Known as some of the most versatile military assets, helicopters play a variety of roles on and off the battlefield that improve the effectiveness of any military force. Helicopters can be used for humanitarian missions as well as for laying down support fire for troops in the field. With all these operational capabilities, the strongest militaries in the world typically employ a bevy of helicopters for whatever mission may need to be accomplished. (These are the future military helicopters of the world.)
NATO is no different. The countries within this vast military alliance employ helicopters in almost every facet of their forces. While some member nations might have larger helicopter fleets than others, it does not preclude the fact that all these helicopters will be in service of the alliance.
To determine the NATO countries with the most military helicopters, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2024 military strength report from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. We ranked these countries according to which countries have the most military helicopters. We included supplemental information regarding each country’s current air force and overall military strength ranking.
We excluded Luxembourg and Iceland from this list because neither has military helicopters. Each of these nations are admittedly the two member states of NATO with the smallest militaries. Although Iceland, in fact, does not have a standing army, navy or air force. Instead these countries rely on the collective defense clause in NATO should either nation come under attack.
On the other hand, the United States has one of the largest helicopter fleets in the world with helicopters filling a wide variety of roles. Turkey and France are also recognized in NATO for having sizable helicopter fleets as well. (These are the helicopters used in the Vietnam War.)
Here is a look at the NATO countries with the most military helicopters:
30. Estonia
Source: 39955793@N07 / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 3
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 7
- Total fighter aircraft: 0
- Military strength score: 1.7237 – #87 out of 145
29. Lithuania
Source: cooke1 / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 4
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 9
- Total fighter aircraft: 0
- Military strength score: 1.7395 – #88 out of 145
28. Latvia
Source: 7armyjmtc / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 7
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 7
- Total fighter aircraft: 0
- Military strength score: 1.9911 – #99 out of 145
27. North Macedonia
![54th at sunset [Image 2 of 6] by DVIDSHUB](https://247wallst.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/imageForEntry34-88o.jpg "54th at sunset [Image 2 of 6] by DVIDSHUB")
- Total helicopters: 10
- Total attack helicopters: 4
- Total military aircraft: 20
- Total fighter aircraft: 0
- Military strength score: 2.1717 – #110 out of 145
26. Montenegro
- Total helicopters: 11
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 11
- Total fighter aircraft: 0
- Military strength score: 2.9109 – #129 out of 145
25. Slovenia
Source: marine_corps / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 12
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 38
- Total fighter aircraft: 0
- Military strength score: 1.8286 – #91 out of 145
24. Albania
- Total helicopters: 19
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 19
- Total fighter aircraft: 0
- Military strength score: 1.8188 – #90 out of 145
23. Belgium
Source: VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total helicopters: 20
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 110
- Total fighter aircraft: 45
- Military strength score: 1.2064 – #70 out of 145
22. Slovakia
- Total helicopters: 22
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 37
- Total fighter aircraft: 0
- Military strength score: 1.1891 – #69 out of 145
21. Bulgaria
Source: usarmyeurope_images / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 27
- Total attack helicopters: 4
- Total military aircraft: 65
- Total fighter aircraft: 11
- Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145
20. Finland
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 27
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 164
- Total fighter aircraft: 55
- Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145
19. Czechia
- Total helicopters: 33
- Total attack helicopters: 3
- Total military aircraft: 88
- Total fighter aircraft: 12
- Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145
18. Denmark
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 34
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 119
- Total fighter aircraft: 33
- Military strength score: 0.7743 – #48 out of 145
17. Norway
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total helicopters: 37
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 102
- Total fighter aircraft: 0
- Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145
16. Hungary
Source: Jozsef Soos / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total helicopters: 38
- Total attack helicopters: 8
- Total military aircraft: 62
- Total fighter aircraft: 12
- Military strength score: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145
15. Portugal
- Total helicopters: 38
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 117
- Total fighter aircraft: 28
- Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145
14. Croatia
Source: 153602026@N06 / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 52
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 81
- Total fighter aircraft: 11
- Military strength score: 1.1333 – #66 out of 145
13. Sweden
- Total helicopters: 53
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 212
- Total fighter aircraft: 71
- Military strength score: 0.4009 – #29 out of 145
12. Netherlands
Source: lynothehammer / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 66
- Total attack helicopters: 21
- Total military aircraft: 143
- Total fighter aircraft: 26
- Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145
11. Romania
- Total helicopters: 67
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 131
- Total fighter aircraft: 14
- Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145
10. Spain
- Total helicopters: 121
- Total attack helicopters: 17
- Total military aircraft: 513
- Total fighter aircraft: 139
- Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145
9. Canada
Source: fikretozk / iStock via Getty Images
- Total helicopters: 143
- Total attack helicopters: 0
- Total military aircraft: 375
- Total fighter aircraft: 65
- Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145
8. Poland
Source: Stocktrek Images / Stocktrek Images via Getty Images
- Total helicopters: 215
- Total attack helicopters: 30
- Total military aircraft: 468
- Total fighter aircraft: 59
- Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145
7. United Kingdom
- Total helicopters: 276
- Total attack helicopters: 52
- Total military aircraft: 664
- Total fighter aircraft: 120
- Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145
6. Greece
Source: VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total helicopters: 289
- Total attack helicopters: 29
- Total military aircraft: 632
- Total fighter aircraft: 194
- Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145
5. Germany
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 318
- Total attack helicopters: 55
- Total military aircraft: 618
- Total fighter aircraft: 133
- Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145
4. Italy
Source: cne-cna-c6f / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 402
- Total attack helicopters: 57
- Total military aircraft: 800
- Total fighter aircraft: 90
- Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145
3. France
Source: airlines470 / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 447
- Total attack helicopters: 69
- Total military aircraft: 972
- Total fighter aircraft: 224
- Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145
2. Turkey
- Total helicopters: 502
- Total attack helicopters: 111
- Total military aircraft: 1,069
- Total fighter aircraft: 205
- Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145
1. United States
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
- Total helicopters: 5,737
- Total attack helicopters: 1,000
- Total military aircraft: 13,209
- Total fighter aircraft: 1,854
- Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145
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