AP 118 · No. 10 Section IV · Numbers The Almanac · 08
The Almanac · No. 08

The Almanac

The RAF

A century of strength, 1918–2026

The world’s first independent air force began with 22,647 aircraft and 291,170 people. It peaked at 1.19 million in 1944. In 2026 it has 31,390 regulars and nine combat squadrons, and the most capable aircraft it has ever flown.

A grey RAF Eurofighter Typhoon seen from directly below against a pale sky, missiles and fuel tanks under its delta wing
A Typhoon FGR4 banks over RAF Fairford at the Royal International Air Tattoo, 20 July 2019. With 124 on charge in April 2026 (111 in service) it is the backbone of the RAF’s front line, and the last British-assembled fighter it will fly before GCAP.
31,390

regular RAF personnel on 1 July 2026, about one for every 38 serving at the peak of July 1944

22,647
aircraft on charge at the Armistice, November 1918
1,185,833
peak strength in people, 1 July 1944
55,469
aircraft on charge, 31 May 1945
9
combat air squadrons, 1 April 2026
323
UK fixed-wing aircraft in service, all three services, April 2026

The Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918 by merging the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. Seven months later it was the largest air force in the world, with 22,647 aircraft, 103 airships, 675 aerodromes and 291,170 officers and other ranks. Within sixteen months nine in ten of those people had gone home, and the service spent the next fifteen years arguing for its own existence.

This page follows the numbers through a century: the collapse after 1918, the rearmament schemes of the 1930s, the wartime peak of 1944, the long Cold War contraction, the sharper cuts after 1990 and the RAF of 2026, which has fewer regulars than at any time since the mid-1930s and only nine combat squadrons. Figures come from the RAF Museum’s chronology, the official histories and the Ministry of Defence’s own statistics. Where definitions change (regulars only, with or without reserves, establishment or actual) we say so.

Born big

November 1918: the largest air force on earth, and then almost nothing

22,647aircraft of all types on charge at the Armisticeof which about 3,300 were first-line
103airships
188operational squadrons133 overseas plus 15 flights, 55 at home; 75 more training squadrons and depots
675aerodromes401 at home, 274 abroad
291,170officers and other ranks27,333 officers
29,730uniformed personnel by 8 March 1920

Source RAF Museum, British Military Aviation in 1918 and 1920

Three women air mechanics in long overalls work on a stripped-down biplane fuselage, a wing with a roundel propped beside it
Air mechanics of the Women’s Royal Air Force at work on a biplane with its fabric peeled back, 1918. The WRAF was formed with the RAF in April 1918; by the Armistice the new service numbered 291,170 people.
  1. A rigger working on the centre-section struts: the fabric has been stripped to expose the wire-braced fuselage
  2. A second mechanic kneels beneath the fuselage; the WRAF trained women as riggers, fitters and drivers
  3. National roundel and a serial beginning ‘D’, a 1917–18 allocation
  4. A detached wing panel propped against the hangar wall
British official photographer (IWM Q 27255), Public domain · source

The day may not be far off when aerial operations … may become the principal operations of war.

Lt-Gen Jan Smuts, report to the War Cabinet, 17 August 1917

Smuts’s report is why the RAF exists: it argued that air power needed an Air Ministry and a service of its own. The peace nearly undid it. Demobilisation took the RAF from 291,170 people to 29,730 in sixteen months. In 1923, alarmed by the French air force, Stanley Baldwin promised a Home Defence force of 52 squadrons (35 bomber, 17 fighter); it was not complete when the next, larger expansion began in 1934.

The curve

People in RAF blue, 1918–2026

Fig. 1

RAF personnel, 1918–2026

people
RAF personnel, 1918–2026
YearRAF personnel
1918291170
192029730
193430381
1939175392
19441185833
19451079835
1952270000
1960163800
1970108800
198191965
199089000
199757000
201044050
202132920
202631390

Definitions vary: wartime figures include the WAAF; post-war figures are regulars only (trained and untrained) and exclude reserves and civilians. The 2026 figure is UK regulars; total strength including reserves was 35,980.

