If There Was a Helicopter-Only War, This Superpower Would Win by a Long Shot

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By Chris Lange Published
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If There Was a Helicopter-Only War, This Superpower Would Win by a Long Shot

© marine_corps / Flickr

24/7 Wall St. Insights

Helicopters are among the many types of equipment that play important roles in combat. They are highly specialized aircraft because they are fast, agile, and heavily armed. They are capable of providing air support, anti-tank defense, air-to-air defense, reconnaissance, medical evacuation, troop insertion, and so much more. Many countries utilize attack helicopters of different types. Lately, the Russian-Ukraine conflict has displayed the usefulness of these aircraft and they have played important roles for both countries.

Currently, Russia boasts the second largest fleet of attack helicopters in the world, second only to the United States, and it has tipped the scales of this conflict in Russia’s favor. The importance of these attack helicopters cannot be understated. Combining various operational roles on the battlefield, attack helicopters are an important part of any strategy on the battlefield. These aircraft are capable of reconnaissance, some can transport troops, but all are capable of laying down heavy fire.

Here 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at countries with the most helicopters that play combat roles. To determine the countries with the most attack helicopters, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2024 military strength report from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. We ranked these countries according to which countries have the most attack helicopters. We included supplemental information regarding each country’s current air force and overall military strength ranking. We excluded Luxembourg and Iceland from this list because neither has military helicopters.

Why Is This Important?

United+States+apache+helicopter | APACHE - AH-64D
usaghumphreys / Flickr

The United States has the largest attack helicopter fleet in the world with a range of helicopters filling a wide variety of roles. Other NATO countries like Turkey and France rank relatively high on this list as well, each having sizable helicopter fleets.

On the other hand, Russia and China fill out a few of the top spots on this list as perennial global superpowers. The military buildup in these countries over the last decade has seen a rise in the production of these military assets, and there is no doubt that in the years to come, there will be even more attack helicopters in their arsenals.

Here is a look at the countries with the largest fleets of attack helicopters.

32. Netherlands

  • Total attack helicopters: 21
  • Total helicopters: 66
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 52
  • Total military aircraft: 143
  • Military strength score:: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145

31. Kazakhstan

  • Total attack helicopters: 22
  • Total helicopters: 75
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 119
  • Total military aircraft: 243
  • Military strength score:: 0.9495 – #58 out of 145

30. Australia

  • Total attack helicopters: 22
  • Total helicopters: 79
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 84
  • Total military aircraft: 325
  • Military strength score:: 0.2515 – #16 out of 145

29. Qatar

  • Total attack helicopters: 24
  • Total helicopters: 67
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 98
  • Total military aircraft: 228
  • Military strength score:: 1.0789 – #63 out of 145

28. Belarus

  • Total attack helicopters: 25
  • Total helicopters: 64
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 88
  • Total military aircraft: 183
  • Military strength score:: 1.0901 – #64 out of 145

27. Syria

canaran / iStock via Getty Images
  • Total attack helicopters: 27
  • Total helicopters: 153
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 225
  • Total military aircraft: 452
  • Military strength score:: 1.0026 – #60 out of 145

26. Bahrain

  • Total attack helicopters: 28
  • Total helicopters: 74
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 18
  • Total military aircraft: 120
  • Military strength score:: 1.7163 – #86 out of 145

25. Greece

usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 29
  • Total helicopters: 289
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 194
  • Total military aircraft: 632
  • Military strength score:: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145

24. United Arab Emirates

  • Total attack helicopters: 30
  • Total helicopters: 246
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 117
  • Total military aircraft: 560
  • Military strength score:: 0.8083 – #51 out of 145

23. Poland

Poland+apache+helicopter | Saber Strike 15
usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 30
  • Total helicopters: 215
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 93
  • Total military aircraft: 468
  • Military strength score:: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

22. Uzbekistan

  • Total attack helicopters: 33
  • Total helicopters: 100
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 71
  • Total military aircraft: 191
  • Military strength score:: 1.1069 – #65 out of 145

