Lieutenant general ( Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, 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 (or colonel general) and above major general; it is equivalent to the navy rank of vice admiral, 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) 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). 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 and a number of other countries of the former Soviet Union, 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
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Lieutenant general (Australia)
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Lieutenant general (Bangladesh)
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Lieutenant-general (Canada)
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Kenraaliluutnantti (Finland)
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Kindralleitnant (Estonia)
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Generalleutnant (Germany)
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Lieutenant general (India)
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Lieutenant general (Nigeria)
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Lieutenant general (Pakistan)
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Lieutenant general (Sri Lanka)
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Generallöjtnant (Sweden)
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Lieutenant general (United Kingdom)
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Lieutenant general (United States)
Army ranks
File:ALB-Army-OF-8.svg|Gjeneral lejtant
(Albanian Army)
File:Angola-Army-OF-8.svg|Tenente-general
(Angolan Army)
File:Argentina-Army-OF-9.svg|Teniente general
(Argentine Army)
File:Armenia-Army-OF-7.svg|գեներալ-լեյտենանտ
General-leytenant
(Armenian Ground Forces)
File:Australian Army OF-8.svg|Lieutenant general
(Australian Army)
File:Bundesheer - Rank insignia - Generalleutnant.png|Generalleutnant
(Austrian Army)
File:General-leytenant AzSQ.svg|General-leytenant
(Azerbaijani Land Forces)
File:Bangladesh-army-OF-8.svg|Lieutenant general
লেফটেন্যান্ট জেনারেল
(Bangladesh Army)
File:Post-Soviet-Army-OF-7.svg|Ґенэрал-лейтэнант
G̀jeneral-liejtenant
(Belarusian Ground Forces)
File:Belgium-Army-OF-8.svg|Luitenant-generaal
(Belgian Land Component)
File:15.Bhutan Army-LG.svg|གུང་ བློན་ གོང མ །
Lieutenant general
(Royal Bhutan Army)
File:Rank insignia of Генерал-лейтенант of the Bulgarian Army.png|Генерал-лейтенант
General-leytenant
(Bulgarian Land Forces)
File:Botswana-Army-OF-8.svg|Lieutenant general
(Botswana Ground Force)
File:18.RBrLF-LG.svg|Leftenan jeneral
(Royal Brunei Land Force)
File:Blank.svg|Lieutenant-général
Riyetena jenerai
(Burundi Army)
File:Canadian Army OF-8.svg|Lieutenant-general
Lieutenant-général
(Canadian Army)
File:DR Congo Army OF-8.svg|Lieutenant-général
(Land Forces of the DR Congo)
File:CzArmy 2011 OF8-Generalporucik shoulder.svg|Generálporučík
(Czech Land Forces)
File:Denmark-Army-OF-8-M69-service.svg|Generalløjtnant
(Royal Danish Army)
File:Capona Teniente General Ejercito Nacional.svg|Teniente general
(Dominican Army)
File:Estonia-Army-OF-8.svg|Kindralleitnant
(Estonian Land Forces)
File:Kenraaliluutnantti kauluslaatta.svg|Kenraaliluutnantti
Generallöjtnant
(Finnish Army)
File:15.Gambian Army-LG.svg|Lieutenant general
(Gambian National Army)
File:Georgia-Army-OF-8.svg|გენერალ ლეიტენანტი
General leit’enant’i
(Georgian Land Forces)
File:HD H 63 Generalleutnant.svg|Generalleutnant
(German Army)
File:15-Ghana Army-LG.svg|Lieutenant general
(Ghana Army)
File:14. Guinea-Bissau LG.svg|Tenente-general
(Army of Guinea-Bissau)
File:Haiti-Army-OF-8.svg|Lieutenant-général
(Haitian Army)
