Special Report

The NATO Members with the Most Military Helicopters

Colombia+navy | RIMPAC 2012
Robert Sullivan / Flickr / Public Domain

Known as some of the most versatile military assets, helicopters play a variety of roles on and off the battlefield that improve the effectiveness of any military force. Helicopters can be used for humanitarian missions as well as for laying down support fire for troops in the field. With all these operational capabilities, the strongest militaries in the world typically employ a bevy of helicopters for whatever mission may need to be accomplished. (These are the future military helicopters of the world.)

NATO is no different. The countries within this vast military alliance employ helicopters in almost every facet of their forces. While some member nations might have larger helicopter fleets than others, it does not preclude the fact that all these helicopters will be in service of the alliance.

To determine the NATO countries with the most military 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 military 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. Each of these nations are admittedly the two member states of NATO with the smallest militaries. Although Iceland, in fact, does not have a standing army, navy or air force. Instead these countries rely on the collective defense clause in NATO should either nation come under attack.

On the other hand, the United States has one of the largest helicopter fleets in the world with helicopters filling a wide variety of roles. Turkey and France are also recognized in NATO for having sizable helicopter fleets as well. (These are the helicopters used in the Vietnam War.)

Here is a look at the NATO countries with the most military helicopters:

30. Estonia

39955793@N07 / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 3
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 7
  • Total fighter aircraft: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.7237 – #87 out of 145

29. Lithuania

cooke1 / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 4
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 9
  • Total fighter aircraft: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.7395 – #88 out of 145

28. Latvia

7armyjmtc / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 7
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 7
  • Total fighter aircraft: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.9911 – #99 out of 145

27. North Macedonia

  • Total helicopters: 10
  • Total attack helicopters: 4
  • Total military aircraft: 20
  • Total fighter aircraft: 0
  • Military strength score: 2.1717 – #110 out of 145

26. Montenegro

  • Total helicopters: 11
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 11
  • Total fighter aircraft: 0
  • Military strength score: 2.9109 – #129 out of 145

25. Slovenia

Light+Attack+Helicopter | Helicopter Care
marine_corps / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 12
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 38
  • Total fighter aircraft: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.8286 – #91 out of 145

24. Albania

  • Total helicopters: 19
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 19
  • Total fighter aircraft: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.8188 – #90 out of 145

23. Belgium

VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total helicopters: 20
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 110
  • Total fighter aircraft: 45
  • Military strength score: 1.2064 – #70 out of 145

22. Slovakia

  • Total helicopters: 22
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 37
  • Total fighter aircraft: 0
  • Military strength score: 1.1891 – #69 out of 145

21. Bulgaria

usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 27
  • Total attack helicopters: 4
  • Total military aircraft: 65
  • Total fighter aircraft: 11
  • Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145

20. Finland

Sweden+Black+Hawk+helicopter | Sikorsky HKP 16
my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 27
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 164
  • Total fighter aircraft: 55
  • Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145

19. Czechia

  • Total helicopters: 33
  • Total attack helicopters: 3
  • Total military aircraft: 88
  • Total fighter aircraft: 12
  • Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145

18. Denmark

usnavy / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 34
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 119
  • Total fighter aircraft: 33
  • Military strength score: 0.7743 – #48 out of 145

17. Norway

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
  • Total helicopters: 37
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 102
  • Total fighter aircraft: 0
  • Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145

16. Hungary

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

15. Portugal

  • Total helicopters: 38
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 117
  • Total fighter aircraft: 28
  • Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145

14. Croatia

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

13. Sweden

  • Total helicopters: 53
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 212
  • Total fighter aircraft: 71
  • Military strength score: 0.4009 – #29 out of 145

12. Netherlands

lynothehammer / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 66
  • Total attack helicopters: 21
  • Total military aircraft: 143
  • Total fighter aircraft: 26
  • Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145

11. Romania

  • Total helicopters: 67
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 131
  • Total fighter aircraft: 14
  • Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145

10. Spain

  • Total helicopters: 121
  • Total attack helicopters: 17
  • Total military aircraft: 513
  • Total fighter aircraft: 139
  • Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145

9. Canada

fikretozk / iStock via Getty Images
  • Total helicopters: 143
  • Total attack helicopters: 0
  • Total military aircraft: 375
  • Total fighter aircraft: 65
  • Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145

8. Poland

Stocktrek Images / Stocktrek Images via Getty Images
  • Total helicopters: 215
  • Total attack helicopters: 30
  • Total military aircraft: 468
  • Total fighter aircraft: 59
  • Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

7. United Kingdom

  • Total helicopters: 276
  • Total attack helicopters: 52
  • Total military aircraft: 664
  • Total fighter aircraft: 120
  • Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145

6. Greece

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

5. Germany

HH-60W+Combat+Rescue+Helicopter | Sikorsky HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter
my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 318
  • Total attack helicopters: 55
  • Total military aircraft: 618
  • Total fighter aircraft: 133
  • Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145

4. Italy

Spain+Black+Hawk+helicopter | 180718-N-JI086-402
cne-cna-c6f / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 402
  • Total attack helicopters: 57
  • Total military aircraft: 800
  • Total fighter aircraft: 90
  • Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145

3. France

airlines470 / Flickr
  • Total helicopters: 447
  • Total attack helicopters: 69
  • Total military aircraft: 972
  • Total fighter aircraft: 224
  • Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145

2. Turkey

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

1. United States

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

 

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