AP 118 · No. 10 Section IV · Numbers The Almanac · 09
The Almanac · No. 09

The Almanac

The World’s Air Forces

Who flies what, in 2026

161 nations fly 52,231 military aircraft. A quarter of them are American, and the United States alone has more than the next five countries combined. Here is the world’s air power, counted.

Six Indian Air Force jets of different designs flying in formation high over a patchwork of desert fields, one trailing white smoke
One air force, four countries of design: an Indian Air Force Tejas leads a MiG-29UPG, Jaguar, Mirage 2000, Rafale and Su-30MKI over Jodhpur during Tarang Shakti 26, 2 October 2026. India’s 2,183 military aircraft are the world’s fourth-largest fleet.
52,231

military aircraft in day-to-day use with the armed forces of 161 nations

13,033
aircraft flown by the United States, 25% of the world total
2,102
F-16s in combat fleets, the most numerous combat type
883
F-35s in front-line fleets worldwide
75%
of the world’s 810 tankers are American
414
Syrian aircraft removed from the count after the fall of Assad

Every year Flight International tries to count every military aircraft in the world. Its 2026 directory, compiled by Craig Hoyle with data from the analytics company Cirium, finds 52,231 aircraft in active use with 161 nations, down 411 on the year before. Aircraft in storage, on VIP duty, flying research or display work are left out, so these are the aircraft each country could actually send.

The year’s biggest change was a disappearance. When the Assad regime fell in December 2024, Israeli and US air strikes destroyed the Syrian air force on the ground to keep it out of the wrong hands, and all 414 of its aircraft have been deleted. Against that, FlightGlobal raised its estimate of China’s J-20 stealth fighters from 19 to 250. Counts for Russian types hit by Ukraine’s drones are, it warns, ‘likely to be higher than reality’.

The league table

Ten countries own three-fifths of the world’s air power

Fig. 1

The ten largest military fleets

aircraft

= 500 aircraft

  1. United States
    13,033
  2. Russialikely overstated: war losses are hard to verify
    4,237
  3. Chinastill more than 400 J-7s, its copy of the MiG-21
    3,529
  4. India
    2,183
  5. South Korea
    1,540
  6. Japan
    1,429
  7. Pakistan
    1,397
  8. Turkey
    1,101
  9. Egypt
    1,088
  10. France
    973

Each icon is a type that nation flies in 2026: Flankers for Russia and India, F-16s for Turkey and Egypt, Rafales for France, J-7s (Chinese MiG-21s) for China.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Its total of 13,033 aircraft is more than the combined strength of second- to sixth-ranked Russia, China, India, South Korea and Japan.

Craig Hoyle, FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026
Fig. 2

Share of the world’s 52,231 military aircraft

aircraft
  • 25% United States 13,033
  • 8% Russia 4,237
  • 7% China 3,529
  • 4% India 2,183
  • 3% South Korea 1,540
  • 3% Japan 1,429
  • 3% Pakistan 1,397
  • 2% Turkey 1,101
  • 2% Egypt 1,088
  • 2% France 973
  • 42% The other 151 nations 21,721

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Fig. 3

By region

aircraft
  1. Asia-Pacificup 98 on the year
    14,681
  2. North America97% of it American
    13,387
  3. Europe
    7,782
  4. Russia and CIS
    5,018
  5. Africa
    4,257
  6. Middle Eastdown 9%: Syria’s air force deleted
    4,186
  7. Latin America
    2,920

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Fig. 4

The top twenty, by role
1United States13,0332,7186116109175,5672,610
2Russia4,2371,559137184581,535530
3China3,5291,8141059287913401
4India2,183600726277894334
5South Korea1,54034035440786335
6Japan1,4292641351053568399
7Pakistan1,39742127463319563
8Turkey1,10120127784481301
9Egypt1,08833211053348344
10France9732234415118434140
11Saudi Arabia917364162249264202
12North Korea837455001205176
13Taiwan72025818019210215
14Italy71415322831348152
15United Kingdom62514129930215201
16Algeria6201531046330090
17Israel597284191314119148
18UAE58113927535224151
19Germany5691902735527816
20Greece560178801727186
Totals for ranks 1–10 are FlightGlobal’s published figures; the rest, and all role splits, are summed by the Gazetteer from the directory’s country listings (France’s role figures sum to 974). ‘Helicopters’ is FlightGlobal’s ‘combat helicopter’ category, which covers all military helicopters except trainers.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Six Indian Air Force jets of different designs flying in formation high over a patchwork of desert fields, one trailing white smoke
One air force, four countries of design: an Indian Air Force Tejas leads a MiG-29UPG, Jaguar, Mirage 2000, Rafale and Su-30MKI over Jodhpur during Tarang Shakti 26, 2 October 2026. India’s 2,183 military aircraft are the world’s fourth-largest fleet.
  1. MiG-29UPG: Russian design, upgraded for India
  2. Jaguar: Anglo-French, built under licence by HAL. India is the last nation flying it, with 153
  3. HAL Tejas: India’s own light fighter, leading; 97 more Tejas Mk1A ordered in 2025
  4. Rafale: one of 35 in Indian service; FlightGlobal counts one lost in the May 2025 clash with Pakistan
US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nathaniel Jackson, Public domain · source