File:Lieutenant General of the Indian Army.svg|Lieutenant general
लेफ्टिनेंट - जनरल
(Indian Army)
File:21-TNI Army-LG.svg|Letnan jenderal
(Indonesian Army)
File:Ireland-Army-OF-8.svg|Lieutenant-general
Leifteanant-ghinearál
(Irish Army)
File:IT-Army-OF8.svg|Tenente Generale
(Italian Army)
File:Jamaica-Army-OF-8 (new).svg|Lieutenant general
(Jamaican Army)
File:18-RKGF-LG.svg|Генерал-лейтенант
General-leytenant
(Kazakh Ground Forces)
File:15. Kenyan Army LG.svg|Lieutenant general
(Kenya Army)
File:Kosovo-Army-OF-8 2024.svg|Gjeneral lejtnant
(Kosovo Security Force)
(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|Generolas leitenantas
(Lithuanian Land Forces)
File:15. Malawi Army - LG.svg|Lieutenant general
(Malawi Army)
File:Malaysia-army-OF-8.svg|Leftenan jeneral
(Malaysian Army)
File:Mongolian Army-LTG-service.svg|Дэслэгч генерал
Deslegch gyenyeral
(Mongolian Ground Forces)
File:Mozambique-Army-OF-7.svg|Tenente general
(Mozambican Army)
File:15-Namibia Army-LG.svg|Lieutenant general
(Namibian Army)
File:Netherlands-Army-OF-8.svg|Luitenant-generaal
(Royal Netherlands Army)
File:19.Nepalese Army-LG.svg|Lieutenant general
रथी
(Nepali Army)
File:New Zealand-Army-OF-8.svg|Lieutenant-general
(New Zealand Army)
File:Nigeria-Army-OF-8.svg|Lieutenant general
(Nigerian Army)
File:Norway-army-OF-8.svg|Generalløytnant
(Norwegian Army)
File:OF-8 PakistanArmy.svg|Lieutenant general
لیفٹیننٹ جنرل
(Pakistan Army)
File:PA Lt. Gen.png|Lieutenant general
(Philippine Army)
File:Portugal-Army-OF-8.svg|Tenente-general
(Portuguese Army)
File:Romania-Army-OF-8.svg|General-locotenent
(Romanian Land Forces)
File:Russia-Army-OF-7-2010.svg|Генера́л-лейтена́нт
Generál-leytenánt
(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|Generálporučík
(Slovak Ground Forces)
File:Spain-Army-OF-8.svg|Teniente general
(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|Generallöjtnant
(Swedish Army)
File:Tajikistan-Army-OF-7.png|Генерал-лейтенант
General-lejtenant
(Tajik National Army)
File:16-Tanzania Army-LG.svg|Lieutenant general
Luteni jenerali
(Tanzanian Army)
File:Timor-Leste-Army-OF-8.svg|Tenente-general
(Timor-Leste Army)
File:Post-Soviet-Army-OF-7.svg|General-leýtenant
(Turkmen Ground Forces)
File:Uganda-Army-OF-8 (2019).svg|Lieutenant general
(Ugandan Army)
File:Погон генерал-лейтенанта ЗСУ (2020).svg|Генерал-лейтенант
Heneral-leytenant
(Ukrainian Ground Forces)
File:British Army OF-8.svg|Lieutenant-general
(British Army)
File:US Army O9 (Army greens).svg|Lieutenant general
(United States Army)
File:Blank.svg|Teniente general
(National Army of Uruguay)
File:Uzbekistan-army-OF-7.svg|General-leytenant
(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)
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)
File:Ukraine-AirForce-OF-8 (2020).svg| Heneral-leytenant (Ukrainian Air Force)
Naval infantry
File:21-TNI Navy-VADM.svg|Letnan jenderal (Marinir)
(Indonesian Marine Corps)
Maldives Army OF-8.svg|ލެފްޓިނަންޓް ޖެނެރަލް
Lieutenant general
(Maldivian Marine Corps)
Netherlands-Navy-OF-8.svg|Lieutenant-generaal
(Netherlands Marine Corps)
Генерал-лейтенант ВМФ (красный кант).png| General-leytenant (Russian Naval Infantry)
0infant.png|Teniente general
(Spanish Marine Infantry)
Sweden-Navy-OF-8.svg|Generallöjtnant
(Swedish Amphibious Corps)
British Royal Marines OF-8.svg|Lieutenant-general
(Royal Marines)
US Marine O9 shoulderboard vertical.svg|Lieutenant general
(United States Marine Corps)
See also
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Comparative military ranks
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Lieutenant-general insignia
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List of lieutenant generals in the United States Army before 1960
External links
