Snap shot of European fighter fleets

Lots of dicussion about European states buying aircraft be it F-35, Eurocannard or Flanker/Pak Fa for some Eastern European operators.

Thought I’d post a little list of current European airforce jet fleets which gives a bit of perspective as to what sort of future aircraft might be operated or in many case, not operated.

Feel free to correct me on any of these.

No fighter aircraft operated:
Albania
Bosnia i Hercegovina
Iceland
Ireland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Moldova
Montenegro
Slovenia

Luxembourg and Andorra don’t really count given their size!

Austria – non-NATO
15 x Eurofighter

Belarus – non-NATO
24 Su-25
30-40 MiG-29

No replacement currently sought.
Su-24 and Su-27 retired in 2012.
Russian aligned.

Belgium
59 x F-16A/B

No replacement currently sought.

Bulgaria
12 Su-25 -(all grounded since mid-2012)
16 MiG-29 – these were meant to be upgraded.

MiG-21 was retired in 2012.
Interested in some 8-9 Portugeuse F-16s.

Croatia
10 x MiG-21

Replacement constantly postponed

Czech Republic
14 JAS-39
29 L159

JAS-39 lease is nearly finished and will be need extending or

Denmark
30 F-16 (+ 15 in reserve)

To be replaced by 22-32 new aircraft

France
16 Mirage F1 – to be retired in 2014
159 Mirage 2000 – to be replaced by Rafale.
100+ Rafale -180 on order. 5 have already been written off
25 Super Etendard – to be retired in 2015

Finland– non-NATO
62 F/A-18C/D

Replacement procurement process to commence in 2015 with delivery in 2025-2030.

Germany
140 Eurofighter on order
85 Tornado – 140 aircraft on order.
35 F-4F – to be retired in June 2013.

I’ve heard Tornado is to be retired by 2020, leaving 160 Typhoons.

Greece
38 x F-4E
157 X F-16C/D – Block 30s apparently to retire soon
44 Mirage 2000 – possibly withdrawn from use in next few years
32 A-7 – possibly withdrawn from use in next few years.

Some reports in 2012 indicated reductions in F-16 and F-4 fleet and retirement of Mirage 2000 and A-7. Not substantiated yet.

According to recent news ( http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/04/25/new-look-for-greek-armed-forces/ ) number of “combat groups will be reduced by half.”

Hungary
14 JAS-39

Italy
42 Tornado + some grounded – to serve to 2025.
62 Eurofighter – 96 on order
36 AMX + some grounded. To serve to 2020 and be replaced by F-35.
16 AV-8

Current requirement is for 90 F-35A/B to replace Tornado/AMX/AV-8.

Netherlands
67 F-16A/B
2 F-35 (stored)

F-35 is to replace F-16. Numbers of F-35 planned was 85 but more likely figure is 36-42.

Norway
57 -F-16A/B

To be replaced by 52 F-35

Poland
48 F-16C/D
32 MiG-29 – being upgraded
32 Su-22 (to be retired by 2019 and replaced by UAV)

Portugal
38 F-16A/B

12 to be sold to Romania and maybe 9 to Bulgaria.

Romania
48 MiG-21 Lancer.

12 x F-16A/B to be delivered from Portugal in 2017.

Serbia– non-NATO
4 MiG-29 (grounded)
12-15 MiG-21
30+ J-22 (half grounded)

Possibly 6 x MiG-29M2 have been ordered out of a requirement of 12-20.

Slovakia
12 x MiG-29 – upgraded to NATO standard.

Spain
86 F/A-18A+/B+
17 AV-8
24 Mirage F1 – to be retired 2013.
47 Eurofighter – 73 on order. 1 lost and 18 already offered for sale to Latin America. Spain has also sought delay of Tranche 3 aircraft.

Sweden

134 JAS-39 though I think the number of operational aircraft might be a lot lower as 60+ JAS-39A/B is reported to have been retired in 2012.

To be partially replaced by 60-ish JAS-39E/F.

Switzerland– non-NATO
33 F/A-18C/D
55 F-5E/F

22 JAS-39E/F to be ordered to replace F-5.

Turkey
60+ x F-4E – includes survivors of 54 F-4E upgraded to Terminator 2020 standard and 16 F-4Es locally upgraded.
230 X F-16C/D

F-4 and some F-16s to replaced by F-35 (116 for first order).

Ukraine
80 MiG-29
60 Su-24
36 Su-25
16 Su-27 – 50+ are retired

Small numbers of aircraft are being upgraded.

United Kingdom
119 Tornado – to be retired in 2019
100 Eurofighter – 160 on order
3 F-35 – 48 initial planned to replace Tornado.

Possibly 53 Tranche 1 Eurofighter and remainder of Tornado fleet replaced by F-35 – outcome in SDSR 2015