Key Points and Summary – An expert analysis ranks the world’s five best main battle tanks, with the upgraded American M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams taking the top spot.
-The heavily modernized Abrams, featuring the Trophy active protection system, is considered the most lethal and survivable tank today.
A U.S. Army M1A2 SEPv2 Abrams assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division fires at a target before quickly disengaging into a defilade to load a new round at McGregor Range, New Mexico, Sept. 29, 2023. Alpha Co. executed Gunnery Table VI, which evaluates crews on engaging stationary and moving targets while utilizing all weapons systems in offensive and defensive positions, ensuring our crews are trained and ready for any mission. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. David Poleski)
-It narrowly beats out Germany’s formidable Leopard 2A7V at number two. South Korea’s high-tech K2 Black Panther ranks third, followed by Israel’s crew-survival-focused Merkava Mark 4.
-Russia’s much-hyped T-14 Armata, despite its ambitious design, comes in at a distant fifth due to its unproven and troubled development.
The 5 Best Tanks In The World In 2025
The main battle tank remains relevant and is considered a necessity for modern ground warfare, despite vulnerabilities to modern anti-tank weapons and drones, especially in Ukraine.
Their crucial role is in seizing and holding terrain, providing essential armored protection for infantry, and delivering immense firepower in a mobile platform.
While tanks must adapt to new battlefield challenges through advanced armor, sensors, and integrated tactics with other units, their fundamental ability to dominate the ground and support combined arms operations ensures their continued importance.
Tanks form the backbone of modern land-based warfare, integrating firepower, mobility, and protection to command the battlefield. The contemporary Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) are equipped with better composite armor, armed with formidable threats, and fitted with advanced technologies, thus becoming more lethal than ever.
Here are my top five tanks in the world for 2025.
#5 The T-14 Armata, Touted As the Best Tank In the World
When the Russians unveiled the T-14 Armata tank at Moscow’s 2015 Victory Day Parade, the T-14 was touted as the most advanced main battle tank in the world, boasting a suite of technological innovations that, on paper, placed it a generation ahead of Western counterparts.
The T-14 has an uncrewed turret, reducing the crew to three. Its 125mm main gun is also smoothbore, which is controlled electronically from a protected crew compartment located in the center of the tank, and is capable of firing both conventional ammunition and anti-tank guided missiles.
The autoloaders have proved to be a significant issue with Russian tanks. When the turret is penetrated by enemy fire, the 125mm rounds usually explode, launching the turret skyward and dooming the crew.
T-14 Armata Tank Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Boasting active protection systems and cutting-edge sensors, the West was supposed to play catch-up. The reality was quite different from the typical Russian hype.
In a departure from the historical tradition of Russian tanks being pragmatically designed and easily mass-producible, the T-14 Armata is technologically ambitious and, theoretically, very impressive.
The Armata, by contrast, emphasizes a Western-style approach to crew protection and advanced sensor integration, featuring an unmanned turret, an active protection system (APS) to intercept incoming projectiles, and a suite of digital battlefield networking capabilities.
A February 2015 Rossiyskaya Gazeta article by Sergey Ptichkin states that: “The forward (protected crew shell) has multilayered, combined armor protection that can withstand a direct hit from any type of round that exists today.”
Additional protection comes in the form of an Afghanit Active Protection System (APS), which is designed to track incoming projectiles and use charges to detonate them before they hit the tank’s armor.
T-14 Armata. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Main battle tank T-14 object 148 on heavy unified tracked platform Armata. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Despite all the hype, the tank’s baptism of fire in Syria didn’t go well.
#4 The Mark 4 Merkava, Israel’s Juggernaut
The Merkava is an outstanding tank, specifically designed for Israel’s defense needs, prioritizing crew survivability and rapid repair.
Its unique front-mounted engine provides a powerful shield for the crew, while features such as a rear exit for crew escape and a modular design that enables easy repair enhance its effectiveness.
Its combat effectiveness and advanced defensive systems make it a formidable main battle tank ideally suited for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
The Mark 4 is equipped with an IMI 120 mm smoothbore gun, capable of firing almost all versions of Western 120 mm smoothbore tank ammunition, as well as the LAHAT anti-tank guided missile.
