WORLD AIR FORCES 2018 IN ASSOCIATION WITH 1 | FlightGlobal Umschlag World Air Forces 2018.indd Alle Seiten 16.11.17 14:23 WORLD AIR FORCES Directory Power players While the new US president’s confrontational style of international diplomacy stoked rivalries, the global military fleet saw a modest rise in numbers: except in North America CRAIG HOYLE LONDON ground-attack aircraft had been destroyed, DATA COMPILED BY DARIA GLAZUNOVA, MARK KWIATKOWSKI & SANDRA LEWIS-RICE Flight Fleets Analyzer shows the action as hav- DATA ANALYSIS BY ANTOINE FAFARD ing had limited materiel effect. It did, however, draw Russia’s ire, as a detachment of its own rinkmanship was the name of the of US Navy destroyers launched 59 Raytheon combat aircraft was using the same Syrian base. game for much of the 2017 calendar Tomahawk cruise missiles towards Syria’s Al- Another spike in rhetoric came in mid-June, year, with global tensions in no small Shayrat air base, targeting its runways and hard- when a Syrian Su-22 was shot down by a US part linked to the head-on approach ened aircraft shelters housing Sukhoi Su-22s. Navy Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet after attack- B to diplomacy taken by US President Don- Despite initial claims from the Pentagon that ing opposition forces backed by Washington. ald Trump. about one-third of its more than 40 such Syria threatened to target US combat aircraft Largely continuing with the firebrand with advanced surface-to-air missile systems in soundbites which brought him to the Oval Of- Trump and Kim Jong-un the wake of the incident. fice, Trump swiftly placed his administration Trump’s standoff with North Korean leader on a collision course with Russian President traded personal insults WORLD AIRKim FORCES Jong-un 2018 was of greater concern, with the Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s support for against a backdrop of pair trading personal insults against a backdrop orce F You count on availability. ir Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. potential nuclear conflict of potential nuclear conflict. After Pyongyang’s US A US Tensions peaked in early April, when a pair forces tested a nuclear device, flew interconti- We provide reliable solutions. CONTENTS Increased tensions with missile-touting ANALYSIS 4 Pyongyang have led to South Korean Worldwide top 10 active aircraft types 5 F-15Ks making regular manoeuvres Worldwide active fleet per region 6-7 Fleet size for leading countries by role 8-9 WORLD AIR FORCES World air forces directory 11-34 The information contained in our databases and used in this presentation has been assembled from many sources, and whilst reasonable care has been taken to ensure accuracy, the information is supplied on the understanding that no legal liability whatsoever shall attach to FlightGlobal, its offices, or employees in respect of any error or omission that may have occurred. ©2017 FlightGlobal, part of Reed Business Information Ltd 26 | Flight International | 5-11 December 2017 flightglobal.com RUAG Schweiz AG | RUAG Aviation | Military Aviation 6032 Emmen | Switzerland | Phone +41 41 268 41 11 2 | FlightGlobal FlightGlobal | 3 [email protected] | www.ruag.com/aviation FIN_051217_026-031.indd 26 30/11/2017 12:06 Ad GOV_World Air Forces 2018.indd 1 16.11.17 14:18 WORLD AIR FORCES WORLD AIR FORCES WDirectoryORLD AIR FORCES 2018 WORLD AIR FORCESDirectory 2018 WORLDWIDE TOP 10 ACTIVE AIRCRAFT TYPES Combat aircraft Transport Combat helicopters Power players Type Active fleet Share Type Active fleet Share Type Active fleet Share 1 F-16 2,269 15% 1 C-130/L-100 889 21% 1 S-70/SH/UH-60 3,842 19% While the new US president’s confrontational style of international diplomacy stoked 2 F-18 1,118 8% 2 King Air 292 7% 2 Mi-8/17 2,860 14% 3 Su-27/30 967 7% 3 C295/CN235 274 7% 3 UH-1 1,413 7% rivalries, the global military fleet saw a modest rise in numbers: except in North America 4 F-15 901 6% 3 C-17 274 7% 4 AH-64 1,171 6% 5 MiG-29 820 6% 5 An-24/26 253 6% 5 Mi-24/35 926 5% 6 MiG-21 525 4% 6 Il-76 182 4% 6 CH-47 869 4% CRAIG HOYLE LONDON ground-attack aircraft had been destroyed, 7 Su-25 498 3% 7 An-30/32 143 3% 7 Bell 212/412 730 4% DATA COMPILED BY DARIA GLAZUNOVA, MARK KWIATKOWSKI & SANDRA LEWIS-RICE Flight Fleets Analyzer shows the action as hav- 8 F-7 447 3% 8 Cessna 208 137 3% 8 MD500/530 686 3% DATA ANALYSIS BY ANTOINE FAFARD ing had limited materiel effect. It did, however, 9 J-7 418 3% 9 C160 96 2% 9 AH-1 577 3% draw Russia’s ire, as a detachment of its own 10 F-5 403 3% 10 Y-8 90 2% 10 SA341/342 493 2% rinkmanship was the name of the of US Navy destroyers launched 