In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was born. Both Canada and the United States were founding members. As part of the guiding rules for members, each member organization was requested to spend at least 2% gross domestic product (GDP) on defense. During the 2024 NATO Summit, which took place from July 4-11, 2024 in Washington, D.C., Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told other members that Canada would finally hit that mark by 2032. This has been a point of contention for other NATO members; Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson once said, “They have the safety and security of being on our border and not having to worry about that.” Should Canada increase their GDP spending for defense, the country will most likely expand its collection of military aircraft.
Most other NATO allies already have sizeable fleets of combat aircraft. In fact, France and Germany have the most fighter jets of any NATO members on the European continent. However, many other nations within NATO also have considerable air forces. At the same time, multiple NATO countries like Iceland or Luxembourg have no combat aircraft. These countries rely on the “collective defense” laid out in NATO’s Article 5, which states that an attack against one ally is an attack against all member countries. As such, all member countries are expected to come to their help if such a situation arose. (Here are the NATO members with the most military power.)
To determine the NATO countries with the most combat aircraft, 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 fighter and attack aircraft. We included supplemental information regarding each country’s current air force and overall military strength ranking. We excluded NATO countries that do not have any combat aircraft. When looking at the numbers below, remember that PwrIndx ranking is perfect at 0.0000.
Although some nations do not have standing air forces, the NATO members that do are flush with combat aircraft ready at a moment’s notice. (This is the most widely-used military aircraft on Earth.)
Why We’re Covering This
NATO is a collection of 32 militarily and politically allied countries who work to protect each other from potential security threats. By looking at which NATO countries possess the largest selection of military aircraft, you can understand NATO’s overall military strength, its defensive strategy, and the input from different members. If you’re interested in international relations and military affairs, the below information offers a clearer picture of NATO’s capabilities. Considering GDP, having more military aircraft could ultimately relate to stronger economic output.
Take a look at the NATO countries with the most combat aircraft:
22. Croatia
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 11
- Total military aircraft: 81
- Total helicopters: 52
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.1333 – #66 out of 145
21. Hungary
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 12
- Total military aircraft: 62
- Total helicopters: 38
- Total attack helicopters: 8
- Military strength score: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145
20. Romania
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 14
- Total military aircraft: 131
- Total helicopters: 67
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145
19. Bulgaria
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 16
- Total military aircraft: 65
- Total helicopters: 27
- Total attack helicopters: 4
- Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145
18. Czechia
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 28
- Total military aircraft: 88
- Total helicopters: 33
- Total attack helicopters: 3
- Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145
17. Portugal
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 28
- Total military aircraft: 117
- Total helicopters: 38
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145
16. Norway
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 30
- Total military aircraft: 102
- Total helicopters: 37
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145
15. Denmark
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 37
- Total military aircraft: 119
- Total helicopters: 34
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.7743 – #48 out of 145
14. Belgium
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 45
- Total military aircraft: 110
- Total helicopters: 20
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.2064 – #70 out of 145
13. Netherlands
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 52
- Total military aircraft: 143
- Total helicopters: 66
- Total attack helicopters: 21
- Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145
12. Finland
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 55
- Total military aircraft: 164
- Total helicopters: 27
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145
11. Canada
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 65
- Total military aircraft: 375
- Total helicopters: 143
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145
10. Sweden
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 71
- Total military aircraft: 212
- Total helicopters: 53
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.4009 – #29 out of 145
9. Poland
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 93
- Total military aircraft: 468
- Total helicopters: 215
- Total attack helicopters: 30
- Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145
8. United Kingdom
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 149
- Total military aircraft: 664
- Total helicopters: 276
- Total attack helicopters: 52
- Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145
7. Spain
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 151
- Total military aircraft: 513
- Total helicopters: 121
- Total attack helicopters: 17
- Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145
6. Italy
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 157
- Total military aircraft: 800
- Total helicopters: 402
- Total attack helicopters: 57
- Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145
5. Greece
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 194
- Total military aircraft: 632
- Total helicopters: 289
- Total attack helicopters: 29
- Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145
4. Turkey
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 205
- Total military aircraft: 1,069
- Total helicopters: 502
- Total attack helicopters: 111
- Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145
3. Germany
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 209
- Total military aircraft: 618
- Total helicopters: 318
- Total attack helicopters: 55
- Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145
2. France
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 224
- Total military aircraft: 972
- Total helicopters: 447
- Total attack helicopters: 69
- Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145
1. United States
- Total fighter and attack aircraft: 2,750
- Total military aircraft: 13,209
- Total helicopters: 5,737
- Total attack helicopters: 1,000
- Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145
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