Israel Merkava Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
An Israeli Defense Forces Merkava Mark 4 tank fire 120mm canon shell
amazing action military photography 2022 2008(c)-Nehemia Gershuni Photograpy
The Merkava features two roof-mounted 7.62 mm machine guns, one for the commander and another for the loader, as well as a third mounted coaxially with the main gun. A 60 mm mortar is also fitted for firing smoke rounds or suppressing dug-in infantry anti-tank teams.
All Merkava tanks are equipped with a remotely controlled M2 Browning .50-caliber heavy machine gun, aligned with the main gun and controlled from within the turret.
The clamshell doors in the rear of the tank open to reveal a small infantry squad, which is invaluable in its asymmetric warfare mode, as seen in Gaza and Lebanon.
#3 The South Korean Black Panther Tank
The South Korean K2 Black Panther main battle tank (MBT) is one of the most advanced armored vehicles in the world, rivaling Western counterparts like the M1 Abrams, Leopard 2, and Challenger 2. Some experts have even called this tank the best in the world.
Poland recently received deliveries of 110 tanks in March of this year. As Poland plans to expand its military, the K2 is envisioned as the new backbone of the Polish tank forces.
The K2 Black Panther was launched in the early 2010s by Hyundai Rotem to integrate a fourth-generation main battle tank into the South Korean Army.
The K2 has a 120-millimeter smoothbore cannon, a 12.7-millimeter (.50 caliber) heavy machine gun, and a 7.62-millimeter NATO-standard secondary machine gun.
The main 120mm gun can reportedly fire roughly 10-15 rounds per minute and can be used with a wide range of munitions, including all the standard NATO tank rounds. As detailed by Military Watch Magazine, this system can instantaneously detect, select, and load the necessary type and amount of ammunition.
K2 Black Panther Tank. Image Credit: Polish Ministry of Defense.
K2 Black Panther Tank from South Korea. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
K2 Black Panther. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The platform’s sensors are also extremely powerful, with its fire control system linked to a high-frequency radar deployed on the frontal arc of its turret, which complements its crosswind sensors and laser rangefinders.
The K2 also integrates a thermographic camera with a ‘lock on’ mode, allowing it to track specific targets at ranges of 9.8km.
Sensors are also capable of augmenting the tank’s survivability, with a millimeter band radar system capable of operating as a Missile Approach Warning System, which complements the K2 computer’s ability to triangulate incoming projectiles and fire visual and infrared screening smoke grenades. These serve to block the tank’s visual and infrared signatures.
The tanks’ armor consists of steel and silicon carbide ceramic plates. It measures 36 feet in length, weighs 55 tons (121,254 pounds), and is operated by a three-person crew with a commander, gunner, and driver.
The K2 is powered by a 1,500-horsepower engine and a six-speed transmission, capable of reaching a speed of 43 miles per hour and a range of 280 miles. While it is one of the most advanced main battle tanks (MBTs) in the world, it is also the most expensive, costing around $8.5 million per unit.
The Korean K2 Black Panther is equipped with an elaborate “snorkel” system, allowing it to cross rivers as deep as 4.1 meters. This seems to be an amphibious quality, given that the US Army’s M1 Abrams can reportedly travel through only about 2 meters of water.
The K2 snorkel system is quite elaborate, as it utilizes a “conning tower” to extend above the tank out of the water and funnel air down into a sealed, air- and water-tight crew compartment, which operates with an air circulation system.
According to data from the K2’s manufacturer, Hyundai Rotem, the tank’s snorkel system can be prepared in 20 to 30 minutes and is fully combat-ready upon exiting the water.
#2 The German Leopard 2
The Leopard 2A7V is Germany’s most advanced version of the Leopard 2 main battle tank, featuring enhanced protection through a new modular armor package, improved lethality with a more powerful L/55A1 cannon and advanced ammunition, and better situational awareness with new sensors and electronics.
This version entered service with the German Bundeswehr in September 2021, weighing around 66.5 tons and utilizing an MTU 1500 HP engine for improved mobility, including an adaptive transmission.
A Canadian Army Leopard 2A4M tank fires a round while taking part in the Canadian Army Trophy tank competition at Ādaži in Latvia. The Canadian Army Trophy tank competition, held in May 2024, allowed participating nations to show off their gunnery skills while building camaraderie. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The frontal protection has been enhanced with a dual kit on the turret and hull front. Additionally, the tank has been equipped with 360-degree protection against RPGs, and the lower hull has been reinforced to increase mine protection, thereby enhancing its survivability in urban operations.
