Some 550 frontline fighter jets were delivered in 2025 dominated by the US and China
January 17, 2026
Approximately 550 frontline fighter jets are estimated to have been delivered in 2025, with around 85% being produced by the US and China, while Europe and Russia account for most of the remainder. This article only considers frontline fighter jets and not refurbishments or light fighters like the Yak-130 or FA-50.
United States fighter jet deliveries
Fighter jet deliveries in the United States were dominated by Lockheed Martin and its F-35 programme. Lockheed Martin was able to deliver a record 191 F-35s during the year, thanks in part to clearing aircraft stored due to now-resolved issues with the TR-3 Upgrade.
Lockheed Martin stated, “1,290 F-35s are currently operational around the globe, and the fleet surpassed 1 million flight hours in 2025.”
Besides the F-35, Lockheed is also building new F-16 Fighting Falcons for export. It is unclear exactly how many were delivered in 2025, although Lockheed previously stated seven had been delivered in the first six months. Lockheed delivered 16 F-16s in 2024.
The only other US contractor currently building manned fighter jets is Boeing. On the 13th January, Boeing stated it had delivered nine F-15 family fighter jets and 14 F/A-18 Super Hornets.
United States fighter jet deliveries in 2025:
- Lockheed Martin F-35: 191 delivered (all variants)
- Lockheed Martin F-16: Approx. 18-21 (9 by mid-year)
- Boeing F-15EX: 9
- Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet: 14
- Total: 234 (est. 20 F-16s)
Boeing is working to ramp up F-15EX production, whose production is expected to continue into the 2030s. Meanwhile, Boeing’s F/A/18 Super Hornet production is soon to start wrapping up with final deliveries planned in 2027. No new Super Hornet orders are expected.
Chinese fighter jet deliveries
China does not publicly release its fighter jet delivery numbers, meaning there is a large margin of uncertainty in the numbers. In 2025, it was confirmed that China had delivered at least 300 J-20s, suggesting that the programme has significantly ramped up.
The numbers listed here are estimates provided by the think-tank Rusi. Rusi estimates a total of 120 Chengdu J-20/A/S fighter jets were delivered.
It’s worth noting that a significant number of US fighter jets are exported, while comparatively few Chinese jets are exported. This means that substantially all of China’s production is now in service with the PLAAF and the PLANAF.
Rusi estimates that China produced between 0 and 40 Chengdu J-10A/B/C fighter jets. These are lightweight fighter jets similar to the F-16, and some have been exported to Pakistan. This is the jet most commonly considered by foreign countries looking to purchase a multirole Chinese fighter.
The J-20 production rate !
— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) July 17, 2023
I have to admit, although I've now accepted a much higher production rate of the J-20, this sounds almost too good to be true:😮"120 J-20 production per year. at least 500 j-20s by 2025"
Both Shilao and Ayi have claimed J-20 production was in 3 digit. pic.twitter.com/qgwoiyxUDe
The estimates for the Shenyang J-16/D fighter jet are between 80 and 100 units, while the estimate for the Shenyang J-15/T/DH/DT family is 20 to 30 aircraft.
Chinese fighter jet deliveries in 2025:
- Chengdu J-10: 0-40
- Shenyang J-16: 80-100
- Shenyang J-15: 20-30
- Chengdu: J-20: 120
- Total: 220-290
The J-16 is developed from the J-11, which was a licensed-built copy of the Soviet Su-27 Flanker. The J-15 is a variant of the broader Flanker family built for the Chinese aircraft carriers.
2025 also showed that the new J-35 fighter jet had entered serial production. The J-20 is the most advanced fighter jet in Chinese service. Rusi did not list the J-35, believing it to be in an initial low production rate.
European fighter jet deliveries
There are three types of frontline multirole fighter jets in production in Europe: the Dassault Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon, and the Saab Gripen.
Of these, the delivery numbers for the Rafale are the most straightforward, with the aircraft slowly continuing its production ramp-up.
