All five nations on this list have tremendous airpower relative to the global average—but one is larger than the next four combined.

The global distribution of military air power resembles a cliff rather than a gradual slope. Nearly all nations in the world, from the poorest to the wealthiest, have an air force with a handful of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Conversely, the largest and strongest nations in the world tend to operate airfleets with thousands of cutting-edge planes, both frontline fighter jets and the support aircraft—electonic warfare aircraft, surveillance planes, tankers, and so on—required to give the frontline aircraft an edge in the sky.

The vast majority of air forces exist for humble purposes: sovereignty patrols, interception, disaster relief, transportation, and border security. Many nations can defend their own airspace, but few can deploy far from home and sustain combat operations. The world’s five largest air forces are true outliers, enjoying a staggering gap in quantity and capability relative to the rest of the world. And one nation above all remains an outlier, with numerical superiority and the logistical infrastructure to conduct worldwide operations.

A Caveat: Air Force Size and Airpower Aren’t the Same Thing

Measuring a nation’s airpower is inherently tricky from numbers alone. Nearly all countries have a dedicated air force, but some also have aircraft assigned to other service branches, particularly those with air wings linked to aircraft carriers in their navies. Many have surplus aircraft stockpiled in reserve areas—such as the US Air Force’s “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, and the Russian Aerospace Forces’ similar facility at Lipetsk Air Base in Russia’s western Lipetsk Oblast—which are not in operable condition and hence cannot be included on this list, but could be of use in an emergency.

Lumping all aircraft together, regardless of age or type, can also muddle the picture of a nation’s airpower. Some air forces, notably the Israeli Air Force, have tiny airfleets that can nevertheless punch far above their weight due to advanced aircraft and intensive pilot training. Even so, the total number of planes and personnel in service is a useful indicator of how strong a nation would be in a long-term, head-to-head air war against an opponent.

These are the five nations with the largest air forces: 

5. South Korea

• Number of planes: ~1,500
• Number of personnel: ~65,000

South Korea has roughly 1,500 active airframes in service—all of which are kept on a permanent wartime footing. The reason for Seoul’s constant vigilance is self-evident: North Korea, which, although it possesses a far smaller and qualitatively inferior air force, has an enormous land military poised to pour across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two countries at any moment. In an inter-Korean conflict, air superiority could mean the difference between victory and defeat—and South Korea is attempting to build up any edge it can get.

Though relatively compact compared to the others on this list, the South Korea fleet is modern and combat-ready. Its qualitative edge comes from American F-35A Lightning II and F-15K Slam Eagle fighters. Though reliant on the US for its most advanced fighters, South Korea is currently transitioning into a major global aerospace exporter through domestic production lines, particularly through the homemade KF-21 Boramae, a 4.5-generation fighter. 

4. India

• Number of planes: ~2,000
• Number of personnel: ~170,000

The aerial challenges India faces are more complicated than South Korea’s. While Seoul needs only worry about an attack from one direction, New Delhi must grapple with two regional adversaries: China, which is on a massive aerial buildup, and Pakistan, which is smaller but still deadly, as last year’s four-day war showed to India’s detriment. Though generally regarded as behind China in aerial strength, India is working to keep pace, operating a highly diverse, multi-origin fleet designed to maintain defensive dominance over its complex two-front border.

India has more than 2,000 active airframes. The key platforms in service with the Bharatiya Vayu Sena (Indian Air Force) are the Russian-designed, Indian-built Su-30MKI and the French Rafale. India’s Tejas light fighters, built domestically by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, supplement these two, although they are somewhat less capable. The questionable performance of the Rafale in the recent war with Pakistan has led India to redouble its efforts toward the domestically-made “Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft” (AMCA) fifth-generation fighter, although this aircraft is not expected to enter service until the 2030s. In the interim, the United States and Russia have respectively sought to sell New Delhi the F-35 Lightning II and the Su-57 Felon, so far without success.

India also enjoys carrier-borne power projection with the Russian MiG-29K, American P-8I Neptune maritime patrol aircraft, and C-17 Globemaster III airlifts. The net effect is a robust security footprint across the Indian Ocean.

