How Russia’s Air Force Inventory Compares

Five days into its launch of the bloody invasion of Ukraine and Russia troops had yet to take control, according to U.S. defense officials.

"The Russians have not achieved air superiority over the whole country," a senior defense official told reporters Monday. "Ukrainian air defenses remain intact and viable both in terms of aircraft—and missile defense systems—and they're engaged."

U.S. defense officials, however, say it's too soon to make sweeping conclusions.

"Make no mistake, Mr. Putin still has at his disposal significant combat power," Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said Monday afternoon. "He hasn't moved all of it into Ukraine, but he's moved the majority of it. He still has a lot that he hasn't moved into Ukraine. It's combined arms. And it's not insignificant."

Despite initial setbacks, "the Russians will learn from this," he added.

How does Russia's air force compare to others?

When it comes to combat air power, the gold standard is the U.S. Air Force, which, according to the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA), has the highest rating based on modernization, logistical support, and attack and defense capabilities.

"The USAF features a broad mix of aircraft types as well as balance strengthened by overall numbers [quantity]," WDMMA said. "Many of its products are locally sourced thanks to the U.S.'s massive industrial base. It also maintains dedicated strategic-level bombers, CAS aircraft, a sizeable helo and fighter force [of which many are multirole types], and hundreds of transport aircraft to reach anywhere in the world. 

“Beyond this is a large training, tanker, and special-mission force. The service is also set to be reinforced in the near-future with hundreds of units still on-order."

In its most recent ranking of 124 air services in 98 countries, WDMMA ranked the U.S. Air Force as the top air service owing to its "TrueValueRating" (TVR), or a value formulated by assessing an air service's strengths and weaknesses.

U. S. Air Force  – 5,209 active aircraft inventory:

Russia Air Force – 3,829 active aircraft inventory

Even with its size, Russia's air force inventory is less than that of just the U.S. Army Aviation division, which has a reported current active inventory of 4,328 aircraft, according to WDMMA.