Air Forces comparison: United Arab Emirates vs Iran

United Arab Emirates operates 625 active military aircraft vs 666 for Iran.

AIRS (Air Inventory Rating of Strength) Index face-off Full ranking →

United Arab EmiratesWorld #19 18.5

AIRS Index / 100

United Arab Emirates leads on 4 of 6 categories

IranWorld #30 12.8

175 Combat aircraftweight ×50 · generation 255
250 Helicoptersweight ×10 · era 168
58 Transportweight ×10 94
8 Special missionweight ×8 6
44 UAVsweight ×10 23
90 Trainersweight ×1 120

United Arab Emirates Iran Bars: weighted contribution to the AIRS Index (airframes × category weight; combat and bombers by generation tier, helicopters by era; the enabler, armament and availability multipliers apply on top) · figures: active airframes at each side's latest inventory year · Methodology

Key figures as of 2026

	United Arab Emirates	Iran	Ratio
Official name	United Arab Emirates Air Force	Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
Active aircraft	625	666	🇮🇷 1.1×
Aircraft on order	170	0	🇦🇪
Combat aircraft	175	255	🇮🇷 1.5×
Combat share of fleet	28.0 %	38.3 %	🇮🇷 1.4×
Aircraft types in service	38	39	🇮🇷 ≈
Main supplier	United States · 57 %	United States · 53 %

Show full breakdown · 5 more rowsHide the 5 extra rows

Helicopters	250	168	🇦🇪 1.5×
Transport aircraft	58	94	🇮🇷 1.6×
Special-mission aircraft	8	6	🇦🇪 1.3×
Trainers	90	120	🇮🇷 1.3×
UAVs	44	23	🇦🇪 1.9×