Source RAF Museum timeline (1918, 1920, 1944); Wikipedia compilation of Air Ministry/MoD figures (1934–2021); DASA manning report, 1 April 2010; MoD Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics, 1 July 2026

Fig. 2

People in RAF uniform at six moments

people

= 30,000 people

  1. November 1918
    291,170
  2. September 1939
    175,392
  3. July 1944 (peak)including 174,406 women
    1,185,833
  4. 1952
    270,000
  5. July 1990
    89,000
  6. July 2026
    31,390

Source RAF Museum; MoD; Wikipedia compilation of official figures

WAAF plotters with long rakes around a large map table, with controllers watching from a glazed gallery above
The Operations Room at No. 11 Group, Uxbridge, 1942. By the peak of 1 July 1944 the RAF had 1,185,833 people, 174,406 of them women.
  1. The plotting table: raids were tracked with counters pushed by rake, this edge marked ‘FRIENDLY’
  2. A WAAF plotter with her rake. Women were 15 per cent of the RAF at the 1944 peak
  3. Headsets linked the plotters to the filter room and the Observer Corps
  4. Controllers in the glazed gallery decided which squadrons to scramble
Air Ministry official photographer (IWM CH 7698), Public domain · source
Fig. 3

Since 1952: the long contraction

people
Since 1952: the long contraction
YearRAF regular strength
1952270000
1958210000
1960163800
1962148000
1970108800
197696300
198191965
198993100
199089000
199370000
199757000
200448900
201044050
201836960
202132920
202631390

Approximate and not always like-for-like; treat individual points as ±5 per cent.

Source Wikipedia, Personnel numbers in the Royal Air Force (compiling Air Ministry, MoD and Times figures); DASA, 1 April 2010; MoD QSPS, 1 July 2026

Squadrons and machines

From 188 squadrons to nine

Fig. 4

RAF squadrons at key dates

squadrons
  1. November 1918: operational squadronsplus 15 flights and 75 training squadrons
    188
  2. 1923: Home Defence plan (Salisbury)planned, not achieved until the 1930s
    52
  3. 1934: Scheme A target (by March 1939)front-line squadrons home and overseas, 1,252 aircraft
    111
  4. 1 January 1939: regular squadronsplus 19 Auxiliary Air Force squadrons
    135
  5. 1 April 2026: all flying squadronsincluding 13 conversion and evaluation units and 7 training squadrons
    43
  6. 1 April 2026: combat air squadronsTyphoon and F-35B
    9

Source RAF Museum timeline (1918, 1923, 1934, 1939); MoD, UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2026, table 9

Fig. 5

What the squadrons did: 1939 and 2026 compared

squadrons
  • Fighter and bomber
  • Reconnaissance, ISR and C2
  • Transport and tanker
  • Training and conversion
  • Army co-operation and torpedo
  1. 1 January 1939 (135)
    75%13%12%
  2. 1 April 2026 (43)
    21%19%14%47%

The 1939 count excludes flying training schools, which were not numbered squadrons; the 2026 count includes them.

Source RAF Museum, 1939 (74 bomber, 27 fighter, 17 reconnaissance, 12 army co-operation, 4 torpedo-bomber, 1 communications); MoD Equipment and Formations 2026, table 9

Fig. 6

First-line aircraft, 1938–1945

aircraft
First-line aircraft, 1938–1945
YearRAF first-line aircraft
19381982
19391911
19402913
19414287
19436026
19448339
19458395

Dates: 30 Sept 1938, 3 Sept 1939, 1 Aug 1940, 1 Dec 1941, 1 Mar 1943, 1 Jun 1944, 1 Jan 1945. Establishment strength (initial or unit equipment), not aircraft actually serviceable; from 1940 includes Dominion and Allied squadrons under RAF control. The RAF Museum gives 9,200 first-line aircraft on 31 May 1945.

