11 Strongest Navies in The World: 2017 Rankings

Devising a methodology that will successfully create 2017 rankings for the 11 strongest navies in the world is no simple task. Going simply by the numbers, the results can be seriously flawed, like we can see here in Global Firepower’s ranking. By using a ship count as the ultimate metric, they have created a list with North Korean Navy at the top spot. The United States Navy came in third and apparently, Egypt has a stronger navy than India. Japan ranks 18^th, with such naval powers like Finland, Bolivia and Myanmar all ranked better. You don’t need an Annapolis degree to see just how wrong that is.

In order to avoid such mistake, we created a genuine Insider Monkey ranking system. Instead of going by sheer numbers, we focused on the ship classes. Each navy on the list was awarded points for the following classes: aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, cruisers and destroyers, frigates, nuclear and non-nuclear submarines.

Aircraft carriers are currently the most powerful ships in the world today. US Navy’s 10 Nimitz class supercarriers, displacing 100,000 tons, are the largest combat ships ever built. Other nations operate much smaller carriers and the only one that comes even close is the Royal Navy’s Queen Elisabeth class, with a displacement of 70,600 tons.

The class that gave us the most headache is amphibious assault ship. These vessels are designed to provide support for invasions and are crucial to power projections capabilities of any navy. The trouble is that they come in all shapes and sizes and classifying them is very difficult. At the end, we decided to take into account only ships that feature a full-length landing deck, regardless of the type of aircraft it carries, and capable of over-the-horizon assault. Those are USN’s Wasp and America classes, French Navy’s Mistral class, Royal Navy’s HMS Ocean, Italian Navy’s San Giorgio-class, Republic of Korea Navy’s Dokdo class, and Royal Australian Navy’s Canberra class. Sometimes there’s an overlap between these ships and aircraft carriers, which can lead to some confusion, like in the case of the Spanish Navy’s Juan Carlos I, which we classified as an aircraft carrier, due to its dual-purpose mission capabilities.

Cruisers are a somewhat special category since there’s only a handful of navies that operate them, unlike destroyers, which are quite numerous. These are the workhorses of modern navies, designed to operate both independently and as part of a larger task force. Frigates are the smallest surface combatants of our list and also usually the smallest ocean-going vessels in any navy, but are vital for a number of tasks, like anti-submarine warfare and providing anti-air cover for their bigger brethren.

The final two categories are submarines, conventional and nuclear-powered ones. They come in two flavors, attack submarines, designed to attack other vessels and ballistic missile submarines, AKA boomers, with a payload of conventional and nuclear missiles. These are the pinnacle of naval might, carrying enough firepower to obliterate a small country.

As our starting source, we used Global Security’s database and then added ships that are planned to be commissioned in 2017. Some discrepancies may occur, due to various definitions of what an active ship is. Some navies count it as “active” as soon as it is commissioned, while others prefer to list only ships that are on active duty. 11  strongest navies in the world in 2017 rankings are also some of the Biggest Navies in the World, based on the total tonnage of their ships.

11. Republic of China Navy

Aircraft carrier – 0
Nuclear submarine – 0
Amphibious assault ship – 0
Conventional submarine – 4
Cruiser – 0
Destroyer – 4
Frigates – 20

The Republic of China (or more colloquially known as Taiwan) has been faced with several difficulties in its effort to modernize its navy, that is nowadays one of the strongest navies in the world. Apart from defense cuts, which seems to be the one thing all navies in the world share, a growing political pressure from China has been very effective in stopping any procurement of ships and weapons abroad, leaving Taiwan with the United States as the only option. It is no wonder then that a majority of its fleet is of U.S. origin, including 4 Kidd-class destroyers and various other ships.

