NATO Countries Buying the Most Combat Aircraft - 24/7 Wall St.

Special Report

Poland+air+force | General Dynamics F-16 "Fighting Falcon"

Published: March 30, 2024 10:50 am

Geopolitical tensions between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia remain high as the Red Army continues to make progress through Ukraine. The recent addition of Sweden to the NATO Alliance adds a mass of military forces in the Northern Europe region but there are smaller additions currently underway across the whole continent. NATO nations are stocking up on combat aircraft, more so than in years past. (These are the world’s future military aircraft.)

Modern militaries rely much more heavily on air power now than in the past as military doctrine has shifted greatly over time. In turn, much of this power is determined by how many combat ready aircraft are in any given air force. And currently, NATO is in the process of adding even more fighter jets to its growing forces.

To determine the NATO countries buying the most combat aircraft, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2024 World Air Forces report from FlightGlobal, an aviation and aerospace industry website. We ranked these countries according to which countries were ordering the most combat aircraft in total. We included supplemental information from GlobalFirePower regarding each country’s current air force and overall military strength ranking. We excluded countries that are not in the process of ordering combat aircraft.

One of the most sought after combat aircraft on the market now is the F-35 Lightning II in all of its variants. This fifth generation fighter jet was only introduced in 2016 but since hundreds of these jets have been manufactured and sold on the global market, namely to NATO nations or U.S. allies. (These are the countries buying the most F-35 fighter jets.)

The F-35 Lightning II occupies a unique spot among fighter jets as it is one of the most advanced currently on the market, sporting cutting-edge avionics and stealth technology that make it one of the most operationally capable jets in the world. NATO countries are loading up on this jet and many others as global tensions continue to rise.

Here is a look at the NATO countries buying the most combat aircraft:

25. Latvia

Combat aircraft on order: 1
Types of aircraft on order: S-70/UH-40M
Total military aircraft: 7
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 7
Military strength score: 1.9911 – #99 out of 145

24. Lithuania

Combat aircraft on order: 6
Types of aircraft on order: S-70/UH-60M
Total military aircraft: 9
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 4
Military strength score: 1.7395 – #88 out of 145

23. Slovenia

Combat aircraft on order: 6
Types of aircraft on order: AW139M
Total military aircraft: 38
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 12
Military strength score: 1.8286 – #91 out of 145

22. Bulgaria

Combat aircraft on order: 12
Types of aircraft on order: F-16V, H215m/AS532
Total military aircraft: 65
Total attack aircraft: 5
Total helicopters: 27
Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145

21. Croatia

Combat aircraft on order: 12
Types of aircraft on order: Rafale
Total military aircraft: 81
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 52
Military strength score: 1.1333 – #66 out of 145

20. Denmark

Combat aircraft on order: 17
Types of aircraft on order: F-35A
Total military aircraft: 119
Total attack aircraft: 4
Total helicopters: 34
Military strength score: 0.7743 – #48 out of 145

19. Hungary

Combat aircraft on order: 18
Types of aircraft on order: H225M, L-39NG
Total military aircraft: 62
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 38
Military strength score: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145

18. Slovakia

Combat aircraft on order: 24
Types of aircraft on order: AH-1Z, F-16V
Total military aircraft: 37
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 22
Military strength score: 1.1891 – #69 out of 145

17. Norway

Combat aircraft on order: 25
Types of aircraft on order: F-35A, S-70, AW101
Total military aircraft: 102
Total attack aircraft: 30
Total helicopters: 37
Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145

16. Netherlands

Combat aircraft on order: 32
Types of aircraft on order: F-35A, H225M
Total military aircraft: 143
Total attack aircraft: 26
Total helicopters: 66
Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145

15. Belgium

Combat aircraft on order: 34
Types of aircraft on order: A400M, F-35A
Total military aircraft: 110
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 20
Military strength score: 1.2064 – #70 out of 145

14. Czechia

Aero L-39 Albatros by Bernard Spragg

Aero L-39 Albatros (Public Domain/CC 1.0) by Bernard Spragg

Combat aircraft on order: 41
Types of aircraft on order: AH-1Z, F-35A, UH-1Y
Total military aircraft: 88
Total attack aircraft: 16
Total helicopters: 33
Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145

13. Finland

Combat aircraft on order: 64
Types of aircraft on order: F-35A
Total military aircraft: 164
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 27
Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145

12. Greece

Combat aircraft on order: 67
Types of aircraft on order: Rafale, S-70, NH90
Total military aircraft: 632
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 289
Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145

11. Sweden

Combat aircraft on order: 70
Types of aircraft on order: Gripen E
Total military aircraft: 212
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 53
Military strength score: 0.4009 – #29 out of 145

10. Spain

Combat aircraft on order: 85
Types of aircraft on order: Eurofighter, NH90, S-70
Total military aircraft: 513
Total attack aircraft: 12
Total helicopters: 121
Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145

9. Canada

Combat aircraft on order: 103
Types of aircraft on order: F-35, S-92, AW101
Total military aircraft: 375
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 143
Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145

8. Italy

Combat aircraft on order: 116
Types of aircraft on order: AW101, AW249, F-35A/B
Total military aircraft: 800
Total attack aircraft: 67
Total helicopters: 402
Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145

7. Turkey

Combat aircraft on order: 117
Types of aircraft on order: Hurkus C, S/T-70
Total military aircraft: 1,069
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 502
Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145

6. United Kingdom

Combat aircraft on order: 133
Types of aircraft on order: AH-64, CH-47, F-35B
Total military aircraft: 664
Total attack aircraft: 29
Total helicopters: 276
Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145

5. Romania

Romania+F-16 | 140409-F-FK724-127

Combat aircraft on order: 140
Types of aircraft on order: AH-1z, F-16A, F-35A
Total military aircraft: 131
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 67
Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145

4. Germany

EGVA - Eurofighter Typhoon EF2... by Steve Lynes

EGVA - Eurofighter Typhoon EF2... (CC BY 2.0) by Steve Lynes

Combat aircraft on order: 164
Types of aircraft on order: Eurofighter, F-35A
Total military aircraft: 618
Total attack aircraft: 76
Total helicopters: 318
Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145

3. France

Combat aircraft on order: 229
Types of aircraft on order: H160, H225M, Rafale
Total military aircraft: 972
Total attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 447
Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145

2. Poland

Combat aircraft on order: 233
Types of aircraft on order: AH-64, AW101, F-35A
Total military aircraft: 468
Total attack aircraft: 34
Total helicopters: 215
Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

1. United States

An Israeli F-35 Adir receives fuel from a Tennessee Air National Guard KC-135 as the aircraft make the flight across the Atlantic, Dec, 6, 2016. by ermaleksandr

An Israeli F-35 Adir receives fuel from a Tennessee Air National Guard KC-135 as the aircraft make the flight across the Atlantic, Dec, 6, 2016. (PDM 1.0 DEED) by ermaleksandr

Combat aircraft on order: 3,179
Types of aircraft on order: AH-64, F-35, S-70
Total military aircraft: 13,209
Total attack aircraft: 896
Total helicopters: 5,737
Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145

Read more: Special Report, Air Force, aircraft, F-35 Lightning II, fighter jet, military, NATO, NATO members power, Russia, United States, Military

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