When it comes to which air forces have the largest transport fleets, the United States Air Force dominates. The country’s fleet of C-5M and C-17 may look in a similar league to Russia, but on closer examination, the gap widens massively. All US tanker aircraft (KC-46As, KC-135s, KC-130s) have a secondary transport role, as do the tankers in service with European and other Allied air forces. Meanwhile, Russia has very few tanker aircraft, and the number of transport aircraft (Il-76s, An-124, Antonov turboprop series) in operational service is lower than nominal inventory numbers suggest.

The image is complicated by some air forces relying on semi-private cargo companies to provide transport services for the military. One notable example was the Ilyushin Il-76TD (registered RA-78765) that flew to Venezuela before Maduro was arrested. It is operated by the private company JSC Aviacon Zitontrans, which is known to have deep ties to Russian military logistics. This is not unique to Russia; all the UK’s Voyager tankers (A330 MRTTs) are privately owned and operated by AirTanker Holdings. Another complexity is that most air forces operate mostly unmodified civilian aircraft like A330s, Boeing 767s, and Boeing 757s for military airlift.

The Complications Of Comparing Transport Fleets

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It is somewhat difficult to rank the world’s air forces by transport aircraft, as sometimes a country’s inventories are not publicly disclosed and so need to be estimated. However, those estimates will often be based on historical purchases and satellite imagery, but run the risk of counting stored or derelict airframes. Countries like Russia do not have a neat, singular air base like the USAF’s Davis-Monthan boneyard for storing withdrawn airframes.

Another complication is that one transport aircraft is not the same as another. For example, the CASA CN-235 medium transport is not the same as a massive Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy. This can make one-to-one comparisons misleading or comedic. Another complication is that large helicopters, like the Boeing CH-47 Chinook, can perform some of the missions of smaller fixed-wing transports, but may not appear in lists.

A very important issue is that many military aircraft have multiple roles. For example, the US Air Force operates around 75% of the world’s tanker fleet (depending on inclusion criteria), but many of these aircraft also double up as transport aircraft. They can transport soldiers and cargo. The KC-46As and KC-135Rs dramatically increase the number of transport aircraft the USAF has.

US’ Strategic Transport Aircraft

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The world’s strategic transport aircraft include the C-5M, C-17, An-124, Ilyushin Il-76, Xi’an Y-20, and the Airbus A400M Atlas. The latter is a turboprop aircraft typically described as a strategic/tactical transport aircraft. The US is the only operator of the C-5M and has 52 examples in service. The USAF is also by far the largest operator of the C-17 Globemaster III, with 222 in inventory, of which around 200 are estimated to be operational.

The US’ fleet of C-5Ms and C-17s is one of the world’s hardest-working military transports. As the US has global commitments and the use of many air bases around the world, its transport is used on a truly global scale. Almost daily, they are flown in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia, with many more flights in South America, Africa, and elsewhere.

One of the reasons why these US transports fly globally is that they are capable of in-air refueling. This enables them to have an effectively unlimited range and to carry heavier loads. Transport aircraft unable to undertake in-air refueling may have to significantly cut down their payload to increase their range and fly longer routes. While the bulk of the USAF’s transport fleet is owned and operated by the USAF, it also contracts some services to Omega Aerial Refuelling Services and Metrea and their aircraft.

Russia’s Strategic Transport Fleet

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Russia has around 130 transport-configured Il-76s in service and around 10-15 operational An-124s. The Ilyushin Il-76 is also one of the few strategic transport aircraft currently in production, although it remains in low-rate production. Russia is currently prioritizing the delivery of new Il-76s to its armed forces to compensate for attritional losses and aircraft aging out of service. Overall, it appears the world’s Il-76 fleet is contracting despite ongoing production.

It can also be noted that some Il-76s are operated by somewhat shadowy organizations that appear to work for the Russian military. One example was the crash of the Il-76 serving Wagner operations in Mali in 2023. Wagner was a mercenary group that functioned as a paramilitary organization within Russia and was used for operations for which Russia wanted plausible deniability. This aircraft was officially operated by the Malian Air Force, having been transferred a week prior to the crash.

