How Many Fighter Jets Does The United States Have?
While the U.S. Military has tons of individual members, bases, and vehicles, fighter jets are a different story since they cost millions of dollars and are packed with incredibly high-end technology. If you've ever wondered just how many of these top-of-the-line aircraft America has, you're in luck because someone has actually counted them up.
According to the Sheffield School of Aeronautics, the United States Military keeps approximately 3,400 assets classified as fighter/attack in operation by the Air Force and the Navy. Those include the hits like F-35s, F-35As, F-16s, and A-10s.
But this is just one category of aviation inventory since F-16s aren't exactly ideal for other tasks like carrying other planes or large equipment. Different planes are better at different things. That's why the U.S. Military holds more than 14,000 aircraft in its inventory, as reported by the 10-year Aircraft Investment Plan issued by the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Fighter jets are just a small portion of total aircraft
That is, unsurprisingly, the largest aircraft fleet in the world, followed by Russia, with approximately 4,000 aircraft. The largest category of U.S. Military aircraft is classified as "airlift/cargo/utility," which includes more than 4,000 aircraft utilized by the Air Force, Army, and Navy. These usually feature enormous planes intended to transport supplies, civil and military officials, and anything else that won't fit in the backseat of an F-35.
Then, there are the other U.S. classifications of military aircraft. In order of fleet size, they include trainers, attack helicopters, ISR/Scout/C4, anti-surface/submarine, air refueling, special operations forces, long-range strikes, and combat search and rescue. These numbers are always changing to meet the changing global military landscape. According to Defense News, the U.S. Air Force is seeking to modernize its fleet and is asking Congress for an additional 72 fighters every year. Assuming they keep some older ones around, 3,400 will likely keep growing.