59 Raytheon combat aircraft was using the same Syrian base. Other 6,340 43% Other 1,569 37% Other 6,664 33% game for much of the 2017 calendar Tomahawk cruise missiles towards Syria’s Al- Another spike in rhetoric came in mid-June, Total 14,706 100% Total 4,199 100% Total 20,231 100% year, with global tensions in no small Shayrat air base, targeting its runways and hard- when a Syrian Su-22 was shot down by a US part linked to the head-on approach ened aircraft shelters housing Sukhoi Su-22s. Navy Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet after attack- nental ballistic missiles over Japan and threat- ters, which has also reduced the model’s global B to diplomacy taken by US President Don- Despite initial claims from the Pentagon that ing opposition forces backed by Washington. ened to pair the combination to target US mili- inventory from 502 to 139 aircraft, pushing it ald Trump. about one-third of its more than 40 such Syria threatened to target US combat aircraft tary personnel on Guam, the US president’s out of our Top 10 listing for combat helicopter Largely continuing with the firebrand with advanced surface-to-air missile systems in threat of assured annihilation for North Korea types. The US Marine Corps’ tanker/transport soundbites which brought him to the Oval Of- the wake of the incident. Trump and Kim Jong-un harked back to the height of the Cold War be- inventory also has been depleted, following fice, Trump swiftly placed his administration Trump’s standoff with North Korean leader tween Washington and Moscow. Thankfully, the removal of its remaining Lockheed Martin on a collision course with Russian President traded personal insults Kim Jong-un was of greater concern, with the their war of words has yet to escalate further. KC-130Ts after a fatal accident which left 16 Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s support for against a backdrop of pair trading personal insults against a backdrop orce Despite the removal of Islamic State forces service personnel dead. F ir ir Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. of potential nuclear conflict. After Pyongyang’s potential nuclear conflict from their remaining strongholds inside Iraq, Our improved data for the first time in- US A US Tensions peaked in early April, when a pair forces tested a nuclear device, flew interconti- that part of the Middle East shows no sign of cludes the MFI-15/17/395 range of primary finding stability, as conflicts also are continu- trainers, with nine nations having a combined Increased tensions with missile-touting ing in Syria, and within Yemen, where a Saudi 467 examples, including in Pakistan Aeronau- Pyongyang have led to South Korean Arabian-led coalition is targeting insurgents. tical Complex’s Super Mushshak standard. F-15Ks making regular manoeuvres Further afield, Afghanistan also remains Also included are almost 4,800 aircraft that highly volatile, with NATO looking to increase are the subject of firm orders, plus more than orce F the strength of its Resolute Support mission to ir 6,700 that are pending deals or covered by let- train and advise government forces. Currently, A US ters of intent – including in excess of 2,800 the international community contributes about UH-60A is new arrival for Afghan air force Lockheed F-35s for the US military and multi- 13,000 personnel – more than half of which ple allied nations. are allocated by the USA – and this total is ex- types to significantly boost its fleet over the Following the OH-58’s retirement, the US pected to climb to 16,000. coming years. military’s share of the active global fleet has Efforts to build the Afghan military’s capa- The Afghan air force currently has 28 armed fallen by a single percentage point, to 25%. Its bilities continue apace, with recent develop- MD Helicopters MD530Fs, and Washington total strength of just over 13,400 aircraft puts it ments including a plan to equip its air force plans to provide it with another 154. The ser- in a league of its own, being almost three and a with a further six Embraer/Sierra Nevada A-29 vice’s first pilots for the Sikorsky UH-60A re- half times greater than second-ranking Russia. Super Tucano combat aircraft, for an eventual cently completed their conversion training, and It also exceeds the combined fleets assigned to total of 26. But Kabul’s rotorcraft renewal is on the first four ex-US Army Black Hawks from a Moscow’s armed forces, plus those of third- to a far more spectacular path, with US-sourced planned 159-strong fleet were transported to sixth-placed China, India, Japan and South Kabul in September 2017.