Source Richards & Saunders, Royal Air Force 1939–1945 (HMSO), vol. I app. XI, vol. II app. IV, vol. III app. V

Fig. 7

Everything on charge: three moments

aircraft

= 2,000 aircraft

  1. November 1918all types, including trainers
    22,647
  2. 31 May 1945of which 9,200 first-line
    55,469
  3. 1 April 2026every crewed fixed-wing and rotary aircraft in all three UK services
    756

Source RAF Museum timeline (1918, 1945); MoD Equipment and Formations 2026, tables 7 and 8 (507 fixed-wing + 249 rotary-wing)

Avro Lancaster bombers flying in loose formation
Lancasters in flight, 26 August 1943. On 31 May 1945 the RAF held 55,469 aircraft of all kinds; 9,200 of them were first-line machines.Air Ministry official photographer (IWM TR 1158), Public domain · source

The Cold War shrink

Sandys, Options for Change and the end of mass

The 1957 Defence White Paper bet on missiles. Duncan Sandys planned to cut Britain’s forces from about 690,000 to 375,000 by 1962, end National Service and cancel the next generation of manned fighters; the RAF lost the supersonic F.155 interceptor and the Avro 730 bomber, and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force lost its flying squadrons. Fighter Command survived, built around the Lightning, which was too far advanced to cancel. The second shock came in 1990: Options for Change set the RAF a ceiling of 75,000 people (from 88,500), and RAF Germany, the service’s largest command abroad, was disbanded on 1 April 1993.

A camouflaged Avro Vulcan delta bomber climbing steeply away over a crowded airfield
A Vulcan B2 climbs out at the Mildenhall Air Fete, 9 June 1984, months after the last bomber squadrons stood down. The V-force carried Britain’s nuclear deterrent until the Royal Navy’s Polaris boats took over in 1969.US Air Force photo by TSgt Jose Lopez Jr, Public domain · source
A grey-green camouflaged RAF Phantom with red and yellow squadron chequers, wheels down on approach
A Phantom FGR2 of No. 92 Squadron on approach to RAF Wildenrath, West Germany, in the 1980s. RAF Germany alone fielded more combat squadrons then than the whole RAF does in 2026; it was disbanded on 1 April 1993.Rob Schleiffert, CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Fig. 8

Combat aircraft: Britain and its peers, 1973–2023

combat aircraft
  • United Kingdom
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
Combat aircraft: Britain and its peers, 1973–2023
YearUnited KingdomFranceGermanyItaly
1973500500460330
1993450630450320
2013230290209220
2023169231214199

FlightGlobal’s 2026 directory, which counts only aircraft in day-to-day use, gives the UK 141 combat aircraft, France 223, Germany 190 and Italy 153.

Source IISS, The Military Balance, as tabulated by the House of Commons Defence Committee, Aviation Procurement: Winging it? (HC 178, September 2023)

Fig. 9

Front-line fighters and fast jets by decade
1918Sopwith Camel, S.E.5a, Sopwith Dolphin, Bristol F.2b, Sopwith SnipeSopwith Snipe5
1920sSnipe, Grebe, Gamecock, Siskin, BulldogBristol Bulldog (1929)5
1930sBulldog, Fury, Demon, Gauntlet, Gladiator, Hurricane, SpitfireSupermarine Spitfire (1938)7
1940sSpitfire, Hurricane, Defiant, Beaufighter, Mosquito, Typhoon, Tempest, Meteor, Vampirede Havilland Vampire (1946)9
1950sMeteor, Vampire, Venom, Sabre, Swift, Hunter, JavelinGloster Javelin (1956)7
1960sHunter, Javelin, LightningEnglish Electric Lightning (1960)3
1970sLightning, Phantom, Harrier, Jaguar, BuccaneerSEPECAT Jaguar (1974)5
1980sLightning (to 1988), Phantom, Harrier, Jaguar, Buccaneer, Tornado GR1 and F3Tornado F3 (1987)6
1990sTornado GR1/GR4 and F3, Harrier GR7, Jaguar, Buccaneer (to 1994), Phantom (to 1992)Harrier GR7 (1990)5
2000sTornado GR4 and F3, Harrier GR7/9, Jaguar (to 2007), TyphoonEurofighter Typhoon (2003)4
2010sTyphoon, Tornado GR4 (to 2019), F-35BF-35B Lightning (2018 in UK)3
2020sTyphoon, F-35BF-35A ordered 20252
Gazetteer compilation from RAF Museum and type histories; counts exclude trainers and maritime patrol.
Fig. 10

