Air Forces comparison: Canada vs United Kingdom

Canada operates 360 active military aircraft vs 673 for United Kingdom.

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

CanadaWorld #24 14.3

AIRS Index / 100

United Kingdom leads on 5 of 6 categories

United KingdomWorld #14 22.6

92 Combat aircraftweight ×50 · generation 151
146 Helicoptersweight ×10 · era 259
46 Transportweight ×10 49
31 Special missionweight ×8 25
5 UAVsweight ×10 19
40 Trainersweight ×1 170

Canada United Kingdom 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

	Canada	United Kingdom	Ratio
Official name	Royal Canadian Air Force	Royal Air Force
Active aircraft	360	673	🇬🇧 1.9×
Aircraft on order	204	49	🇨🇦 4.2×
Combat aircraft	92	151	🇬🇧 1.6×
Combat share of fleet	25.6 %	22.4 %	🇨🇦 1.1×
Aircraft types in service	20	24	🇬🇧 1.2×
Main supplier	United States · 86 %	United States · 28 %

Show full breakdown · 5 more rowsHide the 5 extra rows

Helicopters	146	259	🇬🇧 1.8×
Transport aircraft	46	49	🇬🇧 1.1×
Special-mission aircraft	31	25	🇨🇦 1.2×
Trainers	40	170	🇬🇧 4.2×
UAVs	5	19	🇬🇧 3.8×