America vs. China: Which Air Force is Superior?

24/7 Wall St. Insights

Fighter jets play an important role in air power and military strength, with applications from surveillance to combat.
Nations with the largest aircraft fleet typically have more fighter jets and allocate more to their military budget.
Also: 2 Dividend Legends to Hold Forever

A NATO security station located in Germany recently sighted unidentified aircraft flying through Baltic airspace. NATO’s principle of collective defence means that NATO members not only defend their own countries, but the countries of other NATO allies. As such, Italy scrambled Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to intercept the unidentified aircraft. While few details are known, many believe that unidentified aircraft could be associated with Russia, given the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. (What has Europe donated to Ukraine?)

Fighter jets are an important tool for any military power. These aircraft are multi-purpose, contributing to a broad spectrum of war efforts. Just like the Eurofighter Typhoon jets deployed by Italy, fighter aircraft can intercept potential threats, conduct surveillance and reconnaissance, assist with ground missions, and play a strategic role in establishing a nation’s air superiority. You might not be surprised to hear that both the United States and China lead the world in fighter jets as they vie for air dominance in the Pacific. Both countries have extensive defense budgets which they use to invest in their impressively large and technologically advanced air forces. (This is every aircraft in the U.S. Air Force.)

Here, 24/7 Wall St. examines the air power of other countries across the globe with a list of the top 21 countries with the most fighter jets. We used data from the 2024 report, World Air Forces, from FlightGlobal, an aviation and aerospace industry website to bring you this list. We based our rankings on the number of fighter jets in each country’s active military fleet. Additionally, we’re providing you with information on the overall fleet size and the most common fighter jet, also via FlightGlobal. We’ve added military expenditure amounts from 2022 using data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Military Expenditure Database. This is the most recent data at the time of publication.

Outside of the U.S. and China, Russia is another prominent global contender for most fighter jets. Its fighter jet fleet includes over 1,500 aircraft. While smaller in total quantity compared to the U.S., Russia has earned praise for specific fighter jets. The Russian Su-57, and the well-established and dependable MiG-29 and Su-30, represent the foundation of the Russian fighter fleet.

Here are the countries with the largest fighter jet fleets:

Why Are We Covering This?

United States jet aircraft pilot flight suit uniform with American flag patch.

The first fighter jets changed the course of warfare during World War II when the German Me 262 attacked a British aircraft in 1944. Since then, fighter jets have evolved tremendously, with the U.S. currently testing jets piloted by artificial intelligence. Driven by the competition with China, these new technologies are sure to lead the shift of what’s to come with fighter jets around the world. 24/7 wants you to be aware of which countries are leading the race to have the airforce with the most fighter jets in its arsenal.

21. Singapore

Total Fighter Jets: 100 (40.4% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 247 (ranking 40 out of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-16C/D (60 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: Unlisted

20. United Kingdom

Total Fighter Jets: 149 (22.4% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 664 (ranking 16 out of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: Eurofighter Typhoon (120 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $68.5 billion (ranking 6 out of 172)

19. Spain

Total Fighter Jets: 139 (27.1% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 513 (ranking 23 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: EF-18M/F/A-18A (71 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $20.3 billion (ranking 16 of 172)

18. Greece

Total Fighter Jets: 194 (30.6% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 632 (ranking 17 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-16C (115 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $8.1 billion (ranking 31 of 172)

17. Germany

Total Fighter Jets: 209 (33.8% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 618 (ranking 18 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: Eurofighter (133 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $55.8 billion (ranking 7 of 172)

16. Iran

Total Fighter Jets: 209 (37.9% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 551 (ranking 22 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-4D/E/RF-4E (63 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $6.8 billion (ranking 34 of 172)

15. Turkey

Total Fighter Jets: 205 (19.1% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 1,069 (ranking 9 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-16C (157 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $10.6 billion (ranking 23 of 172)

14. France

Total Fighter Jets: 224 (23.0% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 972 (ranking 10 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: Rafale B/C (92 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $53.6 billion (ranking 8 of 172)

13. Syria

Total Fighter Jets: 225 (49.7% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 452 (ranking 29 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: MiG-23 (87 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: Unlisted

12. Japan

Total Fighter Jets: 253 (17.3% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 1,459 (ranking 6 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-15J (155 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $46.0 billion (ranking 10 of 172)

11. Israel

Total Fighter Jets: 280 (45.7% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 612 (ranking 19 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-16C/I (175 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $23.4 billion (ranking 15 of 172)

10. Taiwan

Total Fighter Jets: 286 (39.3% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 726 (ranking 14 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-16A/V (111 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $12.5 billion (ranking 21 of 172)

9. Egypt

Total Fighter Jets: 326 (30.2% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 1,080 (ranking 8 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-16A/C (168 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $4.6 billion (ranking 46 of 172)

8. Saudi Arabia

Total Fighter Jets: 364 (40.5% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 897 (ranking 12 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-15C/S/SA (211 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $75.0 billion (ranking 5 of 172)

7. Pakistan

Total Fighter Jets: 477 (33.3% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 1,434 (ranking 7 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-7 (135 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $10.3 billion (ranking 24 of 172)

6. South Korea

Total Fighter Jets: 452 (28.7% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 1,576 (ranking 5 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-5E (153 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $46.4 billion (ranking 9 of 172)

5. North Korea

Total Fighter Jets: 572 (60.4% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 947 (ranking 11 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-7 (120 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: Unlisted

4. India

Total Fighter Jets: 736 (32.1% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 2,296 (ranking 4 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: Su-30 (266 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $81.4 billion (ranking 4 of 172)

3. Russia

Total Fighter Jets: 1,539 (36.1% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 4,255 (ranking 2 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: Su-27/30/35 (365 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $86.4 billion (ranking 3 of 172)

2. China

Total Fighter Jets: 1,578 (47.8% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 3,304 (ranking 3 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: J-7 (387 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $292.0 billion (ranking 2 of 172)

1. United States

Total Fighter Jets: 2,750 (20.8% of total fleet)
Total Military Aircraft: 13,209 (ranking 1 of 145)
Most Common Fighter Jet: F-16C (738 aircraft)
Defense Expenditure: $876.9 billion (ranking 1 of 172)

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