Military

This Country Has the Most Attack Helicopters: The Top 32, Ranked

Israel+apache+helicopter | TOPSHOTS-ISRAEL-AIR FORCE-GRADUATION
diariocriticove / Flickr

Over the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, attack helicopters have played an important role in determining how it has played out so far. Currently, Russia boasts the second largest fleet of attack helicopters in the world, second only to the United States, and it has tipped the scales of this conflict in Russia’s favor. The importance of these attack helicopters cannot be understated. (These are the future military helicopters of the world.)

Combining various operational roles on the battlefield, attack helicopters are an important part of any strategy on the battlefield. These aircraft are capable of reconnaissance, some can transport troops, but all are capable of laying down heavy fire.

Here 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at countries with the most helicopters that play combat roles. To determine the countries with the most attack 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 attack 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.

The United States has the largest attack helicopter fleet in the world with a range of helicopters filling a wide variety of roles. Other NATO countries like Turkey and France rank relatively high on this list as well, each having sizable helicopter fleets. (These are the helicopters used in the Vietnam War.)

On the other hand, Russia and China fill out a few of the top spots on this list as perennial global superpowers. The military buildup in these countries over the last decade has seen a rise in the production of these military assets and there is no doubt that in the years to come there will be even more attack helicopters in their arsenals.

Here is a look at the countries with the largest fleets of attack helicopters:

32. Netherlands

  • Total attack helicopters: 21
  • Total helicopters: 66
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 52
  • Total military aircraft: 143
  • Military strength score:: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145

31. Kazakhstan

  • Total attack helicopters: 22
  • Total helicopters: 75
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 119
  • Total military aircraft: 243
  • Military strength score:: 0.9495 – #58 out of 145

30. Australia

  • Total attack helicopters: 22
  • Total helicopters: 79
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 84
  • Total military aircraft: 325
  • Military strength score:: 0.2515 – #16 out of 145

29. Qatar

  • Total attack helicopters: 24
  • Total helicopters: 67
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 98
  • Total military aircraft: 228
  • Military strength score:: 1.0789 – #63 out of 145

28. Belarus

  • Total attack helicopters: 25
  • Total helicopters: 64
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 88
  • Total military aircraft: 183
  • Military strength score:: 1.0901 – #64 out of 145

27. Syria

canaran / iStock via Getty Images
  • Total attack helicopters: 27
  • Total helicopters: 153
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 225
  • Total military aircraft: 452
  • Military strength score:: 1.0026 – #60 out of 145

26. Bahrain

  • Total attack helicopters: 28
  • Total helicopters: 74
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 18
  • Total military aircraft: 120
  • Military strength score:: 1.7163 – #86 out of 145

25. Greece

usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 29
  • Total helicopters: 289
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 194
  • Total military aircraft: 632
  • Military strength score:: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145

24. United Arab Emirates

  • Total attack helicopters: 30
  • Total helicopters: 246
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 117
  • Total military aircraft: 560
  • Military strength score:: 0.8083 – #51 out of 145

23. Poland

Poland+apache+helicopter | Saber Strike 15
usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 30
  • Total helicopters: 215
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 93
  • Total military aircraft: 468
  • Military strength score:: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

22. Uzbekistan

  • Total attack helicopters: 33
  • Total helicopters: 100
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 71
  • Total military aircraft: 191
  • Military strength score:: 1.1069 – #65 out of 145

21. Ukraine

Volodymyr Vorobiov / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total attack helicopters: 33
  • Total helicopters: 130
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 102
  • Total military aircraft: 321
  • Military strength score:: 0.2598 – #18 out of 145

20. Saudi Arabia

  • Total attack helicopters: 34
  • Total helicopters: 262
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 364
  • Total military aircraft: 914
  • Military strength score:: 0.3235 – #23 out of 145

19. Sudan

  • Total attack helicopters: 35
  • Total helicopters: 64
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 77
  • Total military aircraft: 170
  • Military strength score:: 1.4119 – #76 out of 145

18. Iraq

  • Total attack helicopters: 40
  • Total helicopters: 197
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 61
  • Total military aircraft: 371
  • Military strength score:: 0.7441 – #45 out of 145

17. India

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
  • Total attack helicopters: 40
  • Total helicopters: 869
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 736
  • Total military aircraft: 2,296
  • Military strength score:: 0.1023 – #4 out of 145

16. Jordan

  • Total attack helicopters: 43
  • Total helicopters: 148
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 50
  • Total military aircraft: 265
  • Military strength score:: 1.4651 – #80 out of 145

15. Israel

  • Total attack helicopters: 48
  • Total helicopters: 146
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 280
  • Total military aircraft: 612
  • Military strength score:: 0.2596 – #17 out of 145

14. United Kingdom

U.S. Department of Defense / Public Domain / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 52
  • Total helicopters: 276
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 149
  • Total military aircraft: 664
  • Military strength score:: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145

13. Germany

usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 55
  • Total helicopters: 318
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 209
  • Total military aircraft: 618
  • Military strength score:: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145

12. Italy

thenationalguard / CC BY 2.0 /Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 57
  • Total helicopters: 402
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 157
  • Total military aircraft: 800
  • Military strength score:: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145

11. Pakistan

  • Total attack helicopters: 57
  • Total helicopters: 352
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 477
  • Total military aircraft: 1,434
  • Military strength score:: 0.1711 – #9 out of 145

10. France

VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total attack helicopters: 69
  • Total helicopters: 447
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 224
  • Total military aircraft: 972
  • Military strength score:: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145

9. Algeria

njnationalguard / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 75
  • Total helicopters: 298
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 144
  • Total military aircraft: 605
  • Military strength score:: 0.3589 – #26 out of 145

8. Taiwan

  • Total attack helicopters: 91
  • Total helicopters: 236
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 286
  • Total military aircraft: 750
  • Military strength score:: 0.3302 – #24 out of 145

7. Egypt

Light+Attack+Helicopter | Helicopter Care
marine_corps / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 100
  • Total helicopters: 338
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 326
  • Total military aircraft: 1,080
  • Military strength score:: 0.2283 – #15 out of 145

6. Turkey

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

5. South Korea

  • Total attack helicopters: 112
  • Total helicopters: 758
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 452
  • Total military aircraft: 1,576
  • Military strength score:: 0.1416 – #5 out of 145

4. Japan

Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
  • Total attack helicopters: 119
  • Total helicopters: 577
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 253
  • Total military aircraft: 1,459
  • Military strength score:: 0.1601 – #7 out of 145

3. China

Z-10+Fierce+Thunderbolt | CAIC "Z-10" (Chinese: 直-10 for 直升机, helicopter), also called "WZ-10"
Robert Sullivan / Public Domain / Flickr
  • Total attack helicopters: 281
  • Total helicopters: 913
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 1,578
  • Total military aircraft: 3,304
  • Military strength score:: 0.0706 – #3 out of 145

2. Russia

aarrows / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Total attack helicopters: 559
  • Total helicopters: 1,547
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 1,539
  • Total military aircraft: 4,255
  • Military strength score:: 0.0702 – #2 out of 145

1. United States

Thinkstock
  • Total attack helicopters: 1,000
  • Total helicopters: 5,737
  • Total fighter and attack aircraft: 2,750
  • Total military aircraft: 13,209
  • Military strength score:: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145

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