21. Ukraine

Volodymyr Vorobiov / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total attack helicopters: 33
  • Total helicopters: 130
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 102
  • Total military aircraft: 321
  • Military strength score:: 0.2598 – #18 out of 145

20. Saudi Arabia

  • Total attack helicopters: 34
  • Total helicopters: 262
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 364
  • Total military aircraft: 914
  • Military strength score:: 0.3235 – #23 out of 145

19. Sudan

  • Total attack helicopters: 35
  • Total helicopters: 64
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 77
  • Total military aircraft: 170
  • Military strength score:: 1.4119 – #76 out of 145

18. Iraq

  • Total attack helicopters: 40
  • Total helicopters: 197
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 61
  • Total military aircraft: 371
  • Military strength score:: 0.7441 – #45 out of 145

17. India

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

  • Total attack helicopters: 40
  • Total helicopters: 869
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 736
  • Total military aircraft: 2,296
  • Military strength score:: 0.1023 – #4 out of 145

16. Jordan

  • Total attack helicopters: 43
  • Total helicopters: 148
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 50
  • Total military aircraft: 265
  • Military strength score:: 1.4651 – #80 out of 145

15. Israel

  • Total attack helicopters: 48
  • Total helicopters: 146
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 280
  • Total military aircraft: 612
  • Military strength score:: 0.2596 – #17 out of 145

14. United Kingdom

U.S. Department of Defense / Public Domain / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 52
  • Total helicopters: 276
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 149
  • Total military aircraft: 664
  • Military strength score:: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145

13. Germany

usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 55
  • Total helicopters: 318
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 209
  • Total military aircraft: 618
  • Military strength score:: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145

12. Italy

thenationalguard / CC BY 2.0 /Flickr

  • Total attack helicopters: 57
  • Total helicopters: 402
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 157
  • Total military aircraft: 800
  • Military strength score:: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145

11. Pakistan

  • Total attack helicopters: 57
  • Total helicopters: 352
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 477
  • Total military aircraft: 1,434
  • Military strength score:: 0.1711 – #9 out of 145

10. France

VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total attack helicopters: 69
  • Total helicopters: 447
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 224
  • Total military aircraft: 972
  • Military strength score:: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145

9. Algeria

njnationalguard / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 75
  • Total helicopters: 298
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 144
  • Total military aircraft: 605
  • Military strength score:: 0.3589 – #26 out of 145

8. Taiwan

  • Total attack helicopters: 91
  • Total helicopters: 236
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 286
  • Total military aircraft: 750
  • Military strength score:: 0.3302 – #24 out of 145

7. Egypt

Light+Attack+Helicopter | Helicopter Care
marine_corps / Flickr

  • Total attack helicopters: 100
  • Total helicopters: 338
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 326
  • Total military aircraft: 1,080
  • Military strength score:: 0.2283 – #15 out of 145

6. Turkey

  • Total attack helicopters: 111
  • Total helicopters: 502
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 205
  • Total military aircraft: 1,069
  • Military strength score:: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145

5. South Korea

  • Total attack helicopters: 112
  • Total helicopters: 758
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 452
  • Total military aircraft: 1,576
  • Military strength score:: 0.1416 – #5 out of 145

4. Japan

Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
  • Total attack helicopters: 119
  • Total helicopters: 577
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 253
  • Total military aircraft: 1,459
  • Military strength score:: 0.1601 – #7 out of 145

3. China

Z-10+Fierce+Thunderbolt | CAIC "Z-10" (Chinese: 直-10 for 直升机, helicopter), also called "WZ-10"
Robert Sullivan / Public Domain / Flickr

  • Total attack helicopters: 281
  • Total helicopters: 913
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 1,578
  • Total military aircraft: 3,304
  • Military strength score:: 0.0706 – #3 out of 145

2. Russia

aarrows / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

  • Total attack helicopters: 559
  • Total helicopters: 1,547
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 1,539
  • Total military aircraft: 4,255
  • Military strength score:: 0.0702 – #2 out of 145

1. United States

Thinkstock

  • Total attack helicopters: 1,000
  • Total helicopters: 5,737
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 2,750
  • Total military aircraft: 13,209
  • Military strength score:: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145
Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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