Two interceptors, sixty years apart

Lightning F6 (1966)

Typhoon FGR4 (2026)

  • 17 mLength16 m
  • 11 mWingspan11 m
  • 20,752 kgMaximum take-off weight23,500 kg
  • 73 kNThrust per engine, with reheat90 kN
  • 1,367 kmRange2,900 km
  • 2Air-to-air missiles typically carried6

Verdict The Lightning climbed like a rocket and ran out of fuel in about 35 minutes; the Typhoon carries three times the missiles three times as far, and does the work of several of its forebears.

Source Lightning F6 Pilot’s Notes and Operating Data Manual (via Wikipedia); RAF and Eurofighter data (via Wikipedia)

The RAF in 2026

Every aircraft on the books, 1 April 2026

Fig. 11

The 2026 fleet, type by type

aircraft

= 5 aircraft

  1. Typhoon111 in service
    124
  2. Tutor (elementary trainer)
    91
  3. Viking (cadet glider)
    81
  4. Hawk T1 and T2T1s mostly fly with the Red Arrows
    52
  5. F-35B Lightningjoint RAF and Royal Navy fleet
    47
  6. Chinook36 in the forward fleet
    45
  7. Prefect
    23
  8. A400M Atlas
    22
  9. Voyager
    14
  10. Texan
    14
  11. Poseidon P-8A
    9
  12. C-17 Globemaster
    8

The Viking glider is a Grob G103; the Slingsby icon stands in for the RAF’s glider fleet in general.

Source MoD, UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2026, tables 7 and 8 (total fleet at 1 April 2026)

Fig. 12

The fleet register, 1 April 2026
TyphoonMulti-role fighter111124137-13
F-35B LightningStealth strike fighter (joint)47472621
A400M AtlasTactical airlifter2222202
C-17 GlobemasterStrategic airlifter8880
VoyagerTanker and transport1414140
Hercules C-130JTactical airlifter (retired 2023)0013-13
Poseidon P-8AMaritime patrol9990
Airseeker (RC-135W)Signals intelligence3330
Shadow R1Surveillance5880
Envoy IVCommand support2202
Hawk T2Advanced jet trainer2828280
Hawk T1/T1ARed Arrows and support182467-43
Texan T1Basic trainer (contract)—14140
Prefect T1Elementary trainer (contract)—23230
Phenom T1Multi-engine trainer (contract)—550
Tutor T1Air experience (contract)—91910
Viking T1Cadet glider5481810
ChinookHeavy-lift helicopter364559-14
Puma HC2Support helicopter (retired March 2025)0017-17
Juno HT1 / Jupiter HT1Helicopter trainers (contract, tri-service)—36360
Protector RG1Armed long-endurance drone916——
ReaperArmed drone (retired 2025)0010-10
MoD, UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2026, tables 7 and 8. ‘In service’ for fixed-wing aircraft means in active fleet management (can include storage); contractor-operated trainers have no in-service figure. The first E-7 Wedgetail (WT001) arrived at Lossiemouth on 21 May 2026 for testing and is not yet counted; three are on order. Twelve F-35As were ordered in June 2025 for the NATO nuclear mission.

