Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a captain general. In modern armies, lieutenant general normally ranks immediately below

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

(or colonel general) and above major general; it is equivalent to the navy rank of

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

, and in air forces with a separate rank structure, it is equivalent to air marshal. In the United States, a lieutenant general has a three star insignia and commands an army corps, typically made up of three army divisions, and consisting of around 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers. The seeming incongruity that a lieutenant general outranks a major general (whereas a major outranks a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

) is due to the derivation of major general from sergeant major general, which was a rank subordinate to lieutenant general (as a lieutenant outranks a

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior Non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned Military rank, rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's ...

). Several countries (e.g. Balkan states) use the rank of lieutenant colonel general instead of lieutenant general, in an attempt to solve this apparent anomaly. In contrast, in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and a number of other countries of the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, lieutenant general is a rank immediately below colonel general, and above major general – in these systems there is no use of the brigadier general of many Western countries. In addition, some countries use the lieutenant general as the rank of divisional commander, and some have designated them with French revolutionary system. For example, some countries of South America use divisional general as the equivalent of lieutenant general.

Lieutenant general ranks by country

* Lieutenant general (Australia) * Lieutenant general (Bangladesh) * Lieutenant-general (Canada) * (

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

) * (

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

) * (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) * Lieutenant general (India) * Lieutenant general (Nigeria) * Lieutenant general (Pakistan) * Lieutenant general (Sri Lanka) * (

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

) *

Lieutenant general (United Kingdom) Lieutenant general (Lt Gen), formerly more commonly lieutenant-general, is a senior rank in the British Army and the Royal Marines. It is the equivalent of a multinational three-star rank; some British lieutenant generals sometimes wear three-s ...

* Lieutenant general (United States)

Army ranks

File:ALB-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Albanian Army) File:Angola-Army-OF-8.svg,
(

Angolan Army The Angolan Army () is the land component of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA). History On August 1, 1974, a few months after a military coup d'état had overthrown the Lisbon regime and proclaimed its intention of granting independence to Angola, ...

) File:Argentina-Army-OF-9.svg,
( Argentine Army) File:Armenia-Army-OF-7.svg,

( Armenian Ground Forces) File:Australian Army OF-8.svg, Lieutenant general
( Australian Army) File:Bundesheer - Rank insignia - Generalleutnant.png,
( Austrian Army) File:General-leytenant AzSQ.svg,
( Azerbaijani Land Forces) File:Bangladesh-army-OF-8.svg, Lieutenant general

( Bangladesh Army) File:Post-Soviet-Army-OF-7.svg,

( Belarusian Ground Forces) File:Belgium-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Belgian Land Component) File:15.Bhutan Army-LG.svg,
Lieutenant general
( Royal Bhutan Army) File:Rank insignia of Генерал-лейтенант of the Bulgarian Army.png,

( Bulgarian Land Forces) File:Botswana-Army-OF-8.svg, Lieutenant general
( Botswana Ground Force) File:18.RBrLF-LG.svg,
( Royal Brunei Land Force) File:Blank.svg,

( Burundi Army) File:Canadian Army OF-8.svg, Lieutenant-general

(

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

) File:DR Congo Army OF-8.svg,
( Land Forces of the DR Congo) File:CzArmy 2011 OF8-Generalporucik shoulder.svg,
( Czech Land Forces) File:Denmark-Army-OF-8-M69-service.svg,
( Royal Danish Army) File:Capona Teniente General Ejercito Nacional.svg,
( Dominican Army) File:Estonia-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Estonian Land Forces) File:Kenraaliluutnantti kauluslaatta.svg,

( Finnish Army) File:15.Gambian Army-LG.svg, Lieutenant general
( Gambian National Army) File:Georgia-Army-OF-8.svg,

( Georgian Land Forces) File:HD H 63 Generalleutnant.svg,
( German Army) File:15-Ghana Army-LG.svg, Lieutenant general
( Ghana Army) File:14. Guinea-Bissau LG.svg,
( Army of Guinea-Bissau) File:Haiti-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Haitian Army) File:Lieutenant General of the Indian Army.svg, Lieutenant general

( Indian Army) File:21-TNI Army-LG.svg,
( Indonesian Army) File:Ireland-Army-OF-8.svg, Lieutenant-general

( Irish Army) File:IT-Army-OF8.svg,
( Italian Army) File:Jamaica-Army-OF-8 (new).svg, Lieutenant general
( Jamaican Army) File:18-RKGF-LG.svg,

