Broadly speaking, during a conflict, two types of military jets are deployed: those fit for purpose and whatever a country happens to have. Deploying the best aircraft is a luxury most air forces do not have. In most conflicts, the United States Air Force and Western Air Forces will deploy examples of most types of military jets in service, though there are frequently exceptions, particularly for the resource-rich USAF.

The go-to for almost all air forces is to deploy fighter jets. However, the USAF needs to deploy these half a world away, so it also deploys a massive range of supporting radar, transport, patrol, and refueling aircraft. The RAF and French air forces also do this, although on a much smaller scale. A big factor in what to deploy is where the deployment is. If the deployment is a border clash (e.g., Pakistan and India in 2025), then tanker aircraft may not be necessary; if it is the USAF deploying to the Middle East, then tankers are vital.

Air Forces Without A Choice

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During the US and Israeli air campaign against Iran in 2026, the allies employed a wide range of leading 5th- and upgraded 4.5th-generation fighter jets. Iran responded by initially patrolling the skies above Tehran with Yak-130 advanced trainers and old MiG-29s. It attempted a daring raid with obsolete Su-24 Fencers and may have had a successful strike with an outdated Northrop F-5.

These are not the aircraft Iran would have wanted to have responded with. It would have preferred to have used the Su-35 fighter jet that was rumored to be purchased from Russia. However, by the time of the outbreak of hostilities, these were not available, and so, dramatically outclassed aircraft was all it had to work with.

Ukraine responded in 2022 by deploying legacy Su-25s, Su-24s, Su-27s, and MiG-29s, because those are what it had. While the rest of this article will discuss the aircraft used by air forces such as those of the US, China, Russia, and others, most air forces have far less depth and selection of platforms. The reality check is that, in a real-world conflict, a military will get on and do what it has to with what it has, not what it wishes it had.

Jets The US Deploys

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In the 2026 air campaign, the US Air Force deployed almost all types of jet-powered aircraft it has, including the venerable A-10 Warthog. The United States not only operates a wide variety of aircraft, but it also operates only aircraft that remain operationally relevant. The service does not operate prestige aircraft or obsolete aircraft to make up the numbers.

In the campaign, the USAF deployed all three types of its bombers (B-1, B-2, B-52), all jet-powered transports (C-17, C-5M), all fighter jets (A-10, F-15, F-16, F-35, F-22), and all tankers (KC-135, KC-46). The same was true of the Navy/Marines bringing F/A-18s, EA-18Gs, and F-35s to the conflict. The only combat aircraft that didn’t turn up was the outgoing AV-8B Harrier II operated by the Marines. That aircraft is in its eleventh hour and is expected to be deactivated in 2026 as the final amphibious assault ship (deployed in the Caribbean) heads into refit.

In the conflict, the US deployed P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft, E11A BACN/command and control aircraft, RC-135 River Joint, and other aircraft. The US also has a selection of jet-powered drones. The secretive RQ-170 was filmed returning after having taken part in the 2026 operation to snatch Venezuela’s Maduro.

The Jets Russia Deploys

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Russia is an interesting case as it is a hybrid air force made up of a mixture of modern fighter jets, aging aircraft, and prestige aircraft. These allow it to make up the numbers and allow Russia to claim great power status. It appears that almost all combat aircraft types in Russian service have seen combat in Ukraine since 2022, although with nuances. Firstly, it appears Russia didn’t use its prestige Tu-160 bomber until 2025, after Operation Spiderweb took out around 20% of its remaining operational strategic bomber fleet. This might have been in an effort to make up for diminished numbers of Tu-22s and Tu-95s.

While Russia still reportedly has hundreds of old MiG-29s in service, none are confirmed to have been lost in Ukraine by the Oryx blog. This suggests that from the outset, Russia has refrained from using them in frontline duties. Something similar applies to the old Su-27 Flankers that Russia has in service. Of the three lost, two appear to have been hit on the ground. At the start, Russia heavily used its Su-24 Fencer fighter-bombers, but these seem to have largely disappeared from frontline duties and are mostly seen on rare echelon missions, such as patrols.