Fighting jets

14,074 combat aircraft, and who has them

Fig. 5

Combat aircraft by country

combat aircraft
  1. United States
    2,718
  2. China
    1,814
  3. Russia
    1,559
  4. India
    600
  5. North Koreamostly 1950s–70s types
    455
  6. Pakistan
    421
  7. Saudi Arabia
    364
  8. South Korea
    340
  9. Egypt
    332
  10. Israel
    284
  11. Japan
    264
  12. Taiwan
    258
  13. France
    223
  14. Iran
    218
  15. Turkey
    201
  16. United Kingdom (21st)
    141

Top ten as published; 11th onwards summed from the country listings. Combat aircraft include fighters, bombers, attack aircraft and armed jet trainers in front-line units.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Fig. 6

The ten most numerous combat types

aircraft

= 100 aircraft

  1. Lockheed Martin F-162,732 counting trainers
    2,102
  2. Sukhoi Su-27/30/34/35 ‘Flanker’ family
    1,299
  3. McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15
    897
  4. Lockheed Martin F-35
    883
  5. Boeing F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet
    874
  6. Mikoyan MiG-29
    728
  7. Chengdu J-7/F-7 (Chinese MiG-21)
    649
  8. Eurofighter Typhoon
    528
  9. Sukhoi Su-24
    383
  10. Sukhoi Su-25
    371

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Two grey Chengdu J-20 stealth fighters crossing in a tight display manoeuvre against an overcast sky
Chengdu J-20s display at Zhuhai, November 2018. FlightGlobal now estimates 250 in front-line service, up from 19 in its previous edition; around 300 are thought to have been built.emperornie, CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Fig. 7

Europe’s rival fighters: Typhoon and Rafale

Eurofighter Typhoon

Dassault Rafale

  • 16 mLength15 m
  • 11 mWingspan11 m
  • 11,000 kgEmpty weight10,300 kg
  • 23,500 kgMaximum take-off weight24,500 kg

Verdict The Typhoon has the numbers and the thrust; the Rafale has the carrier version and the export momentum, with Indonesia, Serbia and the UAE waiting for deliveries.

Source Specifications: Eurofighter, Dassault and RAF data via Wikipedia (Rafale B empty weight); fleets: FlightGlobal World Air Forces 2026 (country listings summed)

Fig. 8

Typhoon and Rafale fleets by nation
GermanyTyphoon127
United KingdomTyphoon103
ItalyTyphoon88
Saudi ArabiaTyphoon72
SpainTyphoon67
QatarTyphoon24
KuwaitTyphoon20
AustriaTyphoon15
OmanTyphoon12
FranceRafale146
QatarRafale36
IndiaRafale35
EgyptRafale28
GreeceRafale24
CroatiaRafale12
Summed from FlightGlobal’s country listings (combat-aircraft category). Turkey (20 Typhoons) and Indonesia, Serbia and the UAE (Rafale) have aircraft on order.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

The F-35 club

Twenty-one nations and counting

883F-35s in front-line combat fleetsplus about 210 more in training units
497of them AmericanUSAF 305, US Marine Corps 137, US Navy 55
11nations operating the type in combat units
1,275F-35As still on order or planned for the USAF aloneFlightGlobal’s figure, beyond 16 firm

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Fig. 9

F-35 operators and customers
United States497186551,661A, B, C
Australia711028A
Japan470198A, B
Israel450030I (A)
Norway43800A
United Kingdom380297B (A ordered 2025)
Netherlands388012A
South Korea382020A
Italy353846A, B
Denmark191716A
Belgium120022A
Poland03128A
Canada001672A
Finland00856A
Singapore00128A, B
Switzerland00360A
Germany00035A
Greece00040A
Romania00032A
Czech Republic00024A
United Arab Emirates00050A
FlightGlobal’s ‘Ordered’ column separates firm orders from letters of intent and options (marked *). Its classification does not always match the customer’s: Germany’s 35 F-35As, for example, are a signed contract. The UAE deal has been suspended since 2021. Israel’s figure is its F-35I ‘Adir’.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Fig. 10