( Kazakh Ground Forces) File:15. Kenyan Army LG.svg, Lieutenant general
( Kenya Army) File:Kosovo-Army-OF-8 2024.svg,
( Kosovo Security Force) File:Latvia-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Latvian Land Forces) File:Blank.svg, Lieutenant general
( Lesotho Army) File:Liberia-Army-OF-8.svg, Lieutenant general
( Liberian Ground Forces) File:21-Lithuania Army-LG.svg,
( Lithuanian Land Forces) File:15. Malawi Army - LG.svg, Lieutenant general
( Malawi Army) File:Malaysia-army-OF-8.svg,
( Malaysian Army) File:Mongolian Army-LTG-service.svg,

( Mongolian Ground Forces) File:Mozambique-Army-OF-7.svg,
( Mozambican Army) File:15-Namibia Army-LG.svg, Lieutenant general
( Namibian Army) File:Netherlands-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Royal Netherlands Army) File:19.Nepalese Army-LG.svg, Lieutenant general

( Nepali Army) File:New Zealand-Army-OF-8.svg, Lieutenant-general
(

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

) File:Nigeria-Army-OF-8.svg, Lieutenant general
( Nigerian Army) File:Norway-army-OF-8.svg,
( Norwegian Army) File:OF-8 PakistanArmy.svg, Lieutenant general

( Pakistan Army) File:PA Lt. Gen.png, Lieutenant general
( Philippine Army) File:Portugal-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Portuguese Army) File:Romania-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Romanian Land Forces) File:Russia-Army-OF-7-2010.svg,

( Russian Ground Forces) File:15-Rwanda Army-LG.svg, Lieutenant general
( Rwandan Land Forces) File:Blank.svg, Lieutenant general
( Sierra Leone Army) File:10-RSA-OF08.svg, Lieutenant general
( Singapore Army) File:Army-SVK-OF-08.svg,
( Slovak Ground Forces) File:Spain-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Spanish Army) File:Sri Lanka-army-OF-8.svg, Lieutenant general
( Sri Lanka Army) File:SAA-OF-8.svg, Lieutenant general
( South African Army) File:Blank.svg, Lieutenant general
( South Sudan Army) File:Blank.svg, Lieutenant general
( Eswatini Army) File:Sweden-Army-OF-8 (M1987).svg,
(

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

) File:Tajikistan-Army-OF-7.png,

( Tajik National Army) File:16-Tanzania Army-LG.svg, Lieutenant general

( Tanzanian Army) File:Timor-Leste-Army-OF-8.svg,
( Timor-Leste Army) File:Post-Soviet-Army-OF-7.svg,
( Turkmen Ground Forces) File:Uganda-Army-OF-8 (2019).svg, Lieutenant general
( Ugandan Army) File:Погон генерал-лейтенанта ЗСУ (2020).svg,

( Ukrainian Ground Forces) File:British Army OF-8.svg, Lieutenant-general
(

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

) File:US Army O9 (Army greens).svg, Lieutenant general
( United States Army) File:Blank.svg,
( National Army of Uruguay) File:Uzbekistan-army-OF-7.svg,
( Uzbek Ground Forces) File:Blank.svg, Lieutenant general
( Zambian Army) File:Zimbabwe-Army-OF-8.svg, Lieutenant general
( Zimbabwe National Army)

Air force ranks

File:PLAAF-0719-LTG.png, ''Kōngjūn zhong jiang'' (

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

) File:Taiwan-airforce-OF-8.svg, '' Tiong-chiòng'' ( Republic of China Air Force) File:Russia-Airforce-OF-7-2010.svg, ''General-leytenant'' ( Russian Aerospace Forces) File:US Air Force O9 shoulderboard.svg, Lieutenant general
(

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

) File:Ukraine-AirForce-OF-8 (2020).svg, ''Heneral-leytenant'' ( Ukrainian Air Force)

Naval infantry

File:21-TNI Navy-VADM.svg,
( Indonesian Marine Corps) Maldives Army OF-8.svg,
Lieutenant general
( Maldivian Marine Corps) Netherlands-Navy-OF-8.svg,
( Netherlands Marine Corps) Генерал-лейтенант ВМФ (красный кант).png, ''General-leytenant'' ( Russian Naval Infantry) 0infant.png,
( Spanish Marine Infantry) Sweden-Navy-OF-8.svg,
( Swedish Amphibious Corps) British Royal Marines OF-8.svg, Lieutenant-general
(

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

) US Marine O9 shoulderboard vertical.svg, Lieutenant general
(

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

)

References

External links