Air Forces comparison: Spain vs United Kingdom

Spain operates 525 active military aircraft vs 712 for United Kingdom.

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

SpainWorld #18 18.5

AIRS Index / 100

United Kingdom leads on 5 of 6 categories

United KingdomWorld #13 23.2

178 Combat aircraftweight ×50 · generation 158
188 Helicoptersweight ×10 · era 254
78 Transportweight ×10 51
3 Special missionweight ×8 23
23 UAVsweight ×10 53
55 Trainersweight ×1 173

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	525	712	🇬🇧 1.4×
Aircraft on order	291	73	🇪🇸 4.0×
Combat aircraft	178	158	🇪🇸 1.1×
Combat share of fleet	33.9 %	22.2 %	🇪🇸 1.5×
Aircraft types in service	28	23	🇪🇸 1.2×
Main supplier	United States · 39 %	United Kingdom · 28 %

Show full breakdown · 5 more rowsHide the 5 extra rows

Helicopters	188	254	🇬🇧 1.4×
Transport aircraft	78	51	🇪🇸 1.5×
Special-mission aircraft	3	23	🇬🇧 7.7×
Trainers	55	173	🇬🇧 3.1×
UAVs	23	53	🇬🇧 2.3×