Air Forces comparison: United Kingdom vs Israel

United Kingdom operates 712 active military aircraft vs 600 for Israel.

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

United KingdomWorld #13 23.2

AIRS Index / 100

Israel leads overall, ahead on 2 of 6 categories

IsraelWorld #9 24.9

158 Combat aircraftweight ×50 · generation 346
254 Helicoptersweight ×10 · era 130
51 Transportweight ×10 15
23 Special missionweight ×8 34
53 UAVsweight ×10 9
173 Trainersweight ×1 66

United Kingdom Israel 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 Kingdom	Israel	Ratio
Official name	Royal Air Force	Israeli Air Force
Active aircraft	712	600	🇬🇧 1.2×
Aircraft on order	73	126	🇮🇱 1.7×
Combat aircraft	158	346	🇮🇱 2.2×
Combat share of fleet	22.2 %	57.7 %	🇮🇱 2.6×
Aircraft types in service	23	20	🇬🇧 1.1×
Main supplier	United Kingdom · 28 %	United States · 89 %

Show full breakdown · 5 more rowsHide the 5 extra rows

Helicopters	254	130	🇬🇧 2.0×
Transport aircraft	51	15	🇬🇧 3.4×
Special-mission aircraft	23	34	🇮🇱 1.5×
Trainers	173	66	🇬🇧 2.6×
UAVs	53	9	🇬🇧 5.9×