Air Forces comparison: United Kingdom vs Italy

United Kingdom operates 712 active military aircraft vs 801 for Italy.

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

United KingdomWorld #13 23.2

AIRS Index / 100

Italy leads overall, ahead on 2 of 6 categories

ItalyWorld #10 23.5

158 Combat aircraftweight ×50 · generation 197
254 Helicoptersweight ×10 · era 388
51 Transportweight ×10 43
23 Special missionweight ×8 5
53 UAVsweight ×10 32
173 Trainersweight ×1 136

United Kingdom Italy 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	Italy	Ratio
Official name	Royal Air Force	Italian Air Force
Active aircraft	712	801	🇮🇹 1.1×
Aircraft on order	73	192	🇮🇹 2.6×
Combat aircraft	158	197	🇮🇹 1.2×
Combat share of fleet	22.2 %	24.6 %	🇮🇹 1.1×
Aircraft types in service	23	34	🇮🇹 1.5×
Main supplier	United Kingdom · 28 %	United States · 36 %

Show full breakdown · 5 more rowsHide the 5 extra rows

Helicopters	254	388	🇮🇹 1.5×
Transport aircraft	51	43	🇬🇧 1.2×
Special-mission aircraft	23	5	🇬🇧 4.6×
Trainers	173	136	🇬🇧 1.3×
UAVs	53	32	🇬🇧 1.7×