F-35s in combat units, outside the United States

aircraft
  1. Australia
    71
  2. Japan
    47
  3. Israel
    45
  4. Norway
    43
  5. United Kingdom
    38
  6. Netherlands
    38
  7. South Korea
    38
  8. Italy
    35
  9. Denmark
    19
  10. Belgium
    12

The MoD counted 47 UK Lightnings on 1 April 2026, including aircraft in training and test units.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Five fighters in line abreast over a dusty plain: two Tejas, a French Rafale, an Indian Su-30MKI and an American F-35A
Three nations, five fighters: an Indian Su-30MKI leads a US Air Force F-35A, a French Rafale B and two Indian Tejas, Tarang Shakti 26, 2 October 2026.
  1. HAL Tejas, Indian Air Force
  2. Rafale B, French Air and Space Force: France flies 146
  3. Su-30MKI, leading: India’s 265 Flankers make it the third-largest Flanker operator
  4. F-35A of the USAF’s 13th Fighter Squadron from Misawa, Japan
US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nathaniel Jackson, Public domain · source

Lift, fuel and rotors

The aircraft that make the fighters useful

Fig. 11

The ten most numerous military helicopters

helicopters
  1. Sikorsky S-70 / UH-60 Black Hawk family
    3,962
  2. Mil Mi-8/17
    2,740
  3. Boeing AH-64 Apache
    1,266
  4. Bell UH-1 Iroquois
    941
  5. Boeing CH-47 Chinook
    938
  6. Mil Mi-24/35
    892
  7. Bell 212/412
    679
  8. Bell AH-1 Cobra
    599
  9. MD 500/530
    549
  10. Airbus H145
    487

Of 20,149 military helicopters in all, excluding trainers.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Fig. 12

Helicopter fleets by country

helicopters
  1. United States
    5,567
  2. Russia
    1,535
  3. China
    913
  4. India
    894
  5. South Korea
    786
  6. Japan
    568
  7. Turkey
    481
  8. France
    434
  9. Egypt
    348
  10. Italy
    348

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

A dark green UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in flight above a town in a wide valley
A US Army UH-60 Black Hawk over Kosovo with the NATO KFOR mission, 12 May 2025. The S-70/UH-60 family, at 3,962, is the most numerous military aircraft of any kind.US Army National Guard photo by Sgt Cheryl Madolev, Public domain · source
A green Bangladesh Air Force C-130J Hercules banking over a chequerboard of fields
A Bangladesh Air Force C-130J breaks formation over Jodhpur, 2 October 2026. 824 Hercules and L-100s serve as transports, a fifth of the world’s military airlift fleet.US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nathaniel Jackson, Public domain · source
Fig. 13

Who owns the world’s 810 tankers

tankers
  • 75% United States 610
  • 3% Saudi Arabia 22
  • 2% Russia 18
  • 2% France 15
  • 2% Israel 13
  • 1% Singapore 11
  • 1% Japan 10
  • 1% China 9
  • 1% United Kingdom 9
  • 1.0% Italy 8
  • 10% Everyone else 85

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Fig. 14

Tankers by type

tankers
  1. Boeing KC-135 Stratotankerfirst flew 1956
    385
  2. Lockheed C-130 tanker variants
    195
  3. Boeing 767 (KC-46A, KC-767)
    108
  4. Airbus A330 MRTT
    59
  5. Ilyushin Il-78
    34
  6. Boeing 707
    17
  7. Xian Y-20 tanker
    7
  8. Boeing 747
    3
  9. Airbus A310 MRTT
    2

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

A grey KC-135 tanker with its boom lowered into an F-16 flying beneath its tail, a second F-16 alongside
A KC-135 of the 100th Air Refueling Wing from RAF Mildenhall refuels F-16s from Spangdahlem, 7 April 2009. The KC-135 is 47% of the world’s tanker fleet and the F-16 is its most numerous combat aircraft.
  1. The flying boom, ‘flown’ by an operator lying prone in the tail, with its fuel tube extended
  2. F-16 taking fuel through a receptacle behind its cockpit. It has no probe, so it can only refuel from boom tankers
  3. ‘Box D’ tail: the 100th Air Refueling Wing keeps its Second World War bomb-group marking
  4. The second F-16 waits its turn
US Air Force photo by SSgt Jerry Fleshman, Public domain · source
Fig. 15