3. China

• Number of planes: ~3,500
• Number of personnel: 400,000+

China’s consolidated fleet of roughly 3,500 active airframes is growing, and maturing, rapidly. At the end of the Cold War, China’s air force was large, but heavily reliant on aging Soviet-built aircraft and qualitatively inferior to its neighbors. The rapid US success in the 1991 Gulf War, fueled by its overwhelming advantage in airpower, showed Beijing the paramount importance of a capable air force, and aerial development became a cornerstone of China’s rapid military modernization in the decades that followed.

Today, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF), the air wing of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), form the largest air force in the world by personnel, with more than 400,000 total members between the two services. Despite its massive advantage in manpower, China nevertheless operates the most heavily automated military aviation sector in the world, efficiently producing hundreds of new aircraft per year.

The PLAAF’s premier asset is the fifth-generation J-20 Mighty Dragon stealth fighter, which it is building at a rate of roughly 100 units per year. (For comparison, around 190 fifth-generation F-35s are built in the United States every year, but these are divided between many nations.) Supplementing the J-20 fleet is an eclectic mix of fourth- and 4.5-generation fighters, including the J-16 Hidden Dragon and J-10 Vigorous Dragon.

China is also working to grow its fleet of enablement aircraft, to expand global reach, and assist in the denial of Indo-Pacific airspace. China also possesses a strategic bomber, the Cold War-era H-6—which the currently-under-development H-20 stealth bomber is expected to eventually replace. 

2. Russia

• Number of planes: ~4,000
• Number of personnel: ~105,000

Russia’s total consolidated fleet includes about 4,000 active airframes. While impressive in its size, the Russian airfleet is relatively outdated; after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union’s air force was broken up into its constituent countries, and the post-breakup financial downturn in Russia prevented the development of new aircraft for nearly a decade. Accordingly, Russia’s aerial doctrine has eschewed technical sophistication, focused on heavy saturation bombardment and regional airspace denial. And while Russia has developed newer aircraft in the 21st century, these have tended to be boutique platforms that cannot be made in large numbers—most notably the Su-57 Felon, made almost entirely by hand, with only a few dozen in service.

The backbone of the Russian Aerospace Forces consists of its fourth-generation frontline fighters, like the Su-35 Flanker E/M and Su-30 Flanker C/G/H. Russia also possesses a nominal fifth-generation stealth fighter in the twin-engine Su-57, although it has avoided using it in combat in Ukraine in order to preserve its numbers. In the near future, Russia is planning to operate the Su-75 Checkmate, a smaller single-engine fifth-gen stealth fighter.

Russia is also one of the few nations that can project strategic power through long-range nuclear-capable bombers. The Tu-95 Bear, a propeller aircraft dating back to the 1950s, is the primary bomber in service, prized for its long range, reliability, and low cost of use. The Russian Aerospace Forces also have several dozen Tu-160 Blackjack supersonic bombers, roughly analogous to the US-made B-1B Lancer.

1. United States

• Number of planes: 13,000+
• Number of personnel: ~320,000

The consolidated airfleet of the United States—spanning the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps, US Army, and US Coast Guard—is far and away the largest in the world, with over 13,000 active airframes—exceeding the numerical strength of the next four nations put together. In fact, if the individual branches of the US military were counted as distinct entities on this list, the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Army would separately rank as three of the top five largest air forces in the world!

When all the branches are put together, the United States has an unassailable monopoly on world air power. It has:

• Cutting-edge fifth-generation stealth fighters like the F-35 and the F-22 Raptor;
• A massive backbone of fourth- and 4.5-generation legacy fighters, notably the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-15EX Eagle II, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and F/A-18 Super Hornet;
• Global enabling aircraft like the C-17 Globemaster III and C-130 Hercules transports, KC-46 Pegasus and KC-135 Stratotanker tankers, and the E-3 Sentry airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) plane; and 
• One of the world’s only strategic bomber fleets, consisting of the B-1B Lancer, B-52 Stratofortress, B-2 Spirit, and upcoming B-21 Raider.

At a tactical level, the Army and Marine Corps also contribute thousands of rotary-wing assets, including attack helicopters like the AH-64 Apache and heavy lifters like the CH-47 Chinook.

No nation enjoys both tactical and strategic air assets like the United States; no other even comes close.

About the Author: Harrison Kass

Harrison Kass is a writer and attorney focused on national security, technology, and political culture. His work has appeared in Tablet, City Journal, The Hill, The Spectator, and The Cipher Brief. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global & Joint Program Studies from NYU. More at harrisonkass.com.

The post These Five Air Forces Are by Far the World’s Largest appeared first on The National Interest.