The U.S. Navy Has Over 420 of These Amazing Aircraft—Here’s Why

The United States Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps both employ an Osprey aircraft in their fleet. Each has a different variant — MV-22s for the Marines and CV-22s for the Air Force — but, regardless of variant, these aircraft play a role in cargo and personnel transportation. Now, the U.S. Navy is joining in the Air Force and Marine Corps’ footsteps by deploying its own Osprey variant (CMV-22) to the military base in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture. While you may not think of the Navy as needing many aircraft, the Navy actually has one of the globe’s most significant air forces. Their aircraft fleets contributes to more submarine detection, protects U.S. military ships, and can be used both to drop off resources at sea or provide disaster relief in necessary scenarios. As such, the Navy finds it increasingly important to have a variety of aircraft to respond to any need that the U.S. military might have. (If you’re wondering about the Air Force itself, though, these are the Air Force’s oldest and newest aircraft.)

By understanding the aircraft used by the U.S. Navy, you can gain a better understanding of where the Navy prioritizes equipment and strategic decisions. Here, 24/7 Wall St. looked at the most widely used U.S. naval aircraft. To do so, we reviewed data from the 2024 World Air Forces report from FlightGlobal, an aviation and aerospace industry website, and ranked the aircraft by the number of units in active service. Additionally, we’ve included supplemental information on the aircraft type, how many are in active service, top speed, and armament. We have excluded training aircraft and helicopters from this list.

Why Are We Covering This?

If you’re an American citizen, it’s probably important to you to know where your tax dollars are being spent. The military, and equipment and aircraft for the military, comprise a huge portion of that money. The Navy received $202.6 billion in government funding in 2024, second only to the Air Force at $216.1. billion. In fiscal year 2025, the Navy has requested $16.6 billion of its funding to purchase 75 aircraft and helicopters, which is actually slightly less than in 2024.

Here are the most widely flown aircraft by the U.S. Navy:

14. C-20 Gulfstream IV

• Type: Military VIP passenger transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1983
• Active aircraft: 2
• Top speed: 582 mph
• Armament: N/A

13. C-26D Metroliner

900528 (CC BY 2.0) by Mark Harkin

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 2003
• Active aircraft: 8
• Top speed: 331 mph
• Armament: N/A

12. KC-130 Super Hercules

• Type: Aerial tanker / transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1962
• Active aircraft: 11
• Top speed: 416 mph
• Armament: N/A

11. C-12 Huron

• Type: Special mission aircraft
• Year introduced: 1974
• Active aircraft: 13
• Top speed: 332 mph
• Armament: N/A

10. E-6B Mercury

• Type: Airborne command post
• Year introduced: 1989
• Active aircraft: 16
• Top speed: 603 mph
• Armament: N/A

9. C-40 Clipper

C-40 Clipper on aproach to NAS... (CC BY 2.0) by Rob Bixby

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 2001
• Active aircraft: 17
• Top speed: 544 mph
• Armament: N/A

8. P-3 Orion

• Type: Multimission reconnaissance, anti-submarine aircraft
• Year introduced: 1962
• Active aircraft: 17
• Top speed: 466 mph
• Armament: Torpedoes, depth charges, Harpoon missiles, SLAM-ER missiles, Maverick missiles, naval mines, unguided rockets

7. C-130J Super Hercules

• Type: Tactical medium transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1999
• Active aircraft: 18
• Top speed: 416 mph
• Armament: N/A

6. C-2 Greyhound

• Type: Carrier-based cargo / transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1967
• Active aircraft: 26
• Top speed: 331 mph
• Armament: N/A

5. F-35C Lightning II

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II (Public Domain) by Robert Sullivan

• Type: Multirole fifth generation strike fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 2016
• Active aircraft: 30
• Top speed: 1,199 mph
• Armament: 25mm GAU-12/U cannon in external pod, Sidewinder missiles, Paveway guided bombs, Rockeye II bombs, Brimstone missiles, Stormshadow missiles, drop bombs

4. E-2 Hawkeye

• Type: Airborne command post
• Year introduced: 1964
• Active aircraft: 83
• Top speed: 375 mph
• Armament: N/A

3. P-8A Poseidon

File:AGM-84K is attached to VP-30 P-8A at NAS Jacksonville in 2014.JPG (Public Domain) by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jason Kofonow

• Type: Multimission reconnaissance, anti-submarine aircraft
• Year introduced: 2013
• Active aircraft: 118
• Top speed: 490 mph
• Armament: Torpedoes, naval mines, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship missiles, stand-off cruise missiles

2. EA-18G Growler

• Type: Carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft
• Year introduced: 2009
• Active aircraft: 153
• Top speed: 1,181 mph
• Armament: Detection pods, high band jamming pods, low band jamming pods, AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR, SHARP, Harm missiles, AMRAAM missiles, Joint stand-off weapons

1. F/A-18 Super Hornet

• Type: Carrier-based strike fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 1999
• Active aircraft: 421
• Top speed: 1,187 mph
• Armament: 20mm M61A1 Vulcan automatic cannon, Sidewinder missiles, AMRAAM missiles, Harpoon missiles, HARM missiles, Maverick missiles, joint direct att munitions, Rockeye II bombs, general purpose bombs