The airlifters: top ten transport types

aircraft
  1. Lockheed C-130 Hercules / L-100
    824
  2. Airbus C295 / CN235
    303
  3. Beechcraft King Air
    295
  4. Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
    272
  5. Ilyushin Il-76
    231
  6. Antonov An-24/26
    213
  7. Antonov An-30/32
    136
  8. Airbus A400M Atlas
    133
  9. Cessna 208 Caravan
    128
  10. Shaanxi Y-8
    118

Of 4,280 transports in all. C-17s and Hercules flown as tankers or gunships are counted in those roles.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Fig. 16

Where pilots learn: top training types

aircraft
  1. Beechcraft T-6 Texan II
    989
  2. F-16 (two-seat and training units)
    630
  3. Northrop T-38 Talonin USAF service since 1961
    564
  4. BAE Hawk
    544
  5. Hongdu K-8 / JL-8
    505
  6. Saab MFI-15/17 family
    503
  7. Aero L-39 Albatros
    460
  8. Pilatus PC-7
    359
  9. Bell 206
    289
  10. Embraer EMB-312/314
    273

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Europe compared

Twenty-one air arms, one continent

Fig. 17

European military fleets, 2026
Turkey1,10120127784481301
France9732234415118434140
Italy71415322831348152
United Kingdom62514129930215201
Germany5691902735527816
Greece560178801727186
Poland4577011049215112
Spain4401488151124108
Ukraine347118502412872
Sweden172733165336
Finland1625310112077
Romania1482920136044
Switzerland1414030163943
Netherlands130380046721
Denmark122453043436
Norway109435043423
Belgium104560071427
Czech Republic1032820104221
Austria901500114123
Portugal852190142615
Hungary80120034817
Summed by the Gazetteer from FlightGlobal’s country listings; France’s total is FlightGlobal’s published 973. Ukraine’s figures exclude donated Mirage 2000-5s. Germany trains most of its jet pilots in the United States, hence only 16 trainers at home; Germany, the Netherlands and Norway share nine NATO-owned A330 tankers (the Multinational MRTT Fleet) with Belgium, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic; they are listed separately.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Fig. 18

What Europe’s combat fleets are made of

combat aircraft
  • Typhoon
  • Rafale
  • F-35
  • F-16
  • Mirage 2000
  • Tornado
  • F/A-18
  • Gripen
  • Other
  1. France
    14677
    223
  2. Turkey
    15348
    201
  3. Germany
    12763
    190
  4. Greece
    241132417
    178
  5. Italy
    883519
    153
  6. Spain
    6769
    148
  7. United Kingdom
    10338
    141
  8. Ukraine
    2593
    118
  9. Sweden
    73
    73
  10. Poland
    3535
    70
  11. Belgium
    44
    56
  12. Finland
    53
    53
  13. Denmark
    1926
    45
  14. Norway
    43
    43
  15. Netherlands
    38
    38

‘Other’: Turkey’s and Greece’s F-4E Phantoms, Italy’s and Spain’s AV-8B Harriers, Poland’s MiG-29s and FA-50s, Ukraine’s MiG-29s, Su-24s, Su-25s and Su-27s.

Source FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 (Cirium data, 1 October 2025)

Europe is in the middle of the largest fighter replacement since the 1950s. Norway and the Netherlands have already become all-F-35 air forces; Belgium and Denmark are halfway there, and Germany, Finland, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Greece and Switzerland have all signed up for the type. The Typhoon and Rafale keep their home markets, and Sweden fielded the first two of 60 Gripen Es in October 2025. The Tornado, Europe’s standard strike aircraft for forty years, survives only in Germany and Italy.

Old soldiers

Types the RAF and its contemporaries retired, still flying elsewhere

Fig. 19

Still serving in 2026, to scale

drawn to one scale
  1. Dakota (17, as BT-67 and C-47), side view Dakota (17, as BT-67 and C-47) 19.7 m · Thailand and Colombia fly turboprop conversions
  2. Jaguar (153: India only), side view Jaguar (153: India only) 16.8 m
  3. Harrier II (114: USMC, Spain, Italy), side view Harrier II (114: USMC, Spain, Italy) 14.3 m · AV-8B dimensions
  4. Sea King family (106), side view Sea King family (106) 22.2 m · length with rotors turning; span is rotor diameter
  5. Lynx (89), side view Lynx (89) 15.2 m · rotors turning
  6. Gazelle (323), side view Gazelle (323) 12.0 m · rotors turning
  7. BAE Hawk, side view BAE Hawk 11.2 m
  8. C-130 Hercules, side view C-130 Hercules 34.4 m
  9. CH-47 Chinook, side view CH-47 Chinook 15.5 m
  10. UH-1 Huey, side view UH-1 Huey 17.4 m
  11. Mi-24 Hind, side view Mi-24 Hind 17.5 m
  12. Puma, side view Puma 18.2 m
  13. MiG-21, side view MiG-21 14.9 m

