Army comparison:
Israel vs
Turkey
Turkey's army fields 13,201 active vehicles — 8.4:1 Israel's 1,570. Additionally, Israel has 5,918 and Turkey has 0 vehicles in storage.
Ground forces pillar (ARMS Index) face-off All armies →
Ground pillar / 100
Turkey leads on 7 of 7 categories
Israel
Turkey
Bars: weighted contribution to the ARMS ground pillar (vehicles × category weight, active + 0.3 × stored) · figures: active vehicles at each side's latest inventory year · Methodology
Key figures as of 2026
| Israel | Turkey | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total vehicles | 1,570 | 13,201 | 🇹🇷 8.4× |
| In storage | 5,918 | 0 | 🇮🇱 |
| On order | 0 | 562 | 🇹🇷 |
| Main battle tanks | 400 | 2,284 | 🇹🇷 5.7× |
| Artillery pieces | 280 | 1,882 | 🇹🇷 6.7× |
| Armoured fighting vehicles | 890 | 9,035 | 🇹🇷 10× |
| Active military personnel (all branches) | 169,500 | 355,200 | 🇹🇷 2.1× |
| Reserve military personnel (all branches) | 465,000 | 378,700 | 🇮🇱 1.2× |
Show full breakdown · 5 more rowsHide the 5 extra rows
| Infantry fighting vehicles | 0 | 645 | 🇹🇷 |
| Armoured personnel carriers | 890 | 6,830 | 🇹🇷 7.7× |
| Self-propelled artillery | 250 | 1,045 | 🇹🇷 4.2× |
| Towed artillery | 0 | 635 | 🇹🇷 |
| Rocket artillery | 30 | 202 | 🇹🇷 6.7× |
Backbone vehicles most numerous in service
Analyst Assessment
Run the wargame simulation →Verdict
Edge: Turkey
Turkey fields by far the larger ground force — roughly 13,200 active vehicles, 2,284 tanks and 355,000 active soldiers against Israel's 1,570 active vehicles and 400 Merkava 4s — and holds the clear overall edge in mass, artillery and mechanised depth. Israel's army is qualitatively superior at the platform level, with a uniformly modern tank and heavy-APC fleet, layered active protection and recent sustained combat experience, but it cannot offset Turkey's scale.
Domain by domain
Armour
Edge: Turkey
🇮🇱 Israel400 Merkava 4s only — a single modern, domestically built type with heavy frontal protection, Trophy active protection and crew-survivability design; a further 5,918 vehicles in storage provide depth but of older generations.
🇹🇷 Turkey2,284 tanks, but the bulk are legacy: 815 M60A3 TTS, 750 M48A5 and 398 Leopard 1. Modern capability rests on 316 Leopard 2s, with 245 indigenous Altays on order.
Artillery & rocket forces
Edge: Turkey
🇮🇱 Israel280 tubes: 250 M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers plus 30 M270 MLRS. Compact, well-integrated with sensors and precision munitions, but a very small tube count by regional standards.
🇹🇷 Turkey1,882 pieces — 1,045 self-propelled (M110, M52), 635 towed (M114) and 202 rocket systems. Ageing in parts, but recapitalising with 110 T-155 Firtina, 39 T-155 TTA and 114 MKE Boran.
Mechanised infantry
Edge: Turkey
🇮🇱 Israel890 carriers, half of them 500 legacy M113s; the differentiator is 290 Namer and 100 Achzarit heavy APCs built on tank hulls for protected assault under fire.
Sustainment & industry
Edge: Turkey
🇮🇱 IsraelMerkava and Namer are produced domestically with an integrated armour and active-protection base, but the fleet is small, nothing is on order, and depth rests on 5,918 stored vehicles.
🇹🇷 Turkey562 vehicles on order across six indigenous programmes — Altay, Firtina, Boran, Altug, Pars, Vuran — reflecting a broad domestic land-systems industry, though no reported storage reserve.
Doctrine & combat experience
Even
🇮🇱 Israel169,500 active and 465,000 reserves in a force built for short, high-intensity manoeuvre on interior lines, with continuous recent operational use of armour in urban and complex terrain.
🇹🇷 Turkey355,200 active and 378,700 reserves, with sustained counter-insurgency and cross-border experience; doctrine oriented to holding and manoeuvring across wide, mountainous frontiers.
Wildcards
- No shared frontier The two armies have no common border and are separated by sea and third states. Neither ground force can engage the other without expeditionary lift and basing that neither maintains at scale.
- Mobilisation versus standing mass Israel's 465,000 reserves nearly triple its active strength, making generated combat power heavily time-dependent. Turkey's 355,200 active troops give larger day-one readiness without mobilisation.
- Recapitalisation trajectory Turkey has 562 vehicles on order and no reported storage; Israel has none on order but 5,918 stored hulls. Over a decade this narrows Turkey's quality gap while Israel's depth stays static.
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Editorial assessment produced from the figures on this page and public sources; it is an informed reading, not a military assessment or a prediction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country has more armored vehicles, Israel or Turkey?
Turkey has a larger ground force with 13,201 vehicles compared to Israel's 1,570 vehicles.
Which country has more tanks, Israel or Turkey?
Turkey operates more main battle tanks with 2,284 compared to Israel's 400.
Which army has more infantry fighting vehicles, Israel or Turkey?
Turkey has 645 infantry fighting vehicles compared to Israel's 0.
Which country has more armored personnel carriers, Israel or Turkey?
Turkey operates 6,830 APCs compared to Israel's 890.
Which country has more artillery systems, Israel or Turkey?
Turkey fields 1,882 artillery systems (self-propelled, towed, and MLRS) compared to Israel's 280.
How do the Israel and Turkey armies compare in size?
Turkey's army is 8.4 times larger than Israel's in terms of total vehicles (13,201 vs 1,570).