Syria’s air force gone, China’s J-20 numbers explode: 2026’s biggest shifts in airpower
December 5, 2025
Flight Global’s 2026 review of world air forces is out, and it features some uncommonly large adjustments over 2025’s numbers from global conflicts, especially Syria. China saw a significant leap in the number of 5th-generation fighters listed.
Complete removal of the Syrian Air Force
The single largest difference in the 2026 is the complete removal of the Syrian Air Force aircraft. In the final weeks of 2024, the Assad regime finally imploded following a renewed rebel offensive that brought the almost 14-year civil war to an end.
That is how Israel scared #Turkey and its terrorist leaders. Watch aftermath of the #Israeli airstrike at #Hama air base, Northern #Syria. All of those MiG-21s, MiG-23s and L-39s previously used by the #Syrian Arab Air Force are destroyed. pic.twitter.com/cMHEE4hv69
— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) April 4, 2025
As the new government in Damascus works to completely rebuild the country’s military, it is unclear to what extent the new Syrian Air Force exists as an optional service branch
Following the collapse, Israel moved to bomb and destroy all of Syria’s high-end military assets as part of Operation Arrow of Bashan. Targets included Syria’s fighter jets, helicopters, naval vessels, and air defence systems.
🚨 The morning after this is what the Syrian MiG-29s look like after a visit from the IDF. The IDF is destroying Assad’s Air Force pic.twitter.com/UWtPG23mLc
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) December 10, 2024
This resulted in the removal of 414 aircraft from Flight Global’s 2026 report. That includes 225 combat aircraft (MiGs and Sukhois) and 153 combat helicopters. Some airframes may have survived the strikes, but how operational they are, and who is there to operate them, remains an open question.
In 2025, 50 MiG-21s, 87 MiG-23s, 2 MiG-25s, 29 MiG-29s, 39 Su-22s, and 18 Su-24s were listed as being in service in the Syrian Air Force.
Changes from Ukraine and Russia
In a development, few would have anticipated as Russia launched its ill-fated 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Flight Global increased Ukraine’s estimated fleet to 347 (up 23) and decreased Russia’s fleet to 4,237 (down 55).
The report excludes Ukraine’s new Mirage 2000s, as it was unclear how many have been donated (likely 6-10). The report assesses that Ukraine likely has around 25 F-16s in service now.
The report also notes Ukraine’s attacks on Russian bases, especially Operation Spider Web, which saw an estimated 20% of Russia’s operational strategic bombers destroyed on the ground (per the Financial Times). Flight Global says that due to difficulties in confirming which aircraft have been destroyed, Russian losses in the report are likely undercounted in the 2026 report.
Russia’s strategic bomber fleet was listed in 2026 at 56 Tu-22Ms, 44 Tu-95s, and as 15 Tu-160s vs 57 Tu-22Ms, 47 Tu-95s, and 15 Tu-160s the previous year. As noted, Russia’s actual operational fleet is unclear.
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Other significant changes to world air forces
The most significant change to China’s numbers was the number of J-20 Mighty Dragons jumping from 19 (an obvious undercount) to 250 for 2026. This follows reporting that China has now produced 300 J-20s and allows for non-combat units like prototypes.
China’s new J-35 entered serial production and service in 2025, but it wasn’t included due to uncertainty about the numbers.
The US combat fleet increased to 2,718 despite retirements, China’s jumped to 1,814, Russia’s held at 1,559, India’s dipped to 600, and North Korea’s fleet fell to 455 as its exceptionally obsolete Su-7s were removed.
For reference, in its 2025 report, the US’s combat aircraft stood at 2,679, China’s at 1,583, Russia’s at 1,522, India’s at 643, and North Korea’s ancient fleet at 482.
India’s drop was partly due to retiring its old MiG-21 Fishbeds, while also ordering 12 Hindustan Aeronautics-built Su-30MKIs and a new order for 97 Tejas Mk1A fighter jets.
The biggest jump in the top 10 fighter jets in service by numbers was the F-35, which rose from 712 in 2025 to 883 in 2026. It’s unclear how Flight Global is counting these jets, as Lockheed Martin has delivered 1,200+ F-35s to all customers.
There were other movements in smaller air forces as well that are too much to go into here. For example, Algeria’s order for 14 Russian Sukhoi Su-57s appeared on the list.
Curiously, Iran’s fleet of F-14 Tomcats remained steady at 41, even though Israel released footage showing that several airframes were destroyed in the 12-Day War. It is also unclear how many, if any, of Iran’s F-14s are combat-worthy.
Israeli Air Force airstrike on a pair of Iranian Air Force F-14 Tomcats. pic.twitter.com/8i57smjRni
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 16, 2025
Meanwhile, little New Zealand received its five new Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules transports while placing an order for two Airbus A321XLRs and five Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters.
