Who has nearly double the air power of all other NATO countries combined?

VaselineSeptember 3, 2024

0 5 minutes read

Who has nearly double the air power of all other NATO countries combined?

24/7 Wall St. Perspectives

I used data from the year 2024 Military force ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense statistics website with information on 145 countries.
Iceland is the only NATO country without an army.
Also, 2 Dividend Legends to Keep Forever

After the end of World War II, 12 countries decided to form an alliance. In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created to provide collective security against the then Soviet Union. They aim to provide collective defense to each other, promote democracy around the world and defeat terrorism when possible. Today, with the recent addition of Sweden, 32 countries are involved in this collective.

NATO air forces provided various forms of support following the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the US, including the deployment of Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft to monitor any other potential threats in the region. Following the terrorist attack, NATO air forces worked together with the US to fight global terrorism. Although the US Air Force is stronger than any other NATO country in terms of technological advancement and fleet size, there are NATO countries with formidable air power, including some of the strongest air forces in the world.

To determine the NATO countries with the most military aircraft, 24/7 Wall St. revised 2024 Military force ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense statistics website with information on 145 countries. We have included additional information on fighter jets, attack jets and helicopters. We also included the overall military strength score, which is a composite of more than 60 measures in categories such as military power, finances, logistics capability, and geography. The lower the PowerIndex value, the stronger a nation’s theoretical conventional combat capability.

It is worth pointing out that there is one country in NATO that has no army and therefore no military aircraft, and that country is Iceland. This frozen nation has never created an air force despite being a founding member of NATO. Instead, Iceland relies on the collective defense guarantee in case military aircraft are needed.

Why this matters

Who has nearly double the air power of all other NATO countries combined?

NATO states its the purpose is “to defend the liberty and security of all its members.” NATO remains the most powerful military alliance in the world. NATO’s annual budget is billions of dollars and is financed by its member countries. The US is the second largest spender relative to its GDP, behind only Poland, contributing 3.5% of GDP to the NATO budget. Overall, the US contributes two-thirds of NATO’s budget.

Here are the NATO countries with the most military aircraft.

31. Iceland

Total military aircraft: 0
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 0
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 3.5038 – #136 of 145

30. Luxembourg

Total military aircraft: 1
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 0
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 2.1458 – #109 of 145

29. Estonia

Total military aircraft: 7
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 3
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 1.7237 – #87 of 145

28. Latvia

Latvia | Riga, the capital of Latvia

Total military aircraft: 7
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 7
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 1.9911 – #99 of 145

27. Lithuania

Total military aircraft: 9
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 4
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 1.7395 – #88 of 145

26. Montenegro

Total military aircraft: 11
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 11
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 2.9109 – #129 of 145

25. Albania

Total military aircraft: 19
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 19
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 1.8188 – #90 of 145

24. North Macedonia

Total military aircraft: 20
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 10
Attack helicopters: 4
Military Power Score: 2.1717 – #110 of 145

23. Slovakia

Total military aircraft: 37
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 22
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 1.1891 – #69 of 145

22. Slovenia

Total military aircraft: 38
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 12
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 1.8286 – #91 of 145

21. Hungary

Total military aircraft: 62
Fighter plane: 12
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 38
Attack helicopters: 8
Military Power Score: 0.8478 – #54 of 145

20. Bulgaria

Bulgaria Sukhoi | A pair of Bulgarian Air Force Sukhoi Su-25 jets flying over Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria.

Total military aircraft: 65
Fighter plane: 11
Attack aircraft: 5
Total helicopters: 27
Attack helicopters: 4
Military Power Score: 1.0132 – #62 of 145

19. Croatia

Aerial view of the capital city of Croatia, the main square of Zagreb, Europe. / Zagreb aerial cityscape Croatia.

Total military aircraft: 81
Fighter plane: 11
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 52
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 1.1333 – #66 of 145

18. The Czech Republic

Total military aircraft: 88
Fighter plane: 12
Attack aircraft: 16
Total helicopters: 33
Attack helicopters: 3
Military Power Score: 0.7706 – #46 of 145

17. Norway

Total military aircraft: 102
Fighter plane: 0
Attack aircraft: 30
Total helicopters: 37
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 0.5664 – #41 of 145

16. Belgium

Total military aircraft: 110
Fighter plane: 45
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 20
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 1.2064 – #70 of 145

15. Portugal

Total military aircraft: 117
Fighter plane: 28
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 38
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 0.5609 – #38 of 145

14. Denmark

Total military aircraft: 119
Fighter plane: 33
Attack aircraft: 4
Total helicopters: 34
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 0.7743 – #48 of 145

13. Romania

Total military aircraft: 131
Fighter plane: 14
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 67
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 0.7712 – #47 of 145

12. The Netherlands

Netherlands+F-35 | Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

Total military aircraft: 143
Fighter plane: 26
Attack aircraft: 26
Total helicopters: 66
Attack helicopters: 21
Military Power Score: 0.5644 – #40 of 145

11. Finland

Total military aircraft: 164
Fighter plane: 55
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 27
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 0.7967 – #50 of 145

10. Canada

Total military aircraft: 375
Fighter plane: 65
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 143
Attack helicopters: 0
Military Power Score: 0.3813 – #27 of 145

9. Poland

Total military aircraft: 468
Fighter plane: 59
Attack aircraft: 34
Total helicopters: 215
Attack helicopters: 30
Military Power Score: 0.2917 – #21 of 145

8. Spain

Total military aircraft: 513
Fighter plane: 139
Attack aircraft: 12
Total helicopters: 121
Attack helicopters: 17
Military Power Score: 0.2882 – #20 of 145

7. Germany

Total military aircraft: 618
Fighter plane: 133
Attack aircraft: 76
Total helicopters: 318
Attack helicopters: 55
Military Power Score: 0.2847 – #19 of 145

6. Greece

Total military aircraft: 632
Fighter plane: 194
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 289
Attack helicopters: 29
Military Power Score: 0.4349 – #32 of 145

5. United Kingdom

Total military aircraft: 664
Fighter plane: 120
Attack aircraft: 29
Total helicopters: 276
Attack helicopters: 52
Military Power Score: 0.1443 – #6 of 145

4. Italy

Total military aircraft: 800
Fighter plane: 90
Attack aircraft: 67
Total helicopters: 402
Attack helicopters: 57
Military Power Score: 0.1863 – #10 of 145

3. France

Total military aircraft: 972
Fighter plane: 224
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 447
Attack helicopters: 69
Military Power Score: 0.1878 – #11 of 145

2. Turkey

Total military aircraft: 1,069
Fighter plane: 205
Attack aircraft: 0
Total helicopters: 502
Attack helicopters: 111
Military Power Score: 0.1697 – #8 of 145

1. United States of America

Total military aircraft: 13,209
Fighter plane: 1,854
Attack aircraft: 896
Total helicopters: 5,737
Attack helicopters: 1,000
Military Power Score: 0.0699 – #1 of 145

Take this retirement quiz to be paired with an advisor now (sponsored)

Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, so it might be a good idea to talk to a trusted financial advisor about your goals today.

Get started by taking this retirement quiz right here at SmartAsset, which will match you with up to 3 financial advisors serving your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset now matches over 50,000 people per month.

Click here now to get started.

The post Who has almost twice the air power of all other NATO countries combined? appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..