GlobalMilitary.net Open-source military intelligence Updated daily
Force Rankings

Air Forces

161 air forces ranked by the AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength), with 58,078 military aircraft in service worldwide as of 2026. The United States (index 100.0, 12,891 aircraft) leads, ahead of China (index 71.9, 5,662 aircraft) and Russia (index 51.6, 5,312 aircraft).

The top 10 air forces

How the index works โ†’

The ten highest-rated air forces fly 32,404 military aircraft, 56% of the world total, including 9,846 combat aircraft. 7 of them operate fifth-generation fighters; the most common combat type across the group is the F-16 Fighting Falcon (1,134 in service).

# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
1 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States Air Force 100.0 12,891 -123 3,002
2 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ People's Liberation Army Air Force 71.9 5,662 +2,269 2,842
3 ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russian Air Force 51.6 5,312 +1,022 1,482
4 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Indian Air Force 35.4 2,353 +55 588
5 ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan Air Self-Defense Force 28.6 1,301 -142 344
6 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท Republic of Korea Air Force 27.9 1,576 +28 387
7 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Royal Saudi Air Force 27.3 916 -1 384
8 ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท French Air and Space Force 26.4 992 +16 274
9 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Israeli Air Force 24.9 600 +82 346
10 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Italian Air Force 23.5 801 +75 197

Situation Report

Latest inventory updates Updated daily
  1. OCT 122026 MFI-15 Safari Crash ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Pakistan ยท Crashed near Nawan Killi, Quetta, Balochistan; both pilots killed, the military said, citing a technical fault.
  2. OCT 82026 E-7A Wedgetail Delivered ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง United Kingdom ยท Second RAF E-7 Wedgetail WT002 arrives at RAF Lossiemouth from Boscombe Down trials, joining WT001 for test and evaluation.
  3. OCT 82026 V-22 Osprey Damaged ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States ยท Hard landing followed by a fuel fire in Bladen Lakes State Forest, North Carolina, during training; one of four Marines flown to a burn center, damage extent not released.
  4. OCT 72026 2ร— Su-34 Fullback Delivered ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia ยท Second Su-34 batch of 2026 handed over by UAC to the Russian Defence Ministry; number undisclosed, about two aircraft estimated.
  5. OCT 52026 ATR 42 Crash ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigeria ยท Crashed near Igbokoda, Ondo State, on a routine Benin City-Lagos flight; all 25 on board killed, the Air Force said.
All 1,432 air force events โ†’
Top aircraft in active service in the world

Ranks 11 to 25

The air forces ranked 11 to 25 fly 11,377 military aircraft, 20% of the world total, including 3,750 combat aircraft. 5 of them operate fifth-generation fighters; the most common combat type across the group is the F-16 Fighting Falcon (744 in service).

# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
11 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Turkish Air Force 23.4 1,321 +223 283
12 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช German Air Force 23.3 706 +121 225
13 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง Royal Air Force 23.2 712 +61 158
14 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ Republic of China Air Force 22.5 730 -40 321
15 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egyptian Air Force 21.8 1,055 -35 572
16 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Pakistan Air Force 21.3 1,542 +170 485
17 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ท Hellenic Air Force 19.0 756 +140 214
18 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช United Arab Emirates Air Force 18.5 625 +90 175
19 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Royal Australian Air Force 18.5 367 +40 96
20 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spanish Air and Space Force 18.4 524 +45 178
21 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algerian Air Force 17.9 686 +84 173
22 ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar Emiri Air Force 15.2 283 +32 126
23 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Polish Air Force 14.7 497 +15 78
24 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Royal Canadian Air Force 14.6 394 +43 95
25 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ต Korean People's Army Air Force 14.4 1,179 +45 571

Ranks 26 to 50

The air forces ranked 26 to 50 fly 7,506 military aircraft, 13% of the world total, including 2,095 combat aircraft. 6 of them operate fifth-generation fighters; the most common combat type across the group is the F-16 Fighting Falcon (468 in service).

# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
26 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesian Air Force 14.2 501 +67 68
27 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Ukraine Air Force 13.8 368 +27 139
28 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazilian Air Force 13.7 558 +30 146
29 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Republic of Singapore Air Force 13.6 234 +4 103
30 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force 12.8 666 +115 255
31 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Swedish Air Force 12.7 184 +16 96
32 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Royal Netherlands Air Force 12.4 159 +39 52
33 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Royal Thai Air Force 12.3 534 +38 84
34 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ผ Kuwait Air Force 11.8 164 +8 82
35 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Royal Norwegian Air Force 11.8 111 +14 52
36 ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finnish Air Force 11.2 179 +16 71
37 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgian Air Force 10.9 114 +6 67
38 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Chilean Air Force 10.6 283 +6 81
39 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraqi Air Force 10.2 393 +2 53
40 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Royal Moroccan Air Force 9.9 335 +75 89
41 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Kazakh Air Defense Forces 9.7 218 +20 65
42 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Myanmar/ Burma Air Force 9.5 379 +65 151
43 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Royal Danish Air Force 9.4 94 -34 27
44 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombian Air Force 9.3 459 +29 40
45 ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Romanian Air Force 9.2 202 +60 64
46 ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Vietnam People's Air Force 9.0 216 -30 70
47 ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Royal Jordanian Air Force 8.9 263 +17 72
48 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡พ Air Force and Air Defence Forces of the Republic of Belarus 8.7 199 +15 104
49 ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช Venezuelan Air Force 8.7 227 +5 57
50 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexican Air Force 8.4 466 +43 7

Ranks 51 to 100

The air forces ranked 51 to 100 fly 5,763 military aircraft, 10% of the world total, including 1,216 combat aircraft. None operates a fifth-generation fighter; the most common combat type across the group is the MiG-29 Fulcrum (143 in service).

# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
51 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Royal Malaysian Air Force 8.4 161 +27 25
52 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Swiss Air Force 8.0 147 +1 49
53 ๐Ÿ‡ด๐Ÿ‡ฒ Royal Air Force of Oman 7.9 128 +34 35
54 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces 7.8 239 +48 71
55 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Peruvian Air Force 7.7 261 +9 19
56 ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South African Air Force 7.4 192 +53 25
57 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ญ Royal Bahraini Air Force 7.4 140 +8 48
58 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portuguese Air Force 7.3 102 +23 33
59 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ Philippine Air Force 7.2 268 +77 17
60 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentine Air Force 7.1 251 +13 12
61 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Azerbaijani Air Force 6.9 213 +59 39
62 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด National Air Force of Angola 6.7 280 -19 87
63 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Air Force 6.4 105 +13 14
64 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ Bangladesh Air Force 6.2 226 +21 69
65 ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡บ Hungarian Air Force 6.1 73 +4 17
66 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Sudanese Air Force 6.1 219 +54 100
67 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฌ Bulgarian Air Force 6.1 79 +8 27
68 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuadorian Air Force 5.9 156 +54 17
69 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigerian Air Force 5.9 189 +26 34
70 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austrian Air Force 5.7 89 +4 15
71 ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Serbian Air Force and Air Defence 5.7 144 +34 31
72 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฒ Turkmen Air Force 5.6 98 +7 54
73 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น Ethiopian Air Force 5.5 117 +14 34
74 ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatian Air Force and Air Defense 5.4 85 +24 12
75 ๐Ÿ‡พ๐Ÿ‡ช Yemeni Air Force 5.4 134 -34 69
76 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Slovak Air Force 5.3 48 +2 14
77 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ช Kenya Air Force 4.8 159 +5 23
78 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡พ Libyan Air Force 4.7 123 +35 23
79 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisian Air Force 4.5 174 +6 13
80 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Armenian Air Force 4.1 62 -9 18
81 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Sri Lanka Air Force 4.0 87 +4 16
82 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ด Bolivian Air Force 3.6 69 +6 4
83 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Uganda Air Force 3.5 51 0 6
84 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฉ Chadian Air Force 3.4 47 +10 9
85 ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ณ Honduran Air Force 3.4 53 -4 17
86 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ Botswanan Air Force 3.4 47 +2 15
87 ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ Air Force of Zimbabwe 3.4 83 -21 21
88 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Royal New Zealand Air Force 3.3 44 +2 0
89 ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Zambian Air Force 3.3 83 +6 15
90 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ Panamanian National Aeronaval Service 3.2 38 +1 0
91 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Air Force of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 3.2 57 +3 5
92 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ Tanzania Air Force Command 3.1 40 -1 17
93 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Paraguayan Air Force 3.1 60 +13 6
94 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ด Dominican Air Force 3.1 72 -5 8
95 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Mali Air Force 3.1 66 +23 12
96 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช Georgian Air Force 3.0 63 +5 11
97 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Irish Air Corps 2.9 26 0 0
98 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡น Guatemalan Air Force 2.8 36 0 3
99 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguayan Air Force 2.8 41 -2 5
100 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ช Nigerien Air Force 2.7 38 +14 2

Ranks 101 to 161

The air forces ranked 101 to 161 fly 1,028 military aircraft, 2% of the world total, including 90 combat aircraft. None operates a fifth-generation fighter; the most common combat type across the group is the JL-8 (19 in service).

# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
101 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ Burkina Faso Air Force 2.6 32 +7 3
102 ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Jamaica Defence Force 2.6 19 +1 0
103 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Cameroonian Air Force 2.6 34 -1 6
104 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Slovenian Air Force and Air Defence 2.6 41 +2 0
105 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ถ Equatorial Guinea Air Force 2.5 27 +7 4
106 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต Nepalese Army Air Service 2.4 20 +5 0
107 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ป Air Force of El Salvador 2.4 49 -3 6
108 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gabonese Air Force 2.4 26 +2 6
109 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Namibian Air Force 2.4 35 +1 22
110 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ญ Royal Cambodian Air Force 2.3 29 +5 0
111 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ซ Afghan Air Force 2.3 34 +5 1
112 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ท Mauritania Islamic Air Force 2.2 23 -1 4
113 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ง Lebanese Air Force 2.2 67 +1 5
114 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ณ Mongolian Air Force 2.2 15 0 6
115 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ณ Royal Brunei Air Force 2.2 33 +7 0
116 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡พ Air Command of Cyprus 2.2 21 +14 0
117 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegalese Air Force 2.1 28 -12 0
118 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Ivorian Air Force 2.1 21 +2 0
119 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ท Eritrean Air Force 2.1 20 +1 2
120 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force 2.0 32 -1 4
121 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡พ Guyana Defence Force Air Command 2.0 12 +8 0
122 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghanaian Air Force 1.9 19 0 4
123 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฏ Djibouti Air Force 1.9 15 -2 0
124 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Mozambique Air Force 1.8 21 +1 8
125 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡น Lithuanian Air Force 1.8 11 +2 0
126 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ธ South Sudan Air Force 1.8 20 0 0
127 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Albanian Air Force 1.8 24 +5 0
128 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡น Air Wing of the Armed Forces of Malta 1.7 8 -1 0
129 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ Beninese Air Force 1.7 14 +9 0
130 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฌ Togolese Air Force 1.7 21 +3 5
131 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ผ Malawian Air Force 1.7 12 +2 0
132 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡บ Cuban Revolutionary Air Force 1.6 20 -11 0
133 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ธ Lesotho Defence Force โ€“ Air Squadron 1.6 9 0 0
134 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Air Force of the Republic of Congo 1.6 14 0 2
135 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Nicaraguan Army Air Force 1.5 17 0 0
136 ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ Rwandan Air Force 1.5 21 0 0
137 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ป Latvian Air Force 1.5 7 +1 0
138 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ช Montenegrin Air Force 1.4 11 0 0
139 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฏ Tajik Air Force 1.3 26 +1 0
140 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡จ Seychelles People's Defence Force Air Wing 1.2 4 +2 0
141 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ป MNDF Air Corps 1.2 6 +2 0
142 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฌ Papua New Guinea Air Wing 1.2 4 +1 0
143 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Moldovan Air Force 1.2 3 +2 0
144 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Malagasy Air Force 1.2 5 +1 0
145 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Kyrgyz Air Force 1.1 7 0 0
146 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡พ Syrian Arab Air Force 1.1 11 -385 2
147 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฟ Belize Defence Force Air Wing 1.1 4 +1 0
148 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฎ Burundian Air Force 1.1 14 +2 0
149 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Air Force of North Macedonia 1.0 16 -4 0
150 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ช Estonian Air Force 1.0 2 0 0
150 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡น Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Air Guard 1.0 2 0 0
152 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ธ Royal Bahamas Defence Force Air Wing 0.9 2 0 0
153 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Antigua andย Barbuda Air Force 0.9 2 +1 0
154 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.8 13 -9 0
155 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ณ Guinean Air Force 0.7 7 0 0
156 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡บ Luxembourg Army Aviation 0.7 1 0 0
157 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ Central African Republic Air Force 0.6 8 +2 0
158 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Military of Eswatini Air Wing 0.4 5 0 0
159 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ท Surinamese Air Force 0.4 3 0 0
160 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Sierra Leone Defence Force Air Force 0.3 1 0 0
161 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Gambian Air Force 0.0 0 0 0

Build Your Own Ranking

Published weights โ†’
Re-weight the AIRS Index Custom weighting

Every weight of the index is a control below, set to its published value. Move one and the 160 air forces are re-scored on the same inventory; the ฮ” column shows who moves against the published ranking. Your weighting lives in the page address โ€” copy it to share โ€” and is never the GlobalMilitary.net ranking.

Generation tiers
Weight per aircraft
Multipliers
# Air force Your score ฮ” Quality Enablers Armament Availability

Approximations: the tiers of one group move together, in proportion to their published values; the helicopter era factor and the drone price factor are fixed at their published values; the enabler coverage targets (one tanker per 25 combat aircraft, one AEW per 40) and the availability bounds ($1.1M and $17.5M of PPP budget per point of the fleet) stay fixed; the order book is valued at the published weights. Everything else is the exact calculation of the methodology.