Air Forces comparison: Spain vs United Kingdom

Spain operates 509 active military aircraft vs 673 for United Kingdom.

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

SpainWorld #20 18.5

AIRS Index / 100

United Kingdom leads on 5 of 6 categories

United KingdomWorld #14 22.6

178 Combat aircraftweight ×50 · generation 151
178 Helicoptersweight ×10 · era 259
77 Transportweight ×10 49
3 Special missionweight ×8 25
18 UAVsweight ×10 19
55 Trainersweight ×1 170

Spain 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

	Spain	United Kingdom	Ratio
Official name	Spanish Air and Space Force	Royal Air Force
Active aircraft	509	673	🇬🇧 1.3×
Aircraft on order	207	49	🇪🇸 4.2×
Combat aircraft	178	151	🇪🇸 1.2×
Combat share of fleet	35.0 %	22.4 %	🇪🇸 1.6×
Aircraft types in service	28	24	🇪🇸 1.2×
Main supplier	United States · 39 %	United States · 28 %

Show full breakdown · 5 more rowsHide the 5 extra rows

Helicopters	178	259	🇬🇧 1.5×
Transport aircraft	77	49	🇪🇸 1.6×
Special-mission aircraft	3	25	🇬🇧 8.3×
Trainers	55	170	🇬🇧 3.1×
UAVs	18	19	🇬🇧 1.1×