Source MoD Equipment and Formations 2026

Fig. 13

What the UK’s 507 fixed-wing aircraft are for

aircraft
  • 53% Training, gliding and air experience 270
  • 34% Combat (Typhoon, F-35B) 171
  • 9% Transport and tankers 44
  • 4% Surveillance and intelligence 22

Source MoD Equipment and Formations 2026, table 7 (total fleet, all three services; Avenger is Royal Navy)

An Airbus Voyager tanker above a cloud sheet with a Typhoon on its hose and three more Typhoons nearby
A Voyager refuels Typhoons over England during Ramstein Flag 25, 9 April 2025. Fourteen Voyagers provide all of the RAF’s air-to-air refuelling; the fleet has not grown since the last was delivered in 2016.
  1. Voyager: an Airbus A330 MRTT, leased through the AirTanker private finance deal until 2035
  2. A Typhoon plugged into the port wing hose-and-drogue pod
  3. Two more Typhoons waiting their turn
US Air Force photo by TSgt Jesenia Landaverde, Public domain · source
A dark grey F-35B with a lightning-bolt fin badge, gear down, flying low over a pine forest
F-35B ZM180 of No. 617 Squadron, the Dambusters, landing at Pirkkala, Finland, during Ramstein Flag 26, 16 June 2026. The UK held 47 Lightnings on 1 April 2026, flown jointly by RAF and Royal Navy pilots.US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Sierra Casteel, Public domain · source
Fig. 14

A century in eighteen dates

  1. RAF formed from the RFC and RNAS

  2. Armistice: 22,647 aircraft, 291,170 people

    22,647

  3. Churchill and Trenchard’s White Paper sets out a small, permanent RAF

  4. Baldwin announces a 52-squadron Home Defence force

    52

  5. Expansion Scheme A: 111 squadrons by 1939

    111

  6. Fighter, Bomber, Coastal and Training Commands formed

  7. War: 1,911 first-line aircraft

    1,911

  8. Peak strength: 1,185,833 people

    1,185,833

  9. 55,469 aircraft on charge

    55,469

  10. Sandys White Paper: missiles over manned fighters

  11. Bomber and Fighter Commands merge into Strike Command

  12. The Lightning retires

  13. RAF Germany disbanded

  14. Harrier retired and Nimrod MRA4 cancelled in the defence review

  15. First UK F-35Bs arrive at Marham, in the RAF’s centenary year

  16. Tornado retires after 37 years

  17. Puma HC2 and Tranche 1 Typhoons retire

  18. First E-7 Wedgetail lands at Lossiemouth

Source RAF Museum timeline; MoD; Commons Library

The line-up

A century of RAF front-line types, at one scale

Fig. 15

A century of RAF types, to scale

drawn to one scale
  1. S.E.5a (1917), side view S.E.5a (1917) 6.4 m
  2. Hurricane I (1937), side view Hurricane I (1937) 9.6 m
  3. Spitfire I (1938), side view Spitfire I (1938) 9.5 m
  4. Lancaster (1942), side view Lancaster (1942) 21.1 m
  5. Meteor F8 (1950), side view Meteor F8 (1950) 13.6 m
  6. Canberra B2 (1951), side view Canberra B2 (1951) 20.0 m
  7. Hunter F6 (1956), side view Hunter F6 (1956) 14.0 m
  8. Vulcan B2 (1960), side view Vulcan B2 (1960) 30.5 m
  9. Lightning F6 (1966), side view Lightning F6 (1966) 16.8 m
  10. Harrier (1969), side view Harrier (1969) 14.3 m · GR7 dimensions
  11. Jaguar GR1 (1974), side view Jaguar GR1 (1974) 16.8 m
  12. Nimrod MR2 (1979), side view Nimrod MR2 (1979) 39.3 m
  13. Sopwith Camel, side view Sopwith Camel 5.7 m
  14. Bristol Fighter, side view Bristol Fighter 7.9 m
  15. Hawker Hind, side view Hawker Hind 9.0 m
  16. Gloster Gladiator, side view Gloster Gladiator 8.4 m
  17. Vickers Wellington, side view Vickers Wellington 19.7 m
  18. Handley Page Halifax, side view Handley Page Halifax 21.8 m
  19. Short Sunderland, side view Short Sunderland 26.0 m
  20. Avro York, side view Avro York 23.9 m
  21. Vickers Valiant, side view Vickers Valiant 33.0 m
  22. BAE Hawk T.1A, side view BAE Hawk T.1A 11.2 m
  23. Hercules C.3, side view Hercules C.3 34.4 m
  24. Vickers VC10, side view Vickers VC10 48.4 m
  25. Chinook HC.6A, side view Chinook HC.6A 15.5 m
  26. Puma HC.1, side view Puma HC.1 18.2 m
Fig. 16

