An April 2025 study by an international group of researchers reported to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute that the top five military spenders in the world account for 60% of all defense spending on the planet. Those five nations, in order of biggest spender, are the United States, China, Russia, Germany, and India.

Data compiled by World Population Review confirms that the USA is the undisputed world champion of air power. The global air forces’ fleet of military aircraft is constantly fluctuating, and interestingly, fleet sizes do not follow the same ranking as the budget. Indeed, Russia is ahead of China in terms of aircraft inventory, and Germany is the smallest by a considerable margin after India’s total fleet count.

The US Sits At The Top Of The Pile

Credit: US Air Force

This analysis will assess the air forces’ overall military capacity to perform the entire strategic role of an aviation branch, such as tankers, fighters, helicopters, airlift, and other platforms. Sources like the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft attempt to provide a rating system that considers a lot of variables that are subjective or difficult to verify. This will be a simpler review to cover the basics of each air force and what it spends its money on every year.

Most won’t be surprised to learn that the United States continues to lead by a significant margin in the realm of air power. Indeed, tbudget of the US Armed Forces is 37% of the total worldwide defense budget when combining every nation. The US Air Force even edged out the Army for the largest share of the total defense budget in 2025. The top five air forces by budget are detailed in the table below.

The Chinese budget is largely growing due to a push for modernization that focuses on stealth and uncrewed platforms. Russia has increased spending to support its invasion of Ukraine. Similarly, Germany is the second-largest donor to Ukraine for military aid after the US. Germany raised its defense budget by 28% in 2024 to ramp up industry in light of the open aggression of Russia. India has increasingly built up its defense capability domestically, but aerospace is one area where imports are still significant.

Fighter Jets By The Numbers

Credit: US Air Force

The United States has a much greater number of advanced fighters than any other force in the world. It also has a significantly larger number of fifth-generation aircraft than any other military, and the disparity is growing. The F-35 Lightning II made by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division is the first stealth fighter produced in truly large numbers, and has given the US and its allies a major advantage.

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force is almost certainly in possession of more stealth aircraft than Russia as the Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon is continuing to improve and has passed the 200 mark in total made to date. Its other aircraft, like the J-11 and J-16, are based on Russian designs like the Su-27. However, some other domestic origin airframes have been successful, like the J-17, which has a similar role to the US F-16 Fighting Falcon.

The Russian Sukhoi Su-57 Felon is rarely seen, and the total made is believed to be in the low tens. The Russian aerospace industry is struggling due to sanctions, which restrict a large number of critical components that the country relied on and was not prepared to make domestically.

Germany has over 100 Eurofighter Typhoons in its inventory, but also ordered 35 F-35 fighters from the US to supplement its force with a stealth platform. Germany also flies Panavia Tornado fighters in a primarily strike role, but they are being retired. Germany is participating in the sixth-generation Future Combat Air System with Spain and France, but disagreements over the economic aspect are problematic, according to Politico.

India has been in discussions with Lockheed Martin to possibly produce F-16V jets under license, known as the F-21. It’s unclear if India will acquire an export Su-57 or F-35 for its fifth-gen fighter program, but they are reportedly considering both. Russia has still not delivered an export Su-57 to its existing customer, Algeria, making its reliability suspect.

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What About Strike Aircraft?

Credit: PLAAF

There are presently just three powers that have bombers in the long-range, strategic strike class: China, the US, and Russia. The US is not at the top of this comparison in terms of quantity, but it is the only country with both a stealth and super-heavy bomber like the B-52 in inventory. The B-52 has been in operation for almost a century and is still peerless.

One of the most valuable and significant strategic assets in the whole US military is the small fleet of 19 Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirits. The B-2 is the only fifth-generation platform of the three air forces. Although there are currently no documented PLAAF stealth bombers, recent social media leaks have shown pictures of what appear to be prototypes in flight.

The turboprop Tupolev Tu-95 Bear and the jet-engine X’ian H-6 are the main platforms of the Chinese and Russian bomber fleet. Similar to the Boeing (previously Rockwell) B-1B Lancer, the Russian strategic air forces have the supersonic Tu-22M Backfire and Tu-160 Blackjack.

Germany and India do not possess any bomber types, but both have maritime strike aircraft with a more limited capacity to drop ordnance, but strong intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance qualities. India has a growing fleet of Boeing P-8A Poseidons, and Germany recently received its first of eight of these jets.

Helicopters By The Numbers

Credit: US Navy

There is no competition when it comes to helicopter forces: America’s rotary-wing fleet is not only greater in size than any other military in the world, but it is also superior in terms of technology. The Army alone can field more than 4,000 of the total 5,509, with the rest primarily owned by the Navy and Marines, and the USAF owning a small cadre.

The Army’s AH-64 Apache is widely considered the best attack helicopter in the world. According to Boeing, the growing number of international operators has reached 22 countries as the global fleet of AH-64s has reached 1,280 since it debuted in 1986. The US is also the first nation to successfully deploy a combat-ready tilt-wing aircraft, the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, flown by the USAF, US Navy, and US Marines.

The closest comparable Russian models are the Mil Mi-24 Hind, Mi-28 Havoc, and Kamov Ka-52 Hokum. Unlike the Apache, they haven’t had major modifications in decades. The domestic helicopter business in China is still in its infancy and has only yielded a small fleet to date. The CAIC H-10 is its premier attack helicopter, while the Harbin Z-20 is the main utility helicopter.

Elsewhere, the German Air Force has a limited number of helicopters, primarily flying Sikorsky CH-53 Stallions for heavy lift and VIP helicopters. The Army has the bulk with 161, which includes Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters and NH-90 utility helicopters, as well as some others.

Boeing dominates the transport helicopter market thanks to the thousands of tandem-rotor, heavy-duty CH-47 Chinooks. In the utility class, the majority of the Army’s fleet is the Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk. The Apache is the attack helicopter of choice for India as well, but HAL has made a small number of the LCH, light combat helicopter, that it hopes to mass-produce in the future.

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Airlift Fleet Strength

Credit: US Air Force

The USAF is the most dominant in this field in terms of the sheer number of airframes. More than 700 of the US military’s fixed-wing cargo planes are in the Air Force. The massive Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, one of the biggest airplanes ever built, accounts for more than 50 of them. The C-5 is capable of carrying fighter planes, partially dismantled helicopters, and two 75-ton M1 Abrams main battle tanks for the US Army to any point on Earth.

Russia’s Air Force still possesses a sizable airlift capability due to the immensity of Russia’s wilderness. The Antonov An-124 Ruslan is the largest military airlifter by payload capacity in the world since the destruction of the An-225 Mirya in Ukraine by Russia. However, its fleet has dwindled, and its reliability, efficiency, and range pale in comparison to the C-5.

China has been bolstering this aspect of its air forces with the recent launch of the X’ian Y-20, but it is still far behind. Germany has a respectably large contingent, with the Airbus A400M being the backbone of its fleet, while a few new Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules are in service as well.

Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster III is the workhorse, high-performance transport in both the US and India. Each also flies the Lockheed C-130 Hercules for more rough and rugged missions. Boasting Ilyushin Il-76s, C-130s, and C-17s on the same flightline, the transport side of the house showcases the Indian Air Force’s one-of-a-kind mix of Western and Eastern bloc airframes.