Special Report

NATO Countries with the Most Military Aircraft

Matt Cardy / Getty Images

Article 5 is the cornerstone of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, better known as NATO. Should a member nation fall under attack, this article is triggered and other NATO members must render aid. The only time that this occurred was in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States, and NATO allies quickly deployed their air forces to help secure North American skies. (This is how Russia’s and NATO’s military capabilities compare.)

NATO air forces provided various forms of support following these attacks including the deployment of AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft for surveilling any other potential threats in the region.

In the following years, NATO air forces would further help the United States in its Global War on Terror throughout the Middle East. While the U.S. Air Force greatly outpaces its NATO allies in terms of technological advancement and fleet size, these other countries do in fact have formidable air forces that are some of the strongest in the world.

To determine the NATO countries with the most military aircraft, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. We included supplemental information regarding fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, and helicopters. We included the overall military strength score as well which is a composite of over 60 measures in categories such as military might, financials, logistical capability, and geography. The smaller the PowerIndex value the more powerful a nation’s theoretical conventional fighting capability is.

It’s worth pointing out that there is one country in NATO that has no military and thus no military aircraft, and that country is Iceland. This frozen nation never established an air force, despite being a founding member of NATO. Instead, Iceland relies on the collective defense guarantee should any need arise for military aircraft. (These are the NATO members with the highest military spending.)

Here are the NATO countries with the most military aircraft:

31. Iceland

patpongs / iStock via Getty Images
  • Total military aircraft: 0
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 0
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 3.5038 – #136 out of 145

30. Luxembourg

querbeet / iStock via Getty Images
  • Total military aircraft: 1
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 0
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 2.1458 – #109 out of 145

29. Estonia

KavalenkavaVolha / iStock via Getty Images
  • Total military aircraft: 7
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 3
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.7237 – #87 out of 145

28. Latvia

usairforce / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 7
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 7
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.9911 – #99 out of 145

27. Lithuania

dvids / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 9
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 4
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.7395 – #88 out of 145

26. Montenegro

CatEyePerspective / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total military aircraft: 11
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 11
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 2.9109 – #129 out of 145

25. Albania

Robert Sullivan / Public Domain / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 19
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 19
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.8188 – #90 out of 145

24. North Macedonia

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
  • Total military aircraft: 20
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 10
  • Attack helicopters: 4
  • Military strength score: 2.1717 – #110 out of 145

23. Slovakia

slezo / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 37
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 22
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.1891 – #69 out of 145

22. Slovenia

U.S. Department of Defense / Public Domain / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 38
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 12
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.8286 – #91 out of 145

21. Hungary

Jozsef Soos / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total military aircraft: 62
  • Fighter aircraft: 12
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 38
  • Attack helicopters: 8
  • Military strength score: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145

20. Bulgaria

sdasmarchives / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 65
  • Fighter aircraft: 11
  • Attack aircraft: 5
  • Total helicopters: 27
  • Attack helicopters: 4
  • Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145

19. Croatia

Croatia+Black+Hawk+helicopter | Operation Icarus
153602026@N06 / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 81
  • Fighter aircraft: 11
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 52
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.1333 – #66 out of 145

18. Czechia

slezo / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 88
  • Fighter aircraft: 12
  • Attack aircraft: 16
  • Total helicopters: 33
  • Attack helicopters: 3
  • Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145

17. Norway

ajw1970 / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 102
  • Fighter aircraft: 0
  • Attack aircraft: 30
  • Total helicopters: 37
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145

16. Belgium

david_e_smith / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 110
  • Fighter aircraft: 45
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 20
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.2064 – #70 out of 145

15. Portugal

kitmasterbloke / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 117
  • Fighter aircraft: 28
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 38
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145

14. Denmark

defenceimages / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 119
  • Fighter aircraft: 33
  • Attack aircraft: 4
  • Total helicopters: 34
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 0.7743 – #48 out of 145

13. Romania

sagesolar / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 131
  • Fighter aircraft: 14
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 67
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145

12. Netherlands

Netherlands+F-35 | Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
Robert Sullivan / Public Domain / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 143
  • Fighter aircraft: 26
  • Attack aircraft: 26
  • Total helicopters: 66
  • Attack helicopters: 21
  • Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145

11. Finland

sagesolar / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 164
  • Fighter aircraft: 55
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 27
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145

10. Canada

Mario Tama / Getty Images
  • Total military aircraft: 375
  • Fighter aircraft: 65
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 143
  • Attack helicopters: 0
  • Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145

9. Poland

david_e_smith / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 468
  • Fighter aircraft: 59
  • Attack aircraft: 34
  • Total helicopters: 215
  • Attack helicopters: 30
  • Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

8. Spain

valdithrash / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 513
  • Fighter aircraft: 139
  • Attack aircraft: 12
  • Total helicopters: 121
  • Attack helicopters: 17
  • Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145

7. Germany

VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total military aircraft: 618
  • Fighter aircraft: 133
  • Attack aircraft: 76
  • Total helicopters: 318
  • Attack helicopters: 55
  • Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145

6. Greece

VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total military aircraft: 632
  • Fighter aircraft: 194
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 289
  • Attack helicopters: 29
  • Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145

5. United Kingdom

Matt Cardy / Getty Images
  • Total military aircraft: 664
  • Fighter aircraft: 120
  • Attack aircraft: 29
  • Total helicopters: 276
  • Attack helicopters: 52
  • Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145

4. Italy

sagesolar / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 800
  • Fighter aircraft: 90
  • Attack aircraft: 67
  • Total helicopters: 402
  • Attack helicopters: 57
  • Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145

3. France

david_e_smith / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 972
  • Fighter aircraft: 224
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 447
  • Attack helicopters: 69
  • Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145

2. Turkey

slezo / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 1,069
  • Fighter aircraft: 205
  • Attack aircraft: 0
  • Total helicopters: 502
  • Attack helicopters: 111
  • Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145

1. United States

Robert Sullivan / Public Domain / Flickr
  • Total military aircraft: 13,209
  • Fighter aircraft: 1,854
  • Attack aircraft: 896
  • Total helicopters: 5,737
  • Attack helicopters: 1,000
  • Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145

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