flightglobal.comTanker
Country Active fleet Share
1 USA 614 77%
2 Saudi Arabia 22 3%
3 France 20 2%
4 Russia 19 2%
5 Israel 10 1%
6 Italy/Singapore/UK 91%
7 Spain 81%
8 Germany/Turkey 71%9 Australia/Canada/
India/Iran/Japan
61%10 Chile 51%
Other 82 10%
Total 802 100%Combat aircraft
Country Active fleet Share
1 USA 2,657 18%
2 Russia 1,616 11%
3 China 1,603 11%
4 India 710 5%
5 North Korea 572 4%
6 South Korea 474 3%
6 Pakistan 446 3%
8 Saudi Arabia 351 3%
9 Egypt 303 2%10 Taiwan 289 2%Other 5,575 38%
Total 14,596 100%Special mission
Country Active fleet Share
1 USA 744 38%
2 Japan 152 8%
3 Russia 127 6%
4 China 111 6%(^5) India 77 4%
6 France 45 2%
7 Brazil/Germany 40 2%
8 Australia 31 2%
9 South Korea 30 2%
10 Colombia/ Pakistan 29 1%
Other 565 29%
Total 1,951 100%
FLEET SIZE FOR LEADING COUNTRIES BY ROLE
WORLD AIR FORCES
Cover story
30 | Flight International | 10-16 December 2019
Hungary ordering Airbus Helicopters’ H225M
and Poland the Leonardo Helicopters AW101,
for navy service.
The year also proved to be a notable one for
retirements. The RAF waved off two stalwarts
of its fleet: the Panavia Tornado GR4 and its
Shorts Tucano T1 trainers. The USN, mean-
while, flew the last of its legacy F/A-18s into
storage, while the US Marine Corps (USMC)
ended operations with its Northrop EA-6B
electronic warfare assets.
This year, our directory records 53,890 air-
craft as being in active service with militaries
in 160 nations around the globe. Also includ-
ed is a breakdown of more than 3,800 units
that are the subject of firm orders, along with
approaching 8,000 others for which letters of
intent or long-term purchase plans have been
disclosed. This latter category is dominated
by expected F-35 commitments, which total
2,810 for 14 nations: a 35% stake of all such
future business.
FLEET STABILITY
Cirium data shows that the global military
fleet has been remarkably stable over the
12-month period between our snapshot
reviews, with a year-on-year variance of less
than 0.2% – a decrease of just 63 aircraft.
This year, we record a significantly larger
UH-1 utility helicopter fleet as being used by
the German army, while a change in our data
usage has resulted in the removal of multiple
piston-engined types.
With approaching 13,300 aircraft in use,
the USA is the clear leader in air power terms,
accounting for 25% of all the military assets
listed. Once combined, the fleets of
next-ranked Russia (4,163), plus China
(3,210), India (2,123), South Korea (1,649) and
Japan (1,561) still fall more than 500 units
short of its total.
The US military also retains a clear lead in
all six of our individual aircraft type catego-
ries, with its numerical edge ranging from
having 18% of all combat aircraft, and 38% of
operational special mission platforms, to 77%
of the global tanker inventory.
Looking at the world regions, only two
have recorded net increases over the
12-month period of our review. Russia and its
Commonwealth of Independent States allies
have seen their combined assets increase to
5,016 units, from 4,904: a 2% climb. Mos-
cow’s armed forces account for 83% of this
total.
The Middle East experienced a 1% fleet
US Air Force
Saudi Arabia ranks eighth for
combat aircraft, including 219 F-15s