5 points
10 missile boats

60t. Ukraine - 2.5 points
1 combatant, 1 missile boat
1 auxiliary, 1 mine countermeasures

61. Cuba - 2 points
2 combatants

62t. Azerbaijan - 1.75 points
1 small combatant, 3 missile boats
2 mine countermeasures

62t. Qatar - 1.75 points
7 missile boats

64. Equatorial Guinea - 1.5 points
1 combatant, 1 small combatant

65. Croatia - 1.25 points
5 missile boats

66t. Latvia - 1 point
5 mine countermeasures

66t. Montenegro - 1 point
2 small combatants

66t. Namibia - 1 point
1 combatant

69t. Estonia - 0.75 points
3 mine countermeasures

69t. Tunisia - 0.75 points
3 missile boats

71t. Iceland - 0.5 points
1 small combatant

71t. Kenya - 0.5 points
1 small combatant

71t. Lithuania - 0.5 points
2 mine countermeasures