The country is armed with 4,143 vehicles
MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. The Russian army has the second largest fleet of military aircraft. This is stated in the Handbook World Air Forces 2021, released by the British profile magazine Flight International.
"Russia ranks second in the list of the largest military aviation operators. The country is armed with 4,143 vehicles, which is 8% of the global fleet of military aircraft, " the directory reports. Compared to the previous year, the number of Russian military aircraft decreased by 20 vehicles. At the same time, Russia managed to keep the second place in the above-mentioned rating.
According to the directory, the Russian combat aircraft fleet includes 1,531 aircraft (10% of the global fleet). According to this indicator, Russia lags only behind the United States (2,717 aircraft, 17% of the global fleet) and is slightly behind China (1,571 aircraft, 11% of the global fleet).
In the category of military helicopters, our country is in second place in the Flight International rating - the country's army is armed with 1,540 rotorcraft (8% of the global fleet). In this indicator, the country is second only to the United States, which has 5,434 helicopters (27% of the global fleet).
In addition, as the magazine notes, the fleet includes 429 military transport aircraft (10% of the global fleet). The first line of the rating in this category is again occupied by the United States with 941 military transport aircraft (22% of the global fleet).
Russia has 130 special aircraft (7% of the global fleet) - and this indicator is second only to the United States (749 aircraft, 38%) and Japan (161 aircraft, 8%).
In the category of refueling aircraft, the Russian Federation is in the fourth position in the rating with 19 aircraft (2% of the global fleet). The first line of the list is occupied by the United States (625 aircraft, 76%), the second - by France (23 aircraft, 3%), and the third place is occupied by Saudi Arabia with 22 tanker aircraft (3%).
According to Flight International, Russia ranks third in the category of training and transport aircraft / helicopters - the country is armed with 494 such vehicles (4% of the global fleet). The first place is taken by the USA (2,766 cars, 24%), the second - by Pakistan (510 cars, 4%).
Among the main achievements of Russia in the field of military aircraft, the magazine mentioned the delivery at the end of 2019 for the needs of the Russian defense Ministry of two Mi-38T helicopters produced by the Russian Helicopters holding (part of the rostec state Corporation). The publication also noted the su-57 multi-purpose fighter, calling it "the most advanced Russian fighter".
Flight International is considered the oldest aviation and space publication in the world - its publication began in 1909.