Dassault reported it delivered a total of 26 Rafales, with 15 aircraft going for export and 11 being delivered to France. This slightly exceeded its target for 25 Rafale deliveries and was above the 21 Rafales delivered in 2024.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is built by the Eurofighter Consortium, which is made up of the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain. It’s unclear exactly how many Eurofighters were delivered in 2025, although estimates place it at around 12.
Airborne might of India's Marine.
— Dassault Aviation (@Dassault_OnAir) December 4, 2025
Precision in the sky, power in the seas: Rafale-M, the unstoppable force in India's arsenal.
Celebrating #IndianNavyDay#NavyDay #IndianNavy pic.twitter.com/4S3PcvEEpP
The Swedish Saab Gripen is in a low production rate, with assembly also taking place in Brazil by Embraer. The Swedish Air Force also received its first Gripen E fighter jet in October 2025 and is the first of 60 planned Gripen Es.
Meanwhile, Brazil received two Gripen Es by ship from Sweden (FAB 4110 and FAB 4111), while Embraer delivered the first fully assembled Gripen in Brazil (FAB 4109) in late 2025. This brought the Brazilian fleet to 11 Saab Gripens.
European fighter jet deliveries in 2025:
- Dassault Rafale: 25
- Eurofighter Typhoon: Approx. 12
- Saab Gripen: 4
- Total: 41 (approx)
The bigger news in 2025 for European fighter jets was not deliveries, but orders. Dassault reported, “26 Export Rafale were ordered versus 30 Export Rafale in 2024.” These were ordered by India for the Indian Navy for its aircraft carriers. Ukraine also signed a letter of intent for up to 100 Rafales.
The Eurofighter attracted around 89 orders (24 for Italy, 25 for Spain, 20 for Turkey, and 20 for Germany), plus a letter of intent from Bangladesh.
The Saab Gripen received firm orders for 21 aircraft (17 for Colombia and four for Thailand), plus an almost firm order by Peru for 24 and a letter of intent by Ukraine for 100-150 Gripens.
Get the latest aerospace defence news here on AGN.
Russian fighter jet deliveries
Russian fighter jet deliveries significantly ramped up from their 2022-2024 figures and have been more than sufficient to replace its modern fighter jet wartime losses, but not make up for older aircraft like the MiG-29, Su-27, and Su-24 aging out.
Estimates for the Su-34 sit at around 14-16 units, while around 11 to 15 Su-35S Flanker Es are thought to have been delivered. Some may have been delivered to Algeria. Production of the Su-30SM2 was very low at 4-6 units, of which two were delivered to Belarus.
Russian fighter jet deliveries in 2025:
- Sukhoi Su-34: 14-16
- Sukhoi Su-35: 11-15
- Sukhoi Su-30: 4-6
- Sukhoi Su-57: 0-2
- Total: 33-39
The once-touted Su-57 Felon remains a major disappointment with 0-2 aircraft delivered, although Russia did receive an export order for Algeria. Two may have been delivered to Algeria. Russia is now estimated to have around 20 Su-57s in service.
Other fighter jet deliveries
There were not many other fighter jets delivered in 2025. The F-35s assembled by Italy and Japan are counted in Lockheed Martin’s 191 figure.
South Korea continued working on its six prototype KAI KF-21 Boramaes ahead of planned serial production in 2026. Turkey continued to develop its TAI KAAN with the first serial production examples expected in 2028.
At least five JF-17 Block III light fighters were delivered by Pakistan to Azerbaijan, although there aren’t any official production figures. It’s unclear if any more were delivered to the Pakistani Air Force.
It’s unclear how many, if any, Tejas Mk1A fighter jets were delivered due to engine issues. A few Tejas may have been delivered in 2025, but around 10 to 15 airframes were built but haven’t been delivered pending engine deliveries.
Featured Image: DVIDS
