These Global Military Powers Are Investing Billions in Their Helicopter Fleets

Military

Published: March 15, 2025 6:47 am

Helicopters are some of the most versatile military assets, they play a number of roles on and off the battlefield that ultimately improve the effectiveness of any military force. (These Economic Powers Have the Largest Standing Armies in the World, and America Is Not #1)

From the beginning, helicopters were used to transport troops but were quickly upgraded and outfitted to carry machine guns, missiles, and other explosive ordnance. As time has progressed, helicopters have grown more sophisticated in all regards.

One of the most widely purchased military helicopters in the world is the Black Hawk. It serves in multiple roles, not just exclusively in combat, transport, or as a utility helicopter. Manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, these helicopters typically go for around $21 million per unit but the price may vary for what features it has. These are some of the most prolific military helicopters in use around the world. (These Are the World’s 30 Strongest Military Powers – Which Nations Are Gaining on America?)

These are some of the most widely purchased military assets because of their flexibility and utility for any military force. The countries that possess the most helicopters tend to be the largest and most significant military players in the world. Countries like Russia, the United States, and India, which maintain some of the world’s largest helicopter fleets, occupy these top spots. Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at the countries and military powers with the largest helicopter fleets.

To determine the countries with the most military helicopters in the world, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2025 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 helicopters. We included supplemental information regarding each country’s current air force, overall military strength ranking, and defense budget.

Here is a look at the countries with the largest helicopter armies in the world:

Why Are We Covering This?

Earth photo at night, City Lights of Europe, Middle East, Turkey, Italy, Black Sea, Mediterrenian Sea from space, World map on dark globe on satellite photo. Elements of this image furnished by NASA.

Understanding global military dynamics is incredibly important due to the interconnected nature of international relations and conflicts. As long as civilization has existed, the world has witnessed shifting power balances and alliances which have ultimately shaped the current geopolitical landscape. While key players like the United States, China, and Russia are considered the strongest military powers in the world, there are a number of other nations with their own spheres of influence and strengths that impact global relations from a military perspective.

30. Canada

Total helicopters: 145
Total attack helicopters: 0
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 66
Total strike and attack aircraft: 0
Total military aircraft: 351
Military defense budget: $41,000,000,000 – #15 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.5179 – #28 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Canada has 21,704 military vehicles (including 74 tanks). Canada has 68,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 38.8 million.

29. Israel

TOPSHOTS-ISRAEL-AIR FORCE-GRAD... by Diariocritico de Venezuela

TOPSHOTS-ISRAEL-AIR FORCE-GRAD... (CC BY 2.0) by Diariocritico de Venezuela

Total helicopters: 147
Total attack helicopters: 48
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 240
Total strike and attack aircraft: 38
Total military aircraft: 611
Military defense budget: $30,500,000,000 – #17 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.2661 – #15 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Israel has 35,985 military vehicles (including 1,300 tanks, 523 artillery units, and 183 MLRS units). Israel has 170,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 9.4 million.

28. Spain

Total helicopters: 153
Total attack helicopters: 17
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 137
Total strike and attack aircraft: 12
Total military aircraft: 461
Military defense budget: $23,397,000,000 – #22 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.3242 – #17 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Spain has 17,626 military vehicles (including 317 tanks and 382 artillery units). Spain has 133,282 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 47.3 million.

27. Jordan

Total helicopters: 155
Total attack helicopters: 44
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 44
Total strike and attack aircraft: 6
Total military aircraft: 274
Military defense budget: $2,500,000,000 – #65 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 1.6139 – #76 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Jordan has 16,624 military vehicles (including 1,458 tanks, 438 artillery units, and 56 MLRS units). Jordan has 100,500 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 11.2 million.

26. Mexico

Total helicopters: 178
Total attack helicopters: 0
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 3
Total strike and attack aircraft: 33
Total military aircraft: 433
Military defense budget: $7,600,000,000 – #39 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.5965 – #32 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Mexico has 19,658 military vehicles (including 90 artillery units). Mexico has 412,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 130.7 million.

25. Brazil

Brazil helicopter (CC BY-SA 4.0) by Wilfredor

Total helicopters: 191
Total attack helicopters: 0
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 43
Total strike and attack aircraft: 38
Total military aircraft: 513
Military defense budget: $26,157,300,000 – #19 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.2415 – #11 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Brazil has 22,464 military vehicles (including 294 tanks, 521 artillery units, and 38 MLRS units). Brazil has 360,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 220.1 million.

24. Iraq

Total helicopters: 197
Total attack helicopters: 39
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 26
Total strike and attack aircraft: 36
Total military aircraft: 391
Military defense budget: $7,923,000,000 – #37 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.7738 – #43 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Iraq has 37,288 military vehicles (including 1,025 tanks, 1044 artillery units, and 572 MLRS units). Iraq has 193,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 42.1 million.

23. North Korea

North Korea flag isolated on white background with clipping path. flag symbols of North Korea. flag frame with empty space for your text.

