This NATO Country Has a Whopping 971 Combat Helicopters

24/7 Wall St. Insights

NATO countries invest in combat helicopters to improve their military capabilities and remain prepared for possible conflict.
Combat helicopters serve roles including supply transport, troop support, and reconnaisance
Poland, the U.S., and France have the most combat helicopters (but you’ll have to read on to see which is 1st on the list!).
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The German Armed Forces recently invested more than €100m (approximately $108,907,500) in unguided 70mm-rockets to train combat helicopter pilots. Once the rockets are fitted to the Tiger attack helicopter, combat pilots can significantly build their skills. Rheinmetall shares that the synergy between the rocketry and combat aircraft enhances the German Armed Forces’ ability to target and engage enemy fighters. (Outside of aircraft, Germany is one of the NATO countries with the biggest tank armies.)

Germany’s combat helicopters are valuable tactical assets for the NATO member. In fact, combat aircraft across all NATO forces allow the military alliance to remain strong in both defense and attack capabilities. The benefit of combat helicopters sits in their cross-functionality. NATO members may deploy combat helicopters to quickly bring supplies to the battlefield, aid troops, and perform reconnaissance. As geopolitical conflict breaks out globally, these attack aircraft provide NATO with a step up over potential combatants. (Here are several countries currently at war.)

Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at NATO nations and the combat helicopters being purchased. To determine the NATO countries buying the most combat helicopters, 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 helicopters in total. We included supplemental information from GlobalFirePower regarding each country’s current air force and overall military strength ranking. Countries not currently ordering combat helicopters were excluded.

Within the NATO alliance, the United States has the largest and most diverse combat helicopter fleet. The UH-60 Black Hawk or CH-53K King Stallion are just two examples of U.S. military helicopters. Countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany also hold many combat helicopters. The UK’s Army Air Corps operates the Apache AH1, an adapted version of the American AH-64. Germany, on the other hand, utilizes the Eurocopter, developed jointly with France and tailored for anti-tank and close air support roles.

Why Are We Covering This?

The presence of advanced military helicopters throughout various NATO countries underscores their critical role in defense and conflict scenarios. As technology progresses, these helicopters are continually updated to remain at the forefront of military capabilities. This ensures that NATO remains prepared to address any emerging global security challenges.

Here are the NATO countries buying the most combat helicopters:

21. Latvia

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

20. Bulgaria

United States military helicopter. Combat US air force

Combat helicopters on order: 2
Types of helicopters on order: H215M/AS532
Total military aircraft: 65
Total helicopters: 27
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 4
Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145

19. Portugal

Pakistan+military | Task Force Denali: reflecting on flood relief efforts [Image 7 of 15]

Combat helicopters on order: 2
Types of helicopters on order: AW119
Total military aircraft: 117
Total helicopters: 38
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 0
Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145

18. Canada

Combat helicopters on order: 4
Types of helicopters on order: AW101 (SAR), S-92
Total military aircraft: 375
Total helicopters: 143
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 0
Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145

17. Lithuania

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

16. Slovenia

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

15. Slovakia

Combat helicopters on order: 12
Types of helicopters on order: AH-1Z
Total military aircraft: 37
Total helicopters: 22
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 0
Military strength score: 1.1891 – #69 out of 145

14. Norway

Combat helicopters on order: 13
Types of helicopters on order: AW101, S-70/MH-60R
Total military aircraft: 102
Total helicopters: 37
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 0
Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145

13. Hungary

Combat helicopters on order: 14
Types of helicopters on order: H225M
Total military aircraft: 62
Total helicopters: 38
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 8
Military strength score: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145

12. Netherlands

Combat helicopters on order: 14
Types of helicopters on order: H225M
Total military aircraft: 143
Total helicopters: 66
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 21
Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145

11. Czech Republic

Combat helicopters on order: 17
Types of helicopters on order: AH-1Z, UH-1Y
Total military aircraft: 88
Total helicopters: 33
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 3
Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145

10. United Kingdom

Combat helicopters on order: 28
Types of helicopters on order: AH-64D/E, CH-47 HC3/4/5/6/MH-47G
Total military aircraft: 664
Total helicopters: 276
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 52
Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145

9. Spain

Combat helicopters on order: 40
Types of helicopters on order: CH-47D/F, NH90 (NFH)
Total military aircraft: 513
Total helicopters: 121
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 17
Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145

8. Italy

Combat helicopters on order: 51
Types of helicopters on order: AW101, AW249
Total military aircraft: 800
Total helicopters: 402
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 57
Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145

7. Romania

Combat helicopters on order: 60
Types of helicopters on order: AH-1Z, H215M/AS332, UH-1Y
Total military aircraft: 131
Total helicopters: 67
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 0
Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145

6. Greece

Combat helicopters on order: 61
Types of helicopters on order: NH90 (TTH), S-70/MH-60R, S-70/UH-60
Total military aircraft: 632
Total helicopters: 289
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 29
Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145

5. Turkey

Combat helicopters on order: 93
Types of helicopters on order: S/T-70, T129
Total military aircraft: 1,069
Total helicopters: 502
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 111
Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145

4. Germany

Combat helicopters on order: 94
Types of helicopters on order: CH-47F, H145, NH90 (NFH)
Total military aircraft: 618
Total helicopters: 318
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 55
Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145

3. France

Combat helicopters on order: 100
Types of helicopters on order: H160/M, H225M
Total military aircraft: 972
Total helicopters: 447
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 69
Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145

2. Poland

Combat helicopters on order: 155
Types of helicopters on order: AH-64E, AW101, AW149
Total military aircraft: 468
Total helicopters: 215
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 30
Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145

1. United States

Combat helicopters on order: 971
Types of helicopters on order: AH-64D/E, MV-22, CH-53K, S-70/EH/HH/MH/UH-60
Total military aircraft: 13,209
Total helicopters: 5,737
Total attack helicopters aircraft: 1,000
Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145

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