The ground-attack Su-25 Frogfoot also seems to be diminishing over time. Unlike the USAF, Russia’s limited fleet of Il-78 tankers is mostly used to sustain long-range bomber patrols and is therefore not “deployed” in any reasonable sense. Increasingly, Russia’s “deployed” fighter jets seem to be contracting to its core fleet of Su-34, Su-30, Su-35, and upgraded MiG-31s. The MiG-31s are mostly used to carry Kinzhel air-launched ballistic missiles, while the Su-57 Felon’s presence is slowly becoming more relevant as stocks grow and the platform matures.

The Jets China Deploys

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China is also an interesting air force as it is an air force in transition. It is one that now has over 300 advanced J-20 air superiority fighters in service, but also may still have hundreds of ancient J-7s remaining in service. Note that the status of some of these old platforms can be confusing, as it’s unclear whether they are still in service or have finally been retired. Another complication is that, unlike the US and Russia, China has not engaged in a high-level conflict in recent years.

That said, there is some reason to believe that in a large-scale conflict, China might deploy all its fighter jets to some extent. China is known to be retrofitting its ancient Shenyang J-6 fighters (derived from the Soviet MiG-19) as one-way attack drones, essentially transforming them into cruise missiles. In China’s case, “deployed” can be readied for a pilotless kamikaze mission.

In a large-scale conflict, it’s not so much a question about whether China would deploy its H-6 bombers as whether it would deem all the many variants fit for deployment. During peacetime in the South China Sea, China typically deploys its more advanced J-16s, naval J-15s, J-10s, and J-20s, while the next-generation carrier-based J-35 is working up. These would likely be at the forefront of fighter jet deployments in the event of a large-scale conflict.

Western European Air Forces

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As a rule of thumb, Western European air forces only operate aircraft types considered relevant and deployable. For example, the RAF has just two types of fighters, the F-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon. These are regularly deployed along with the Voyager (A330 MRTT) tanker aircraft, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, RC-135 River Joint surveillance aircraft, C-17 Globemaster III transports, and A400M Atlas transports (the latter not a jet aircraft).

Perhaps a more interesting question is to what degree France would deploy its older Mirage 2000s if it had the option to deploy more advanced Rafales. Another question is if the German Air Force would be less willing to deploy some of its aging Panavia Tornados if it had Eurofighters available and able to carry out the mission. That said, the German Panavia Tornado is responsible for carrying the shared US-US B61 nuclear bombs, and its Tornado ECR variants are responsible for SEAD missions.

In the European context, being deployed often means being sent to the Baltic or elsewhere to provide the states with air defense and to intercept Russian aircraft. The aircraft used for this tend to be Eurofighters, F-35s, legacy F/A-18s, F-16s, Rafales, and Gripens. It’s also worth noting that the number of aircraft in service with the RAF is quite small, but most of those in service tend to be heavily used and deployed.

Why Military Aircraft Are Not Deployed

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Military jet-powered aircraft not deployed to conflicts will tend to fall into one of several categories. One category is that they are not intended for deployment on combat missions (e.g., the RAF’s BAE Hawk trainers). Another category is that they are largely obsolete aircraft left on the books, often for PR value (e.g., Russia’s MiG-29s and Su-27s). Occasionally, they may be prestige aircraft that the country is not willing to lose.

Examples of that include the Tu-160 and, to some extent, the Su-57, which Russia has used carefully. British Intelligence assessed earlier that Russia was wary of losing a Su-57 in combat due to the fear of reputational loss for Russia and the program. Another reason not to deploy an aircraft type is that it may be too valuable to lose. A plausible hypertheoretical scenario could be the US using only its older B-2s in a future Iran conflict, rather than its cutting-edge B-21s (expected to enter service in 2027).

Even the small chance that a B-21 could be lost, and its tech delivered to China, could be unacceptable. The Air Force may want to “save” these aircraft for the right adversary. Lastly, not all aircraft are suitable for all conflicts. This is less relevant for smaller European air forces whose aircraft generally need to do a bit of everything, but more relevant for the USAF, which has specialized aircraft. For example, the F-22 air dominance fighter may have little use in some counterinsurgency operations.