Canada first used the modular armor system components in Afghanistan. It can fire programmable High Explosive munitions. The turret-mounted MG3 has been replaced with a stabilized FLW 200 remotely controlled weapon station.
The improved Leopard features cameras for situational awareness, an enhanced gun barrel for increased lifespan and foreseeable ammunition improvements, third-generation FLIR for TC and GNR, a BMS (battlefield management system), belly and lower glacis armor, and possibly APS (active protection systems). The external armor package is more conventional than the 7+.
On February 22, 2021, Germany signed a contract with Israel to purchase the Trophy Active Protection System (APS) for its Leopard 2A7V Main Battle Tanks (MBTs). The Israeli Trophy APS is now in service with three countries, including Israel on the Merkava 4, the United States on the M1A2 SEPV V3, and the Leopard.
The difference between this tank and #1 was very slim, and many armor analysts and enthusiasts believe this version of the Leopard to be the best tank in the world. It may just be.
#1 The US M1A2 SEP 3 Abrams
The US and our allies know that tanks aren’t obsolete; only the current ones are. Meanwhile, the US has taken the best tank in the world and made it even better. However, many experts have examined Ukraine, misinterpreted the results, and drawn incorrect conclusions.
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) has significantly upgraded the M1A2 Abrams, an outstanding tank. The SEP stands for the System Enhancement Program. The newest iteration of the Abrams is already a popular model with our allies, as both Australia and Poland have ordered additional tanks to bolster their armored forces. Ukraine is clamoring for more tanks.
The M1A2 SEPv3 has adapted to consider the threat of Anti-tank missiles and drones. The SEPv3 features better explosive reactive armor, as well as the Israeli-built Trophy Active Protection System, which protects NATO tanks in a 360-degree perimeter against the threat of anti-tank missiles.
U.S. Soldiers assigned to 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, sit ready to engage targets in an M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank during Combined Resolve XV live fire exercise at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, Feb. 9, 2021. Combined Resolve XV is a Headquarters Department of the Army directed Multinational exercise designed to build 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Divisions’s readiness and enhance interoperability with allied forces to fight and win against any adversary. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Randis Monroe)
The SEPv3 defends itself against drone attacks through a combination of its existing armor, newly added anti-drone screens, and enhanced electronic warfare capabilities to jam drone signals, which enables it to mitigate the threat from small, fast-moving drones, particularly when facing drone swarms.
The improved third-generation Forward Looking Infrared targeting system allows the crew to fire from stand-off distances where the enemy can’t see it.
Better Lethality/Firepower
The SEPv3’s main gun is the M256 120mm smoothbore cannon. It can fire M829A4 advanced kinetic energy and advanced multi-purpose rounds launched through an ammunition data link. This round is an Armor-Piercing, Fin Stabilized, Discarding Sabot – Tracer (APFSDS-T), cartridge consisting of a depleted uranium long-rod penetrator with a three-petal composite sabo.
These rounds will defeat third-generation explosive reactive armor (ERA) at extended ranges. ERA is designed for maximum penetration power against heavily armored targets and has a maximum effective range of 4,000 meters.
The crew compartment remains the same, with the driver in the middle of the hull and the commander, loader, and gunner in the well-armored turret. In addition to the main gun, the SEPv3 will feature a .50 caliber M2 machine gun and a 7.62mm M240B coaxial machine gun.
Engine and Power Generation
The M1A2 SEPv3 is powered by a Honeywell AGT1500 gas turbine engine, which produces 1,500hp.
The auxiliary power unit, which is located under the armor, enables the tank to operate onboard systems with a reduced probability of detection during silent watch operations.
The generator enables the turret to operate independently of the main engine’s power when the vehicle is stationary, resulting in improved fuel efficiency and enhanced stealth.
The US Army has made superb improvements with the M1A2 SEPv3. This may allow the Abrams to remain in the inventory until 2040, which would be a 60-year lifespan. The best tank in the world is now even better.
Honorable Mentions
The following tanks are all outstanding and could have easily made the cut. The Japanese Type 90, the Turkish Altay, the British Challenger 3, the Chinese Type 99A, and the French Leclerc XLR.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
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Brett
August 27, 2025 at 4:13 pm
The armada isn’t an actual working tank.how is it better the challenger or the French lec,the Japanese tank,or even a t72?