Each type here still serves with at least one air force in 2026, though the RAF retired the Jaguar in 2007 and the Harrier in 2010.

Fig. 20

Veterans still flying somewhere, parked together

live 3D, true scale
  • Dakota 19.7 m long, 29.0 m span
  • Phantom F-4E 17.6 m long, 11.7 m span
  • Tornado 16.7 m long, 13.9 m span
  • Jaguar 16.8 m long, 8.7 m span
  • Harrier II 14.3 m long, 7.7 m span
  • BAE Hawk 11.2 m long, 9.4 m span
  • C-130 Hercules 34.4 m long, 40.4 m span
  • CH-47 Chinook 15.5 m long, 18.3 m rotor
  • UH-1 Huey 17.4 m long, 14.6 m rotor
  • Mi-24 Hind 17.5 m long, 17.3 m rotor
Fig. 21

The year in air power, December 2024 to October 2026

  1. Assad falls; Syria’s 414 aircraft destroyed or abandoned

    414

  2. Greece completes its fleet of 24 Rafales

    24

  3. USAF picks Boeing’s F-47 to replace the F-22; at least 185 expected

    185

  4. Qatar completes its 48 F-15QAs

    48

  5. India–Pakistan air clash; J-10Cs fire PL-15 missiles at Indian jets

  6. Ukraine’s ‘Spider Web’ drones hit Russian bombers on their bases

  7. Operation Midnight Hammer: seven B-2s strike Iran’s nuclear sites

    7

  8. UK orders 12 F-35As and rejoins NATO’s nuclear mission

    12

  9. Sweden fields its first Gripen Es; Germany and Turkey each order 20 Typhoons

  10. FlightGlobal’s count: 52,231 aircraft in 161 nations

    52,231

  11. Tarang Shakti 26 brings fighters from India, France and the US together over Rajasthan

Source FlightGlobal World Air Forces 2026; UK Government; US Air Force

Fig. 22

Where to see the world’s front-line types in Britain

in British museums

Sources

  1. FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 directory (Craig Hoyle; data partner Cirium), November 2025
  2. Hoyle, C., ‘How regime change in Syria affected our annual World Air Forces fleet review’, FlightGlobal, 14 November 2025
  3. FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2025 directory
  4. Global Firepower 2026, as tabulated by Aviation A2Z (cross-check of country totals)
  5. Ministry of Defence, UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2026
  6. UK Government, UK to purchase F-35As and join NATO nuclear mission (25 June 2025)
  7. Wikipedia, Eurofighter Typhoon (specifications)
  8. Wikipedia, Dassault Rafale (specifications)
  9. US Air Force imagery, Tarang Shakti 26 (October 2026), via Wikimedia Commons
  10. IISS, The Military Balance (series)

Photographs

  • One air force, four countries of design: an Indian Air Force Tejas leads a MiG-2 — US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nathaniel Jackson, Public domain · source
  • Chengdu J-20s display at Zhuhai, November 2018. FlightGlobal now estimates 250 i — emperornie, CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
  • Three nations, five fighters: an Indian Su-30MKI leads a US Air Force F-35A, a F — US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nathaniel Jackson, Public domain · source
  • A US Army UH-60 Black Hawk over Kosovo with the NATO KFOR mission, 12 May 2025. — US Army National Guard photo by Sgt Cheryl Madolev, Public domain · source
  • A Bangladesh Air Force C-130J breaks formation over Jodhpur, 2 October 2026. 824 — US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nathaniel Jackson, Public domain · source
  • A KC-135 of the 100th Air Refueling Wing from RAF Mildenhall refuels F-16s from — US Air Force photo by SSgt Jerry Fleshman, Public domain · source

Figures are drawn from the sources above; where they disagree the most widely cited figure is used and the range is given in the notes. Side profiles and 3D models are the gazetteer’s own procedural models, drawn to scale from published dimensions. Spotted an error? Tell us.