10. Spanish Navy

Aircraft carrier – 1
Nuclear submarine – 0
Amphibious assault ship – 3
Conventional submarine – 4
Cruiser – 0
Destroyer – 0
Frigates – 11

In 2013, Spanish carrier Príncipe de Asturias fell a victim of budgetary cuts, leaving only Juan Carlos I as a power projection ship in the fleet. Its dual purpose as a carrier and an assault amphibious ship makes it highly versatile platform, able to perform several vital tasks. Spanish submarine fleet, currently consisting of three conventional attack boats, is slated to be modernized by four brand new S-80 boats, with the first planned to enter service in 2015, but design problems have delayed it. All four subs are in construction and at least one is expected to be commissioned in 2017.

9. Republic of Korea Navy

Aircraft carrier – 0
Nuclear submarine – 0
Amphibious assault ship – 1
Conventional submarine – 15
Cruiser – 0
Destroyer – 12
Frigates – 13

The Republic of Korea Navy is firmly set to reach its goal of becoming a blue water navy by 2020. ROKS Dokdo, an amphibious assault ship which can be converted to an aircraft carrier (a bolt on ski jump ramp is under construction and ship’s landing deck is covered with Urethane, heat resistance coating allowing it to operate F-35B STOVL fighters), together with Sejong the Great class destroyers, large 11,000-tons vessels, will be a centerpiece of rapid reaction task force. Korea currently operates only one such force, but with Dokdo’s sister ship Marado under the order and three more Sejong the Great class destroyers under construction, that number will be increased in the future.

8. Italian Navy

Aircraft carrier – 2
Nuclear submarine – 0
Amphibious assault ship – 3
Conventional submarine – 8
Cruiser – 0
Destroyer – 4
Frigates – 14

After the World War 2, the Italian Navy, one of the strongest navies in the world, was left in a sorry state. Although the majority of its ships survived the war, 5 battleships among them, most of them were divided as reparations between the winners. The ships were divided among other things and according to the peace treaty, Italia was forbidden from building and operating any aircraft carriers. Those stipulations were later relaxed, due to importance of Italian strategic position and today they operate two carriers, Cavour and much smaller Giuseppe Garibaldi, slated to be replaced in 2022 with a brand new 32,000 tons Trieste, the largest ship in Italian inventory since the end of the war, to be laid down in 2017.

7. Indian Navy

Aircraft carrier – 1
Nuclear submarine – 2
Amphibious assault ship – 3
Conventional submarine – 13
Cruiser – 0
Destroyer – 11
Frigates – 14

Once INS Viraat is decommissioned in 2017 after 59 years of service in both British and Indian Navies, INS Vikramaditya will be Indian only operational carrier until INS Vikrant, the first Indian domestically built carrier is commissioned in 2018. But Indian Navy doesn’t plan on stopping there. The design for a nuclear-powered carrier, INS Vishal, are already in the works, with planned launching for 2025. In the meantime, the second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, INS Aridhaman, is undergoing sea trials, with commissioning expected in 2018.

6. French Navy

Aircraft carrier – 1
Nuclear submarine – 10
Amphibious assault ship – 3
Conventional submarine – 0
Cruiser – 0
Destroyer – 12
Frigates – 11

At 42,500 tons of displacement, French Charles de Gaulle is the largest warship in Western Europe. It is also the only nuclear-powered carrier outside of the United States Navy in the world. Although French doctrine requires two operational carriers, in 2013 the plans for the second one were scrapped, due to budgetary cuts. Instead, French Navy, that is one of the strongest navies in the world focused on FREMM program, a multi-mission frigate developed together with Italy, but even those were reduced in numbers.

5. Royal Navy

Aircraft carrier – 1
Nuclear submarine – 11
Amphibious assault ship – 1
Conventional submarine – 0
Cruiser – 0
Destroyer – 6
Frigates – 13

For a navy that once ruled the sea in the service of one of the mightiest empires ever created, Royal Navy is today a mere shadow of its former glory. Once the greatest navy in history, it only ranks 5th in 2017 rankings of the strongest navies in the world. Royal Navy’s only aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elisabeth, will be commissioned in May 2017, while her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales, currently under construction, will enter the active service in 2020. Until then, the only power projection capabilities Royal Navy possesses are summed up in HMS Ocean.

4. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

Aircraft carrier – 2
Nuclear submarine – 0
Amphibious assault ship – 3
Conventional submarine – 19
Cruiser – 0
Destroyer – 26
Frigates – 10

By launching of JS Izumo, the largest Japanese warship since World War 2, Japan who has one of the  strongest navies in the world caused quite a bit of consternation in some countries, especially China. Together with two similar Hyuga class ships, Izumo and her sister ship Kaga to be commissioned in 2017) bear designation of helicopter destroyers, which is unique to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. One only needs to take a glimpse of these vessels and realize that they have absolutely nothing in common with destroyers and that the designation is merely a ruse on Japanese part. In fact, these large helicopter carriers are just a minor refit and a complement of F-35B STOVL fighters away from being fully-fledged fleet carriers, so we classified them as such.

3. Military-Maritime Fleet of the Russian Federation

Aircraft carrier – 1
Nuclear submarine – 38
Amphibious assault ship – 1
Conventional submarine – 23
Cruiser – 4
Destroyer – 15
Frigates – 6

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, its once-proud navy was reduced to a bunch of rusting hulks dotting the beaches of naval bases on the shores of the fallen empire. But things have changed since the 1990s and new Russia is again asserting its naval power, with their only aircraft carrier parked in the Mediterranean in support of Syrian operations. Although things aren’t going perfectly (Russians have lost two aircraft due to malfunctioning arresting gear on the aging vessel), it is a far cry from the usual image of the Russian Navy. New submarines are slowly entering the service, with 3 new Borei class SSBN and the lead ship of Yasen class attack submarine already displaying the Russian naval jack. The Russians also sail Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great) battlecruiser, the largest surface combatant ship in the world. New improved Kilo and Lada class conventional submarines are also being built and introduced to the Russian fleet. The exact number of active submarines is hard to determine, due to classified intel and also due to the Russian practice of keeping inactive ships in service, in order to pay the crew. Russian Navy was poised to receive two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships from France, but sanctions imposed due to the annexation of Crimea put a stop on that purchase and ships ended up in Egyptian Navy instead. Sounds like Rusia once again has one of the strongest navies in the world.

2. People’s Liberation Army Navy

Aircraft carrier – 1
Nuclear submarine – 14
Amphibious assault ship – 1
Conventional submarine – 57
Cruiser – 0
Destroyer – 31
Frigates – 50

A powerful navy has always been a dream of China, especially in the latter half of the 20th century. The Chinese communist leadership observed the role of the US Navy in both Korean War and Vietnam War, realizing that they have absolutely nothing that could even slow it down, let alone stop it. But creating a modern navy is a very expensive business, and only in the last several decades did Chinese managed to muster enough funds to start accomplishing the task. In 2017, PLA Navy will represent a force to be reckoned with, especially considering China’ aggressive posturing in South China Sea and insistence on the Nine-dash line. Now, let’s see the first place on our list of strongest navies in the world.

1. United States Navy

Aircraft carrier – 11
Nuclear submarine – 75
Amphibious assault ship – 9
Conventional submarine – 0
Cruiser – 22
Destroyer – 63
Frigates – 0

By far, United States tops the list of the strongest navies in the world in 2017 rankings and will continue to do so in foreseeable future. The core of the U.S. Navy consists of the fleet of mighty aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships that give it unparalleled force projection capabilities. Nimitz class supercarriers represent the pinnacle of technological advancement, yet they are already scheduled to be replaced by the new Ford class, even more sophisticated vessels. The lead ship of the class, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is currently in trials, awaiting commission sometimes in 2017. With more than 75 aircraft on deck, the new carrier is more powerful than many air forces around the world. Add new Zumwalt class destroyers and 75 nuclear-powered submarines, plus numerous and well-trained naval aviation, and it is easy to see why the United States Navy is the most powerful navy in the world.