Various ostensibly privately operated Il-76s may meaningfully boost the number of Il-76s the Russian military has at its disposal. This is also true of An-124s, both with Russia and Ukraine. Planespotters.net currently lists the Russian Air Force as operating 13 An-124 (including with the 224th Flight Unit). Another seven are operated by the private freighter, Volga-Dnepr, but there is no clear distinction between government and civil aircraft. Russia is currently in the process of nationalizing the assets of Volga-Dnepr and adding its An-124 transports to its Air Force fleet.

China’s Strategic Transport Fleet

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Given the size of China and its massive military build-up over the last few years, its strategic transport fleet remains rather modest. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) is also currently in a transition away from legacy Soviet/Russian aircraft to its own domestic solutions, like the Xi’an Y-20 transport.

The PLAAF also doesn’t currently have globle trotting strategic transport requirements of the United States, or even those of Russia, the UK, or France, as it doesn’t have far-flung territories, military bases, or allies. It is important to note that China does not release inventory numbers, and so any numbers of China’s inventories are best-guess work done with open-source information. It is estimated to have around 20 Il-76 and around 100 domestically produced Xi’an Y-20s in service.

The Y-20 is one of the few strategic transport aircraft currently in production and entered service in 2016. The PLAAF remains the only operator of the aircraft, with most air forces currently purchasing the European A400M for strategic transport requirements (the C-130J and Embraer C-390 are popular for tactical transport). China’s aviation industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation as it develops domestic large turbofans and large commercial aircraft like the commercial C929 airliner.

European Air Forces’ Strategic Transport Fleets

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The Airbus A400M is the primary transport aircraft of the Europeans, although Il-76 and An-124 are also used by Ukraine. The Royal Air Force is currently the only European national operator of the C-17, with eight examples in service. Another three C-17s are part of the multi-nation Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing.

Germany is the largest operator of the A400M Atlas with 53 examples in service, followed by France (25), the UK (22), Spain (14), Turkey (ten), Belgium (seven), and Luxembourg (one). France has ordered a total of 50, while Spain’s total order is 27. Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to have an unknown number of Il-76s in service. Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines also operates seven An-124s, and these are used for Ukrainian military needs. Separately, many of Iran’s transport aircraft were destroyed in 2026.

Another air force with notable strategic transport capability is India, which has 11 Boeing C-17s and 17 Il-76s in service. Some other nations operate C-17s (Australia, Canada, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE), A400s (Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Indonesia), and Il-76s, but these are in modest numbers. Most air forces (large and small) heavily rely on tactical turboprop transports like C-130s, CN-235s, C-390s, and legacy Antonov series for their transport needs.

Turboprops & Tanker Aircraft

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Turboprop aircraft provide the bulk of the fixed-wing transportation for air forces around the world. The US Air Force operates fewer than 100 cargo transport-configured legacy C-130 Hercules and over 140 upgraded C-130J Super Hercules. It has hundreds more C-130 and other smaller transport aircraft across its armed and government services, including Herks configured for other roles (like the MC-130J Commando IIs). Russia’s turboprops are dominated by Antonov aircraft. Dallas Analytics published an article saying that Russia has 368 Antonov series (An-22, An-26, An-30, and An-7) aircraft in inventory across its armed forces, National Guard, and FSB.

Of these, 143 need repair, and 225 are operational. It adds that Russia’s Antonov aircraft will soon need to be withdrawn from service as Russia is struggling to maintain them. It adds that there is no replacement for them in Russia. The collapse of Russia’s transport fleet, coupled with the need to skirt sanctions, is forcing it to rely increasingly on commercial civilian aircraft. That said, on paper, Russia continues to operate a large transport fleet.

If tanker aircraft (A330 MRTT, KC-46As, KC-135/707s, and Il-78s) are added to the transport list, then numbers change significantly. The USAF gets around 400 more transport aircraft (approx. 100 KC-46s, 300+ KC-135s), Saudi Arabia 13 (MRTTs, 707s), Russia 19 (Il-78s), France 12 (MRTTs), the UK 14 (MRTTs), Singapore six (MRTTs), Israel six (707s), and so forth. The transport role of these aircraft was on display during the 2021 Kabul Airlift when the RAF Voyager/MRTT fleet assisted the C-17s and A400Ms in transporting evacuees to the UK.