Air Forces comparison: United Kingdom vs Italy

United Kingdom operates 673 active military aircraft vs 778 for Italy.

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

United KingdomWorld #14 22.6

AIRS Index / 100

Italy leads overall, ahead on 2 of 6 categories

ItalyWorld #12 23.2

151 Combat aircraftweight ×50 · generation 190
259 Helicoptersweight ×10 · era 387
49 Transportweight ×10 37
25 Special missionweight ×8 5
19 UAVsweight ×10 32
170 Trainersweight ×1 127

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	673	778	🇮🇹 1.2×
Aircraft on order	49	112	🇮🇹 2.3×
Combat aircraft	151	190	🇮🇹 1.3×
Combat share of fleet	22.4 %	24.4 %	🇮🇹 1.1×
Aircraft types in service	24	32	🇮🇹 1.3×
Main supplier	United States · 28 %	United States · 36 %

Show full breakdown · 5 more rowsHide the 5 extra rows

Helicopters	259	387	🇮🇹 1.5×
Transport aircraft	49	37	🇬🇧 1.3×
Special-mission aircraft	25	5	🇬🇧 5.0×
Trainers	170	127	🇬🇧 1.3×
UAVs	19	32	🇮🇹 1.7×