Fleet size for leading countries by role

The Royal Thai Air Force ended operations with its Aero Vodochody L-39 trainers, with 33 removed from use. The same nation’s army, meanwhile, halted operations with the UH-1H, stripping 76 aircraft included in our previous listing. Also deleted are 30 Antonov An-30 transports previously operated by Vietnam’s air force.

However, Cirium data shows that other developments in the region included the Turkmenistan air force’s introduction of two Leonardo M-346FA combat aircraft, with another four on order. The service also has introduced five EMB-314/A-29s, a pair of Leonardo C-27J transports, and ordered eight AW139s from the Italian manufacturer.

Export success

Airbus Defence & Space, meanwhile, on 1 September announced its first export sale for the A400M Atlas, with Kazakhstan’s air force to field two examples from 2024.

In Europe, departures included Austria’s Saab 105 trainers, 19 of which were listed in our previous directory. This step leaves only the Swedish air force as still operating the type; although Stockholm in 2021 ordered seven Grob Aircraft G120TPs as eventual partial replacements.

Cyprus has removed its 11 Mi-35s from use, and reportedly is now offering the assault helicopters for sale.

Germany retired its A310 in-flight refuelling aircraft, having shifted to using a pooled NATO fleet of A330 multi-role tanker transports (MRTTs). With a growing fleet of A400Ms, its air force also reduced its C160 Transall fleet from 41 aircraft to just seven.

The German army, meanwhile, ended operations with its 62-strong fleet of UH-1Ds, declaring “Goodbye Huey!” The nation’s navy is to field five Boeing P-8A maritime patrol aircraft from 2024, under a Foreign Military Sales programme deal concluded with the USA in late September.

The Italian army in late October conducted its final operational flight with the AW109, retiring its last 15 examples.

Warsaw markedly cut the size of its aged PZL Mielec TS-11 fleet, from 36 to eight aircraft, as the Polish air force increased to 12 the number of M-346 advanced jet trainers in use.

After making increased use of its new A400Ms during Madrid’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Spanish air force in December 2020 retired its entire fleet of 10 C/KC-130Hs.

In the UK, the Royal Air Force retired its four Raytheon UK Sentinel R1 ground-surveillance aircraft, and also removed from use its last three Boeing E-3D Sentry airborne early warning platforms. The nation’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance fleet rationalisation effort also included the retirement of 10 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders, which had previously by operated by the Army Air Corps.

Combat aircraft Special mission

Country Active fleet Share 1. USA 2,740 19% 2. China 1,571 11% 3. Russia 1,511 9% 4. India 694 5% 5. North Korea 572 4% 6. South Korea 492 3% 7. Pakistan 447 3% 8. Saudi Arabia 364 3% 9. Egypt 338 2% 10. Taiwan 288 2% Other 5,696 39% Total 14,713 100%

Source: Cirium fleets data Country Active fleet Share 1. USA 774 39% 2. Japan 164 8% 3. Russia 132 7% 4. China 114 6% 5. India 71 4% 6. France 46 2% 7. Brazil 41 2% 8. Germany 41 2% 9. Austrailia 31 1% 10. South Korea 30 1% Other 566 28% Total 2,010 100% Tanker

Country Active fleet Share 1. USA 627 77% 2. Saudi Arabia 22 3% 3. Russia 20 2% 4. France 18 2% 5. Israel 11 1% 6. Singapore 11 1% 7. Italy 10 1% 8. United Kingdom 9 1% 9. Iran 7 1% 10. Turkey 7 1% Other 77 10% Total 819 100%

F-35A gained Swiss selection in 2021, defeating the rival Rafale and Typhoon

US Air Force 14,529

The Asia-Pacific region has the largest combined active fleet in the world, closely followed by North America

But in one of the major procurement decisions of 2021, Switzerland picked the F-35A to meet its future fighter needs, with Bern to acquire 36 of the stealthy type. It settled on the model following a competition also involving in its final phase the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Rafale and Typhoon.

Strong performance

France continued its strong fighter export performance of recent years, finalising a deal with Greece to supply its air force with 12 Rafales drawn from its own air force inventory – the first of which has already been transferred – along with six new-builds. Paris in turn ordered a dozen replacements. Croatia also selected the Rafale for a 12-aircraft requirement, again involving used examples.

In Africa, Zambia ended operations with its Mikoyan MiG-21s, 10 of which had been included in our previous directory. Nigeria had by early November received 10 of its 12 on-order A-29s, and introduced three Pakistan Aeronautical Complex/ Chengdu JF-17 fighters.

Embraer continued deliveries of its KC-390 to the Brazilian air force, which now has four examples, but further discussions will determine whether its launch customer may yet trim the size of its 28-unit order, as suggested in May 2021. The transport and tanker also is on order for Hungary (2) and Portugal (6).

The US Air Force (USAF), meanwhile, trimmed its Boeing B-1B bomber fleet, which fell from 59 to 43 active examples. The service also cut its Boeing KC-10 tanker fleet from 58 to 51, but will extend the use of its 78 Boeing B-52 bombers via a re-engining deal awarded to Rolls-Royce North America.

Unusually, our listing this year re-introduces a previously retired type, adding four Lockheed F-117A stealth fighters as being used in the advanced adversary training role for the USAF.

The US Army retired the last of its Bell 206/TH-67A trainers – 78 of which were in our previous listing – and began the process of transferring the bulk of these to other militaries, including Colombia’s air force. And the US Marine Corps no longer operates C-130T tankers, with its last seven having left use.

In regional terms, the Asia-Pacific has the largest combined fleet, at 14,529 aircraft, although its numerical lead over North America – where 97% of

Transport

Country Active fleet Share 1. USA 982 23% 2. Russia 445 10% 3. China 286 7% 4. India 253 6% 5. Brazil 125 3% 6. France 125 3% 7. Iran 85 2% 8. Turkey 81 2% 9. Colombia 77 2% 10. Indonesia 66 1% Other 1,775 41% Total 4,300 100% Combat helicopter

Country Active fleet Share 1. USA 5,463 27% 2. Russia 1,543 8% 3. China 912 5% 4. India 805 4% 5. South Korea 739 4% 6. Japan 554 3% 7. Turkey 474 2% 8. France 435 2% 9. Italy 400 2% 10. Egypt 313 1% Other 8,308 42% Total 19,946 100% Training aircraft/helicopters

Country Active fleet Share 1. USA 2,660 23% 2. Pakistan 551 5% 3. Russia 522 5% 4. Japan 425 4% 5. China 399 3% 6. India 353 3% 7. Egypt 341 3% 8. South Korea 289 3% 9. Turkey 277 2% 10. United Kingdom 247 2% Other 5,419 47% Total 11,483 100%