Top 10 Airforces of the WORLD
This list of the Top 10 Largest Air Force in the World is by no means accurate. Numbers are gathered from different sources. The country's military aircraft secrecy is also a big factor. The top 3 biggest air force in the world: United States of America (USA) is the largest air force in the world, followed by Russia, as the second largest air force in the world; then China being the third largest air forces in the world.
Note that there are discrepancies of the figures and numbers and are subject to change due to future orders, under procurement, under development, construction, decommissioned, under repair, upgrade, for disposal, phased out, secret information, classified information, and other related reasons.
Rank 1 - United States Air Force (USA):
2,132 Fighter Aircrafts
Aerial Refueling aircrafts
Attack Aircrafts
Attack Helicopters
Bombers
Cargo transport aircrafts
Cargo helicopters
Electronic Warfare Aircrafts
Ground Attack Aircrafts
Helicopters
450 ICBMs
Multi-mission Aircrafts
Multi-mission RPAs (Remote Piloted Aircraft)
Observation aircrafts
Reconnaissance aircrafts
32 Satellites
Search and Rescue Aircrafts
Special electronic missions aircrafts
Tanker aircrafts
Trainer aircrafts
UAVs
Utility aircrafts
VIP staff transport aircrafts
Weather reconnaissance aircrafts
Special Operations Squadrons Aircrafts
5,573 Total Aircrafts
329,600 Airforce Personnel
Rank 2 - Russian Air Force (RUSSIA):
252 Fighter Aircrafts
Airliner Fixed-wing aircrafts
Airborne Early Warning & Control aircrafts
Air Superiority Fighters
Attack Helicopters
Bombers
Command & Control aircrafts
Ground Attack Aircrafts
Interceptor aircrafts
Reconnaissance aircrafts
Satellites
Strategic Airliners
Strategic Transport Aircrafts
Strike Fighter Aircrafts
Tactical Transport Aircrafts
Training Aircrafts
Training Helicopters
Transport Helicopters
UAVs
Utility Helicopters
VIP Transport aircrafts
4,000 Total Aircrafts
160,000 Airforce Personnel
Rank 3 - People’s Liberation Army Air Force (CHINA):
1770 Fighters and Attack aircrafts
18 Aerial Refueling aircrafts
11 Airborne Early Warning - AWAC, AEW&C
Air Superiority Fighters
Attack Aircrafts
Attack Helicopter
Basic Trainer
249 Bombers
Close Air Support
Fighter-Bomber
Fighter/Interceptor
632 Helicopters
Helicopter Trainer
Interceptor Fighter
Jet Trainer
Light Transport
Multirole Fighter Aircrafts
Refueling Tanker
Strategic bomber aircrafts
Supersonic Trainer
1923 Trainer Aircrafts
507 Transport and Cargo aircrafts
Transport Helicopter
26 Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)
Utility Helicopters
VIP Transport
2,500 Total Aircrafts
330,000 Airforce Personnel
Rank 4 - Indian Air Force (INDIA) :
265 Fighter Aircrafts
Air superiority fighter
3 Airborne early warning aircraft
Anti-Tactical Ballistic Missile (ATBM)
2 squadrons Attack helicopter
Close support aircraft
239 Ground attack force
Heavy lift helicopter
125 Interceptor aircraft
Land-based air defence systems
Light utility helicopter
Medium utility helicopter
Multi-role combat aircraft
Short-range ballistic missile (SRBM)
Strike fighter
Surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems
6 Tanker aircraft/Aerial refueling
Training aircraft
Transport aircraft
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) reconnaissance and surveillance
Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) radar attack systems
VIP Transports
1,380 Total Aircrafts
127,000 Airforce Personnel
Rank 5 - Royal Air Force (UNITED KINGDOM):
240 Fighter Aircrafts
Air defence fighter aircraft
Air-to-air refuelling aircraft
Airborne early warning aircraft
Attack aircrafts
Heavy-lift support helicopters
Offensive support aircraft
Close air support
Electronic Warfare Aircrafts
Reconnaissance aircraft
Search and rescue aircraft
Strategic airlift transport
Strike fighter
Support helicopters
Tactical-airlift transport
Training aircraft
Transport aircrafts
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
VIP transport
1,004 Total Aircrafts
41,300 Airforce Personnel
Rank 6 - Armée de l’Air (FRANCE):
234 Fighter combat aircrafts
Aerial refueling
Airborne warning and control
Ground attack
Multirole fighter
Nuclear strike
Reconnaissance
Search and rescue helicopters
Signals intelligence (ELINT)
Strategic airliner
Tactical transport
Trainer
Advanced trainer
Transport helicopters
Reconnaissance UAV
Utility and training helicopters
Utility Transport
VIP Transport
Experimental aircraft
635 Total Aircrafts
58,900 Airforce Personnel
Rank 7 - Luftwaffe (GERMANY):
100 Fighter aircrafts
Aerial Refueling
Electronic Warfare
Fighter-Bomber
Ground-attack
Military tactical transport aircraft
Reconnaissance aircraft
Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM)
Signals intelligence (SIGINT)
Special Air Mission
Strategic Transport
Training aircraft
Utility Helicopters
VIP Transport
428 Total Aircrafts
35,560 Airforce Personnel
Rank 8 - Israeli Air Force (ISRAEL):
396 Fighter aircrafts
Aerial firefighting
Aerial refueling
Air superiority fighter
Attack helicopters
CAEW (Conformal Airborne Early Warning)
Electronic Warfare (EW)
Electronic signals intelligence (ELINT)
Ground attack
Heavy transport
Light transport
MALE UAV - medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
Maritime patrol aircraft
Maritime patrol helicopters
Mini UAV
Multirole fighter
SEMA (Special Electronic Missions Aircraft)
Signals intelligence (SIGINT)
Strike fighter
Tactical UAV
Tactical transport
Trainer
Transport
Utility
1,964 Total Aircrafts
27,000 Airforce personnel
Rank 9 - Royal Australian Air Force (AUSTRALIA):
95 Fighter/Attack aircrafts
Aerial refuelling (AAR)
Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C)
Advanced trainer
Lead-in fighter trainer
Light transport
Maritime patrol/Strike
Navigational trainer
Reconnaissance/Surveillance UAV
Strategic transport
Tactical Transport
VIP transport
254 Total Aircrafts
17,375 Airforce personnel
Rank 10 - Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JAPAN):
374 Fighter Aircrafts
Attack Aircraft
Interceptor Aircraft
Electronic Warfare Aircraft
Combat Aircraft
Trainer Aircraft
Transport Aircraft
Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C)
Transport Helicopters
Search and Rescue (SAR) Helicopters
805 Total Aircrafts
45,000 Airforce Personnel
