The Indian Air Force was ranked sixth in the Global Air Powers Rankings (2026) released by the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA). Despite its numerical superiority, China's People's Liberation Army Air Force was ranked seventh — one position below the IAF. FULL STORY | IAF more

The Indian Air Force was ranked sixth in the Global Air Powers Rankings (2026) released by the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA). Despite its numerical superiority, China's People's Liberation Army Air Force was ranked seventh — one position below the IAF. FULL STORY | IAF more

The Indian Air Force was ranked sixth in the Global Air Powers Rankings (2026) released by the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA). Despite its numerical superiority, China's People's Liberation Army Air Force was ranked seventh — one position below the IAF. FULL STORY | IAF more

The Indian Air Force was ranked sixth in the Global Air Powers Rankings (2026) released by the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA). Despite its numerical superiority, China's People's Liberation Army Air Force was ranked seventh — one position below the IAF.

FULL STORY | IAF more powerful than Chinese Air Force? Why India’s aviation assets outrank PLAAF: 5 WDMMA Air Powers Rankings 2026 findings

The IAF was handed a TrueValueRating (TvR) of 69.4, while seventh-ranked China received a TvR of 63.8. The two forces were noted as operating 1,718 and 3,733 units respectively, the rankings claimed.

The chart was led by the US Air Force and US Navy, which were handed TvRs of 242.9 and 142.4, respectively. The Russian Air Force was third with a 114.2 TvR, followed by the US Army (112.6 TvR) and the US Marines (85.3 TvR).

How did the Pakistan Air Force fare in the rankings?

Despite making constant remarks about its aerial superiority and warfare capabilities, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) did not make it into the top ten rankings. The PAF was ranked 18th with a 46.3 TvR — edging out the German Air Force (46.2 TvR). Islamabad's air force had 879 units at its disposal, the rankings showed.

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The aviation strengths of the naval and army divisions of various countries are counted separately by WDMMA in the rankings. The capabilities of the Indian Navy, with 232 units, handed it the 27th rank (41.2 TvR), while the Indian Army managed the 36th spot (540 units, 30.0 TvR).

The Chinese Navy was ranked 15th (436 units; 49.3 TvR), while the PLA came one place above the Indian Army at 35th (1,188 units; 31.3 TvR). The Pakistani Navy and Army, however, did not feature in the list. The 107-strong rank list had the Syrian and Afghan air forces occupying the last two spots.

WDMMA and the Global Air Powers Rankings

The World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA) is an online analytical platform that tracks, evaluates and maps the strengths and weaknesses of global military aviation. It is a popular resource material for defence enthusiasts, researchers, and media outlets to compare the air power of different nations.

According to available information, WDMMA's directory actively tracks tens of thousands of active aircraft across dozens of nations before coming out with its typical TvR metric.

The Global Air Powers Rankings top 10 list goes as follows:

  • United States Air Force (USA) — TvR: 242.9 | Aircraft Units: 5,004
  • United States Navy (USA) — TvR: 142.4 | Aircraft Units: 2,504
  • Russian Air Force (Russia) — TvR: 114.2 | Aircraft Units: 3,677
  • United States Army (USA) — TvR: 112.6 | Aircraft Units: 4,333
  • United States Marines (USA) — TvR: 85.3 | Aircraft Units: 1,211
  • Indian Air Force (India) — TvR: 69.4 | Aircraft Units: 1,716
  • Chinese Air Force (China) — TvR: 63.8 | Aircraft Rankings/Units: 3,733
  • Japanese Air Force (Japan) — TvR: 58.1 | Aircraft Units: 756
  • Israeli Air Force (Israel) — TvR: 56.3 | Aircraft Units: 581
  • French Air Force (France) — TvR: 55.3 | Aircraft Units: 511

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