Article 5 is the cornerstone of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, better known as NATO. Should a member nation fall under attack, this article is triggered and other NATO members must render aid. The only time that this occurred was in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States, and NATO allies quickly deployed their air forces to help secure North American skies. (This is how Russia’s and NATO’s military capabilities compare.)
NATO air forces provided various forms of support following these attacks including the deployment of AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft for surveilling any other potential threats in the region.
In the following years, NATO air forces would further help the United States in its Global War on Terror throughout the Middle East. While the U.S. Air Force greatly outpaces its NATO allies in terms of technological advancement and fleet size, these other countries do in fact have formidable air forces that are some of the strongest in the world.
To determine the NATO countries with the most military aircraft, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. We included supplemental information regarding fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, and helicopters. We included the overall military strength score as well which is a composite of over 60 measures in categories such as military might, financials, logistical capability, and geography. The smaller the PowerIndex value the more powerful a nation’s theoretical conventional fighting capability is.
It’s worth pointing out that there is one country in NATO that has no military and thus no military aircraft, and that country is Iceland. This frozen nation never established an air force, despite being a founding member of NATO. Instead, Iceland relies on the collective defense guarantee should any need arise for military aircraft. (These are the NATO members with the highest military spending.)
Here are the NATO countries with the most military aircraft:
31. Iceland
Source: patpongs / iStock via Getty Images
- Total military aircraft: 0
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 0
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 3.5038 â #136 out of 145
30. Luxembourg
Source: querbeet / iStock via Getty Images
- Total military aircraft: 1
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 0
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 2.1458 â #109 out of 145
29. Estonia
Source: KavalenkavaVolha / iStock via Getty Images
- Total military aircraft: 7
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 3
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.7237 â #87 out of 145
28. Latvia
Source: usairforce / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 7
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 7
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.9911 â #99 out of 145
27. Lithuania
Source: dvids / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 9
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 4
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.7395 â #88 out of 145
26. Montenegro
Source: CatEyePerspective / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total military aircraft: 11
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 11
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 2.9109 â #129 out of 145
25. Albania
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 19
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 19
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.8188 â #90 out of 145
24. North Macedonia
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total military aircraft: 20
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 10
- Attack helicopters: 4
- Military strength score: 2.1717 â #110 out of 145
23. Slovakia
Source: slezo / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 37
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 22
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.1891 â #69 out of 145
22. Slovenia
Source: 39955793@N07 / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 38
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 12
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.8286 â #91 out of 145
21. Hungary
Source: Jozsef Soos / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total military aircraft: 62
- Fighter aircraft: 12
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 38
- Attack helicopters: 8
- Military strength score: 0.8478 â #54 out of 145
20. Bulgaria
Source: sdasmarchives / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 65
- Fighter aircraft: 11
- Attack aircraft: 5
- Total helicopters: 27
- Attack helicopters: 4
- Military strength score: 1.0132 â #62 out of 145
19. Croatia
Source: 153602026@N06 / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 81
- Fighter aircraft: 11
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 52
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.1333 â #66 out of 145
18. Czechia
Source: slezo / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 88
- Fighter aircraft: 12
- Attack aircraft: 16
- Total helicopters: 33
- Attack helicopters: 3
- Military strength score: 0.7706 â #46 out of 145
17. Norway
Source: ajw1970 / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 102
- Fighter aircraft: 0
- Attack aircraft: 30
- Total helicopters: 37
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.5664 â #41 out of 145
16. Belgium
Source: david_e_smith / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 110
- Fighter aircraft: 45
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 20
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 1.2064 â #70 out of 145
15. Portugal
Source: kitmasterbloke / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 117
- Fighter aircraft: 28
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 38
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.5609 â #38 out of 145
14. Denmark
Source: defenceimages / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 119
- Fighter aircraft: 33
- Attack aircraft: 4
- Total helicopters: 34
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.7743 â #48 out of 145
13. Romania
Source: sagesolar / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 131
- Fighter aircraft: 14
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 67
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.7712 â #47 out of 145
12. Netherlands
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 143
- Fighter aircraft: 26
- Attack aircraft: 26
- Total helicopters: 66
- Attack helicopters: 21
- Military strength score: 0.5644 â #40 out of 145
11. Finland
Source: sagesolar / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 164
- Fighter aircraft: 55
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 27
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.7967 â #50 out of 145
10. Canada
Source: Mario Tama / Getty Images
- Total military aircraft: 375
- Fighter aircraft: 65
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 143
- Attack helicopters: 0
- Military strength score: 0.3813 â #27 out of 145
9. Poland
Source: david_e_smith / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 468
- Fighter aircraft: 59
- Attack aircraft: 34
- Total helicopters: 215
- Attack helicopters: 30
- Military strength score: 0.2917 â #21 out of 145
8. Spain
Source: valdithrash / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 513
- Fighter aircraft: 139
- Attack aircraft: 12
- Total helicopters: 121
- Attack helicopters: 17
- Military strength score: 0.2882 â #20 out of 145
7. Germany
Source: VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total military aircraft: 618
- Fighter aircraft: 133
- Attack aircraft: 76
- Total helicopters: 318
- Attack helicopters: 55
- Military strength score: 0.2847 â #19 out of 145
6. Greece
Source: VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total military aircraft: 632
- Fighter aircraft: 194
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 289
- Attack helicopters: 29
- Military strength score: 0.4349 â #32 out of 145
5. United Kingdom
Source: Matt Cardy / Getty Images
- Total military aircraft: 664
- Fighter aircraft: 120
- Attack aircraft: 29
- Total helicopters: 276
- Attack helicopters: 52
- Military strength score: 0.1443 â #6 out of 145
4. Italy
Source: sagesolar / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 800
- Fighter aircraft: 90
- Attack aircraft: 67
- Total helicopters: 402
- Attack helicopters: 57
- Military strength score: 0.1863 â #10 out of 145
3. France
Source: david_e_smith / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 972
- Fighter aircraft: 224
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 447
- Attack helicopters: 69
- Military strength score: 0.1878 â #11 out of 145
2. Turkey
Source: slezo / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 1,069
- Fighter aircraft: 205
- Attack aircraft: 0
- Total helicopters: 502
- Attack helicopters: 111
- Military strength score: 0.1697 â #8 out of 145
1. United States
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
- Total military aircraft: 13,209
- Fighter aircraft: 1,854
- Attack aircraft: 896
- Total helicopters: 5,737
- Attack helicopters: 1,000
- Military strength score: 0.0699 â #1 out of 145
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