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Force Rankings

Air Forces

162 air forces ranked by the AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength), with 57,714 military aircraft in service worldwide as of 2026. The United States (index 100.0, 12,899 aircraft) leads, ahead of China (index 74.0, 6,014 aircraft) and Russia (index 51.7, 5,312 aircraft).

World Air Forces Inventories

How the index works โ†’
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
1 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States Air Force 100.0 12,899 -144 3,002
2 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ People's Liberation Army Air Force 74.0 6,014 +2,601 3,042
3 ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russian Air Force 51.7 5,312 +1,022 1,480
4 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Indian Air Force 35.4 2,338 +40 588
5 ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan Air Self-Defense Force 28.7 1,299 -144 344
6 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท Republic of Korea Air Force 28.2 1,566 +17 374
7 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Royal Saudi Air Force 27.3 916 -1 384
8 ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท French Air and Space Force 26.8 990 +14 274
9 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Israeli Air Force 24.8 594 +76 336
10 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Turkish Air Force 23.9 1,327 +229 292
11 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช German Air Force 23.3 686 +101 225
12 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ Republic of China Air Force 22.9 728 -42 319
13 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง Royal Air Force 22.9 682 +31 158
14 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Italian Air Force 22.6 779 +53 180
15 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egyptian Air Force 21.4 1,146 +53 555

Situation Report

Latest inventory updates Updated daily
  1. SEP 282026 2ร— Hurkus B Delivered ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Turkey ยท First two HรผrkuลŸ-II basic trainers handed over at TUSAลž Kahramankazan; 10 more due by end-2026, all 55 by 2028.
  2. SEP 252026 C-390 Delivered ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Uzbekistan ยท First C-390 Millennium handed over at Gaviรฃo Peixoto; Uzbekistan becomes the type's first Central Asian operator.
  3. SEP 242026 2ร— Su-57 Delivered ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia ยท Second Su-57 batch of 2026 handed over at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur plant; two aircraft in an updated configuration.
  4. SEP 242026 22ร— Tiger Retired ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia ยท Final Tiger ARH flights at Darwin end 22 years of Army service; fleet withdrawn on 30 September, replaced by AH-64E Apache.
  5. SEP 242026 14ร— T-5 Delivered ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ Taiwan ยท Last two T-5s delivered to the Air Force Academy at Gangshan, completing the 66-aircraft order; 14 delivered in 2026.
All 1,408 air force events โ†’
Top aircraft in active service in the world

World Air Forces Inventories (continued)

# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
16 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Pakistan Air Force 20.9 1,513 +121 465
17 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช United Arab Emirates Air Force 20.2 626 +91 175
18 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ท Hellenic Air Force 19.2 732 +116 215
19 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Royal Australian Air Force 18.5 374 +47 96
20 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spanish Air and Space Force 18.4 518 +39 179
21 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algerian Air Force 17.8 682 +80 171
22 ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar Emiri Air Force 15.3 283 +32 126
23 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ต Korean People's Army Air Force 14.4 1,179 +45 571
24 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazilian Air Force 14.2 562 +34 146
25 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Polish Air Force 14.0 483 +1 69
26 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Royal Canadian Air Force 13.9 386 +35 92
27 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Republic of Singapore Air Force 13.7 231 +1 100
28 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Ukraine Air Force 13.7 343 +2 142
29 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesian Air Force 13.7 477 +31 68
30 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force 12.5 603 +52 250
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
31 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Royal Netherlands Air Force 12.4 159 +39 52
32 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Swedish Air Force 12.2 180 +12 96
33 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ผ Kuwait Air Force 11.8 164 +8 82
34 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Royal Norwegian Air Force 11.8 111 +14 52
35 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Royal Thai Air Force 11.5 518 +21 84
36 ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finnish Air Force 11.1 169 +6 71
37 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Chilean Air Force 10.3 284 +7 81
38 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraqi Air Force 10.3 399 +8 53
39 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgian Air Force 9.7 109 +1 64
40 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Royal Moroccan Air Force 9.5 309 +49 92
41 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombian Air Force 9.4 430 -4 43
42 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Myanmar/ Burma Air Force 9.0 335 +20 133
43 ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Royal Jordanian Air Force 9.0 253 +7 69
44 ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Vietnam People's Air Force 9.0 207 -39 70
45 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Royal Danish Air Force 8.9 88 -40 21
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
46 ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Romanian Air Force 8.8 199 +57 64
47 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Kazakh Air Defense Forces 8.7 172 -26 54
48 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡พ Air Force and Air Defence Forces of the Republic of Belarus 8.6 199 +15 104
49 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Royal Malaysian Air Force 8.5 164 +30 25
50 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexican Air Force 8.1 434 +1 4
51 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Swiss Air Force 8.1 149 +3 49
52 ๐Ÿ‡ด๐Ÿ‡ฒ Royal Air Force of Oman 7.9 128 +34 35
53 ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช Venezuelan Air Force 7.7 226 -2 54
54 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Peruvian Air Force 7.6 234 -19 27
55 ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South African Air Force 7.4 194 +55 25
56 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ญ Royal Bahraini Air Force 7.4 140 +8 48
57 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ Philippine Air Force 7.1 261 +70 17
58 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Azerbaijani Air Force 6.9 211 +57 39
59 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด National Air Force of Angola 6.7 280 -19 87
60 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Uzbekistan Air and Air Defence Forces 6.7 170 -21 50
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
61 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentine Air Force 6.7 246 +8 6
62 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portuguese Air Force 6.6 102 +23 33
63 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Air Force 6.4 115 +16 14
64 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ Bangladesh Air Force 6.2 218 +3 79
65 ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡บ Hungarian Air Force 6.1 76 +7 17
66 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฌ Bulgarian Air Force 6.1 79 +8 27
67 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Sudanese Air Force 5.9 192 +27 99
68 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigerian Air Force 5.8 180 +17 36
69 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austrian Air Force 5.7 89 +4 15
70 ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Serbian Air Force and Air Defence 5.7 149 +39 31
71 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฒ Turkmen Air Force 5.6 95 +4 54
72 ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatian Air Force and Air Defense 5.4 85 +18 12
73 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น Ethiopian Air Force 5.4 110 +7 34
74 ๐Ÿ‡พ๐Ÿ‡ช Yemeni Air Force 5.4 134 -34 69
75 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Slovak Air Force 5.4 48 +2 14
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
76 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuadorian Air Force 5.3 103 0 17
77 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ช Kenya Air Force 4.8 158 +4 23
78 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisian Air Force 4.5 176 +8 13
79 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Armenian Air Force 4.1 62 -9 18
80 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Sri Lanka Air Force 4.0 87 +3 17
81 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡พ Libyan Air Force 3.7 74 -14 20
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‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ Air Force of Zimbabwe 3.4 95 -9 21
86 ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ณ Honduran Air Force 3.4 49 -8 17
87 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ Botswanan Air Force 3.3 46 +1 15
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‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Air Force of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 3.2 57 +3 5
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
91 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ Panamanian National Aeronaval Service 3.2 39 +1 0
92 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ Tanzania Air Force Command 3.1 39 -2 17
93 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ด Dominican Air Force 3.1 80 +1 8
94 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Paraguayan Air Force 3.0 52 +5 4
95 ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Irish Air Corps 2.9 26 0 0
96 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguayan Air Force 2.8 40 -3 6
97 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡น Guatemalan Air Force 2.8 36 0 3
98 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Mali Air Force 2.7 44 +1 12
99 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ Burkina Faso Air Force 2.7 33 +8 3
100 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ช Nigerien Air Force 2.7 37 +13 2
101 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Cameroonian Air Force 2.7 35 0 6
102 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช Georgian Air Force 2.6 55 -3 7
103 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Slovenian Air Force and Air Defence 2.6 41 +2 0
104 ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Jamaica Defence Force 2.6 18 0 0
105 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ถ Equatorial Guinea Air Force 2.4 26 +6 4
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
106 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต Nepalese Army Air Service 2.4 20 +5 0
107 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ป Air Force of El Salvador 2.4 45 -7 6
108 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Namibian Air Force 2.4 35 +1 22
109 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ญ Royal Cambodian Air Force 2.3 24 0 0
110 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gabonese Air Force 2.3 25 +1 6
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‡จ๐Ÿ‡พ Air Command of Cyprus 2.1 19 +12 0
116 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ท Eritrean Air Force 2.1 20 +1 2
117 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegalese Air Force 2.1 27 -13 0
118 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฏ Djibouti Air Force 2.1 17 0 0
119 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force 2.0 32 -1 4
120 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Ivorian Air Force 2.0 19 0 0
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
121 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡พ Guyana Defence Force Air Command 2.0 12 +8 0
122 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ณ Royal Brunei Air Force 2.0 31 +5 0
123 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghanaian Air Force 2.0 19 0 4
124 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Mozambique Air Force 1.8 22 +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‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡น Air Wing of the Armed Forces of Malta 1.7 7 -2 0
128 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ผ Malawian Air Force 1.7 12 +2 0
129 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡บ Cuban Revolutionary Air Force 1.6 20 -11 0
130 ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ธ Lesotho Defence Force โ€“ Air Squadron 1.6 9 0 0
131 ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Air Force of the Republic of Congo 1.6 14 0 2
132 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ Beninese Air Force 1.5 12 +7 0
133 ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Nicaraguan Army Air Force 1.5 17 0 0
134 ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผ Rwandan Air Force 1.5 21 0 0
135 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Albanian Air Force 1.5 22 +3 0
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
136 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฌ Togolese Air Force 1.5 19 +1 5
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‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Moldovan Air Force 1.2 3 +2 0
143 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Malagasy Air Force 1.2 5 +1 0
144 ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Kyrgyz Air Force 1.1 8 +1 0
145 ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฌ Papua New Guinea Air Wing 1.1 3 0 0
146 ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡พ Syrian Arab Air Force 1.1 11 -403 2
147 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฎ Burundian Air Force 1.0 13 +1 0
148 ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ช Estonian Air Force 1.0 2 0 0
148 ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Air Force of North Macedonia 1.0 16 -4 0
148 ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡น Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Air Guard 1.0 2 0 0
# Country AIRS Index (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) All aircraft ฮ” YoY Combat
151 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ธ Royal Bahamas Defence Force Air Wing 0.9 2 0 0
152 ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Antigua andย Barbuda Air Force 0.9 2 +1 0
153 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฟ Belize Defence Force Air Wing 0.9 3 0 0
154 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.8 9 -13 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‡ง๐Ÿ‡น Bhutanese Air Force 0.3 2 0 0
162 ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Gambian Air Force 0.0 0 0 0

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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 161 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.