Total helicopters: 205
Total attack helicopters: 20
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 368
Total strike and attack aircraft: 114
Total military aircraft: 861
Military defense budget: $4,736,000,000 – #51 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.6016 – #34 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, North Korea has 18,288 military vehicles (including 4,344 tanks, 2,000 artillery units, and 1,500 MLRS units). North Korea has 1,320,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 26.3 million.

22. Indonesia

Total helicopters: 214
Total attack helicopters: 15
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 41
Total strike and attack aircraft: 34
Total military aircraft: 459
Military defense budget: $10,600,000,000 – #29 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.2557 – #13 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Indonesia has 20,440 military vehicles (including 331 tanks, 549 artillery units, and 63 MLRS units). Indonesia has 400,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 281.6 million.

21. Poland

Total helicopters: 216
Total attack helicopters: 29
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 59
Total strike and attack aircraft: 44
Total military aircraft: 479
Military defense budget: $48,700,000,000 – #12 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.3776 – #22 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Poland has 23,138 military vehicles (including 614 tanks, 677 artillery units, and 196 MLRS units). Poland has 202,100 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 38.7 million.

20. Taiwan

DSC07218 (CC BY-SA 2.0) by brian25_tw

Total helicopters: 236
Total attack helicopters: 91
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 285
Total strike and attack aircraft: 0
Total military aircraft: 761
Military defense budget: $19,740,000,000 – #23 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.3988 – #23 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Taiwan has 19,921 military vehicles (including 888 tanks, 1,848 artillery units, and 234 MLRS units). Taiwan has 215,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 23.6 million.

19. United Arab Emirates

Best Army Photos 2 (CC BY 2.0) by Expert Infantry

Total helicopters: 247
Total attack helicopters: 30
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 99
Total strike and attack aircraft: 16
Total military aircraft: 551
Military defense budget: $2,212,360,382 – #70 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 1.0186 – #54 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, the United Arab Emirates has 8,707 military vehicles (including 354 tanks, 264 artillery units, and 49 MLRS units). The United Arab Emirates has 65,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 10.0 million.

18. Colombia

Colombia helicopter by Policu00eda Nacional de los colombianos

Colombia helicopter (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Policu00eda Nacional de los colombianos

Total helicopters: 257
Total attack helicopters: 0
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 16
Total strike and attack aircraft: 24
Total military aircraft: 436
Military defense budget: $10,541,500,000 – #30 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.8353 – #46 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Colombia has 3,460 military vehicles (including 116 artillery units). Colombia has 293,200 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 49.6 million.

17. Thailand

93309 (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Alec Wilson

Total helicopters: 258
Total attack helicopters: 7
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 72
Total strike and attack aircraft: 20
Total military aircraft: 493
Military defense budget: $5,887,883,500 – #45 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.4536 – #26 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Thailand has 16,935 military vehicles (including 635 tanks, 639 artillery units, and 26 MLRS units). Thailand has 360,850 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 69.9 million.

16. Saudi Arabia

DA-ST-91-06392 by U.S. Army Materiel Command

DA-ST-91-06392 (CC BY 2.0) by U.S. Army Materiel Command

Total helicopters: 264
Total attack helicopters: 34
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 283
Total strike and attack aircraft: 81
Total military aircraft: 917
Military defense budget: $74,760,000,000 – #5 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.4201 – #25 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Saudi Arabia has 19,040 military vehicles (including 840 tanks, 799 artillery units, and 321 MLRS units). Saudi Arabia has 257,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 36.5 million.

15. United Kingdom

Total helicopters: 266
Total attack helicopters: 37
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 113
Total strike and attack aircraft: 31
Total military aircraft: 631
Military defense budget: $71,500,540,000 – #6 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.1785 – #6 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, the United Kingdom has 38,200 military vehicles (including 227 tanks, 197 artillery units, and 29 MLRS units). The United Kingdom has 184,860 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 68.5 million.

14. Greece

Total helicopters: 293
Total attack helicopters: 29
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 178
Total strike and attack aircraft: 0
Total military aircraft: 558
Military defense budget: $6,500,000,000 – #44 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.5337 – #30 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Greece has 61,888 military vehicles (including 1,344 tanks, 1287 artillery units, and 152 MLRS units). Greece has 142,700 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 10.5 million.

13. Algeria

Mi-24 Algeria (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Alan Wilson

Total helicopters: 299
Total attack helicopters: 74
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 102
Total strike and attack aircraft: 42
Total military aircraft: 608
Military defense budget: $25,000,000,000 – #21 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.3589 – #20 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Algeria has 26,000 military vehicles (including 1,485 tanks, 707 artillery units, and 266 MLRS units). Algeria has 325,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 47.0 million.

12. Germany

Total helicopters: 309
Total attack helicopters: 54
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 129
Total strike and attack aircraft: 63
Total military aircraft: 584
Military defense budget: $50,000,000,000 – #11 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.2601 – #14 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Germany has 83,260 military vehicles (including 296 tanks, 134 artillery units, and 33 MLRS units). Germany has 181,600 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 84.1 million.

