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These Countries Are Buying the Most F-35 Lightning II Fighter Jets

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By Chris Lange Published Feb 17, 2024 at 8:50 AM EST

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These Countries Are Buying the Most F-35 Lightning II Fighter Jets — © An Israeli F-35 Adir receives fuel from a Tennessee Air National Guard KC-135 as the aircraft make the flight across the Atlantic, Dec, 6, 2016. (Public Domain) by ermaleksandr

The F-35 Lightning II is the pinnacle of American engineering and technology when it comes to fighter jets. Designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin, in partnership with BAe Systems and Northrop Grumman, the Lightning II entered service in 2016. It occupies an auspicious position as one of the preeminent fighter jets of the fifth generation of fighter aircraft, and militaries around the world are trying to get their hands on it. (These are the world’s future military aircraft.)

As part of the fifth generation fighters, the F-35 Lightning II employs features like stealth, high maneuverability and supercruise that were not available to previous generations of aircraft. It is incredibly versatile in terms of its weapons payload, and it can carry up to 18,000 pounds of these munitions.

The cost for the F-35 ranges depending on the variant. The F-35A is the stock standard variant and costs roughly $110 million per unit. The B variant costs slightly more at around $136 million per unit but it incorporates a short take-off and vertical landing system, which allows it to take off from extremely short runways as well land vertically. The C variant is designed to be launched from aircraft carriers and costs about $117 million per unit.

To identify the countries buying the most F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2024 World Air Forces report from FlightGlobal, an aviation and aerospace industry publication. We ranked these countries according to the number of F-35 jets on order. We included supplemental information regarding active F-35s in respective fleets, military branches that will be using these aircraft, and what variants of the F-35 are on order or are currently in service.

Only 20 countries have ordered or actually employ these fighter jets and all are allies of the United States. As such, it is highly unlikely that adversarial nations like China or Russia would purchase or come to possess these aircraft. (Here is every major fighter plane flown by the U.S. Air Force.)

Here is a look at the countries that are buying the most F-35 Lightning II fighter jets:

20. Singapore

Aircraft on order: 12
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: Republic of Singapore Air Force
Variant(s): F-35

19. Norway

Aircraft on order: 12
Active aircraft: 40
Military branches: Royal Norwegian Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

18. Denmark

Aircraft on order: 17
Active aircraft: 10
Military branches: Royal Danish Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

17. Netherlands

Aircraft on order: 18
Active aircraft: 34
Military branches: Royal Netherlands Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

16. Czech Republic

Aircraft on order: 24
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: Czech Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

15. South Korea

Aircraft on order: 25
Active aircraft: 40
Military branches: Republic of Korea Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

14. Poland

Aircraft on order: 32
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: Polish Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

13. Belgium

Aircraft on order: 34
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: Belgian Air Component
Variant(s): F-35A

12. Germany

Aircraft on order: 35
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: German Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

11. Israel

Aircraft on order: 36
Active aircraft: 39
Military branches: Israel Air and Space Force
Variant(s): F-35I

10. Switzerland

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II by :u0410u043du0434u0440u0435u043912.06.1992

Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II (CC BY-SA 4.0) by :u0410u043du0434u0440u0435u043912.06.1992

Aircraft on order: 36
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: Swiss Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

9. Australia

Aircraft on order: 37
Active aircraft: 63
Military branches: Royal Australian Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

8. Romania

Vermont National Guard by The National Guard

Vermont National Guard (CC BY 2.0) by The National Guard

Aircraft on order: 48
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: Romanian Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

7. United Arab Emirates

Aircraft on order: 50
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: United Arab Emirates Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

6. Finland

IAF-F-35I-and-F-16I-nf by Israeli Air Force

IAF-F-35I-and-F-16I-nf (CC BY 4.0 DEED) by Israeli Air Force

Aircraft on order: 64
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: Finnish Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

5. Italy

Aircraft on order: 65
Active aircraft: 25
Military branches: Italian Air Force, Italian Navy
Variant(s): F-35A/B

4. Canada

Aircraft on order: 88
Active aircraft: 0
Military branches: Royal Canadian Air Force
Variant(s): F-35A

3. United Kingdom

Aircraft on order: 105
Active aircraft: 29
Military branches: Royal Air Force
Variant(s): F-35B

2. Japan

Two F-35C Lightning II aircraf... by Official U.S. Navy Page

Two F-35C Lightning II aircraf... (CC BY 2.0) by Official U.S. Navy Page

Aircraft on order: 110
Active aircraft: 36
Military branches: Japan Air Self-Defence Force
Variant(s): F-35A/B

1. United States

Aircraft on order: 1,855
Active aircraft: 553
Military branches: United States Air Force, United States Marine Corps, United States Navy
Variant(s): F-35A/B/C