Bombers to fast jets, parked together

live 3D, true scale
  • Nimrod MR2 39.3 m long, 35.0 m span
  • Vulcan B2 30.5 m long, 33.8 m span
  • Lancaster 21.1 m long, 31.1 m span
  • Tornado GR4 16.7 m long, 13.9 m span
  • Lightning F6 16.8 m long, 10.6 m span
  • Harrier GR7 14.3 m long, 7.7 m span
  • Spitfire I 9.5 m long, 11.2 m span
  • Sopwith Camel 5.7 m long, 8.5 m span
  • Vickers Wellington 19.7 m long, 26.3 m span
  • Vickers Valiant 33.0 m long, 34.9 m span
  • BAE Hawk T.1A 11.2 m long, 9.4 m span
  • Chinook HC.6A 15.5 m long, 18.3 m rotor
Fig. 17

Where to see a century of the RAF in Britain

in British museums

Sources

  1. RAF Museum, History of aviation timeline: British Military Aviation 1918–2000
  2. Richards, D., Royal Air Force 1939–1945 vol. I (HMSO, 1953), appendix: first-line strength
  3. Richards & Saunders, Royal Air Force 1939–1945 vol. II, appendix IV
  4. Saunders, Royal Air Force 1939–1945 vol. III, appendix V
  5. Ministry of Defence, UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2026 (20 August 2026)
  6. Ministry of Defence, Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics, 1 July 2026
  7. DASA, Monthly manning report, April 2010
  8. Wikipedia, Personnel numbers in the Royal Air Force
  9. House of Commons Library, UK defence in 2025: aircraft fleets (CBP-10239)
  10. House of Commons Defence Committee, Aviation Procurement: Winging it? (HC 178, 2023), as reported by UK Defence Journal
  11. FlightGlobal, World Air Forces 2026 directory (Cirium data)
  12. Gibbs, N. H., ‘Behind Britain’s New Defense Policy’, Air Force Magazine, June 1957
  13. UK Government, UK to purchase F-35As and join NATO nuclear mission (25 June 2025)
  14. Boeing UK, First Wedgetail aircraft arrives at RAF Lossiemouth (May 2026)
  15. Wikipedia, English Electric Lightning and Eurofighter Typhoon (specifications)

Photographs

  • A Typhoon FGR4 banks over RAF Fairford at the Royal International Air Tattoo, 20 — US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jennifer Zima, Public domain · source
  • Air mechanics of the Women’s Royal Air Force at work on a biplane with its fabri — British official photographer (IWM Q 27255), Public domain · source
  • The Operations Room at No. 11 Group, Uxbridge, 1942. By the peak of 1 July 1944 — Air Ministry official photographer (IWM CH 7698), Public domain · source
  • Lancasters in flight, 26 August 1943. On 31 May 1945 the RAF held 55,469 aircraf — Air Ministry official photographer (IWM TR 1158), Public domain · source
  • A Vulcan B2 climbs out at the Mildenhall Air Fete, 9 June 1984, months after the — US Air Force photo by TSgt Jose Lopez Jr, Public domain · source
  • A Phantom FGR2 of No. 92 Squadron on approach to RAF Wildenrath, West Germany, i — Rob Schleiffert, CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
  • A Voyager refuels Typhoons over England during Ramstein Flag 25, 9 April 2025. F — US Air Force photo by TSgt Jesenia Landaverde, Public domain · source
  • F-35B ZM180 of No. 617 Squadron, the Dambusters, landing at Pirkkala, Finland, d — US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Sierra Casteel, 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.