11. Egypt

Total helicopters: 348
Total attack helicopters: 100
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 238
Total strike and attack aircraft: 90
Total military aircraft: 1,093
Military defense budget: $5,879,500,000 – #46 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.3427 – #19 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Egypt has 41,012 military vehicles (including 3,620 tanks, 2,018 artillery units, and 528 MLRS units). Egypt has 440,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 111.2 million.

10. Pakistan

Pakistan+helicopter | Pakistan military helicopter

Total helicopters: 373
Total attack helicopters: 57
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 328
Total strike and attack aircraft: 90
Total military aircraft: 1,399
Military defense budget: $7,640,000,000 – #38 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.2513 – #12 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Pakistan has 17,516 military vehicles (including 2,627 tanks, 3,291 artillery units, and 600 MLRS units). Pakistan has 654,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 252.4 million.

9. Italy

Total helicopters: 392
Total attack helicopters: 37
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 89
Total strike and attack aircraft: 67
Total military aircraft: 729
Military defense budget: $30,890,000,000 – #16 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.2164 – #10 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Italy has 73,480 military vehicles (including 200 tanks, 172 artillery units, and 21 MLRS units). Italy has 165,500 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 61.0 million.

8. France

Total helicopters: 448
Total attack helicopters: 68
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 226
Total strike and attack aircraft: 0
Total military aircraft: 976
Military defense budget: $55,000,000,000 – #9 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.1878 – #8 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, France has 110,932 military vehicles (including 215 tanks, 96 artillery units, and 9 MLRS units). France has 200,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 68.4 million.

7. Turkey

Total helicopters: 508
Total attack helicopters: 111
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 201
Total strike and attack aircraft: 0
Total military aircraft: 1,083
Military defense budget: $47,000,000,000 – #13 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.1902 – #9 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Turkey has 61,173 military vehicles (including 2,238 tanks, 2,745 artillery units, and 296 MLRS units). Turkey has 355,200 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 84.1 million.

6. Japan

Total helicopters: 596
Total attack helicopters: 119
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 217
Total strike and attack aircraft: 38
Total military aircraft: 1,443
Military defense budget: $57,000,000,000 – #7 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.1839 – #7 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Japan has 31,964 military vehicles (including 521 tanks, 629 artillery units, and 54 MLRS units). Japan has 247,150 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 123.2 million.

5. South Korea

APACHE - AH-64D (CC BY 2.0) by USAG- Humphreys

Total helicopters: 807
Total attack helicopters: 111
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 315
Total strike and attack aircraft: 98
Total military aircraft: 1,592
Military defense budget: $46,300,000,000 – #14 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.1656 – #5 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, South Korea has 58,880 military vehicles (including 2,236 tanks, 7,670 artillery units, and 426 MLRS units). South Korea has 600,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 52.1 million.

4. India

Total helicopters: 899
Total attack helicopters: 80
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 513
Total strike and attack aircraft: 130
Total military aircraft: 2,229
Military defense budget: $75,000,000,000 – #4 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.1184 – #4 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, India has 148,594 military vehicles (including 4,201 tanks, 4,075 artillery units, and 264 MLRS units). India has 1,455,550 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 1.41 billion.

3. China

Z-10+Fierce+Thunderbolt | CAIC "Z-10" (Chinese: Ã§ÂÂ´-10 for Ã§ÂÂ´Ã¥ÂÂÃ¦ÂÂº, helicopter), also called "WZ-10"

Total helicopters: 913
Total attack helicopters: 281
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 1,212
Total strike and attack aircraft: 371
Total military aircraft: 3,309
Military defense budget: $266,850,000,000 – #2 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.0788 – #3 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, China has 144,017 military vehicles (including 6,800 tanks, 4,490 artillery units, and 2,750 MLRS units). China has 2,035,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 1.42 billion.

2. Russia

Total helicopters: 1,651
Total attack helicopters: 557
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 833
Total strike and attack aircraft: 689
Total military aircraft: 4,292
Military defense budget: $126,000,000,000 – #3 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.0788 – #2 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, Russia has 131,527 military vehicles (including 5,750 tanks, 13,673 artillery units, and 3,005 MLRS units). Russia has 1,320,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 140.8 million.

1. United States

Total helicopters: 5,843
Total attack helicopters: 1,002
Total fighter and interceptor aircraft: 1,790
Total strike and attack aircraft: 889
Total military aircraft: 13,043
Military defense budget: $895,000,000,000 – #1 out of 145
Military strength score and world rank: 0.0744 – #1 out of 145

Outside of these helicopters, the United States has 391,963 military vehicles (including 4,640 tanks, 1,883 artillery units, and 641 MLRS units). The United States has 1,328,000 active-duty personnel out of a total population of 342.0 million.

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