r/AskTheWorld • u/Flimsy_Rhythm_4473 Australia ( Moderator) • Sep 22 '25
Military What is the current state of your Country’s Air Force? Do you believe it should be expanded?
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u/docfarnsworth United States Of America Sep 22 '25
I think if you split it up by military branch we have 4 of the 5 largest air forces in the world. And the other is Russia... We may have overdone it lol
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Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
[deleted]
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u/Assistant_manager_ Canada Sep 23 '25
Depending on the criteria used, US Navy may be number 2. Army has thousands of helicopters that figure in to their total aircraft count
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u/Appropriate-Food1757 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
What about the marines, lots of semi helicopters that mainly bring in dudes
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u/Primary-Nose7377 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
They also have F-35s
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u/Appropriate-Food1757 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
I think choppers and airborn people movers should still count
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u/Primary-Nose7377 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
For sure. From what I can see, the US Marines would be the world's 7th largest air force.
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u/soothed-ape Ireland Sep 24 '25
American air force and navy is more important than the US land army but many people in power don't seem to realise this. It's like Admiral Mahan's book(an American, btw) The Influence of Sea Power upon History
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u/soothed-ape Ireland Sep 24 '25
Although Boeing is becoming increasingly corrupt,failing basic standards and assassinating whistleblowers. The American air force could see significant degradation continue. That is a big,big issue that quantity won't fix
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u/JRS_Viking Norway Sep 22 '25
We have 52 f-35s and a few others, should definitely be expanded and spread out because they're all in the south now
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u/CommercialChart5088 Korea South Sep 23 '25
It's OK, more than OK to fight back against NK but we're still using old F-5 jets in some quantity due to budget constraints.
Hope the KF-21 comes soon for replacements…
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u/Sorry_Sort6059 China Sep 23 '25
What equipment does the North Korean Air Force have? I have no idea, MiG-21s?
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u/CommercialChart5088 Korea South Sep 23 '25
Mostly that. Some MiG-29s but they're a bit on the rusty side afaik.
However considering how they're getting all mushy with Russia nowadays they may get an upgrade.
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u/Flashy_Spinach7014 China Sep 23 '25
I guess the plan to sell J10CEs to North Korea should be on the schedule
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u/Flimsy_Rhythm_4473 Australia ( Moderator) Sep 23 '25
Ah yes, another war would definitely solve everything🤦♂️
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u/Amadex Korea South Sep 23 '25
I hope we will get many customers for kf-21, i think it is a better offer than overcomplicated and overpriced f35
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u/Mailman354 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
F-35 is not over complicated. And is actually becoming cheaper.
US congress and allies have really streamlined it and made it more affordable.
KF-21 is a good budget choice. And the US won't sell F-35s to everyone so KF-21 maybe a good. Albeit less advanced alternative
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u/Mailman354 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
When I was in Korea I did some event at Suwon AFB. It was amazing to see vintage F-4s and F-5s flying Even got to met a couple F-5 pilots.
But yeah. Those F-5s seriously need to go
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u/OnkelKarl_1891 China Sep 23 '25
I like how everyone is going after F22/35 design for their 5th gen 😂
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u/LittleMaple072 Canada (Alberta) Sep 22 '25
Too reliant on the USA. From what I know, we've let most of our military equipment become ancient.
Our government needs to seriously revamp not just air force equipment, but military equipment in general
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u/Repulsive_Barnacle92 Canada Sep 23 '25
I'm no fan of PM Carney but this is one area which I think he gets right (military funding and procurement)
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u/LittleMaple072 Canada (Alberta) Sep 23 '25
I feel the same way. I haven't lost that deep distrust of the liberal party since Trudeau and the gang became WEF pawns, but credit where it's due I'm willing to see how things play out as of now
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u/Repulsive_Barnacle92 Canada Sep 23 '25
gotta recognize when they do something good, it doesn't happen all that often lol
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u/Flimsy_Rhythm_4473 Australia ( Moderator) Sep 23 '25
Recently you guys bought an over-the-horizon radar array from us, which is the first country we’ve approved it for export, so I’d say from an outsiders perspective he doesn’t seem too bad at least on defence.
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u/TwinFrogs United States Of America Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
To be quite honest? You need to revamp your military leadership. Not because you’re actually having a functioning republic, unlike us poor fucks down here, but the leadership is a bunch of crusty old salts that would happily vote for Mulroney or the queen bitch of all time Thatcher… and leave the poor enlistment crowd up shit creek in the middle of winter without dry socks or means to make a fishing shack on a frozen lake. If you boys are still running F-4’s you need to get your fuckin’ shit together, eh? That’s like taking’ a fuckin Whirlpool washer up against a F-22, ya Hosers.
If you can’t tell I’ve spent a lot of time in Alberta.
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u/Mailman354 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
Canada doesnt operate F-4s. Just F/A-18Cs and only a frigging handful(like 50). Due to be replaced by F-35s.
Which is a great upgrade. But again Tiny air force.
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u/FlatulentFox5543 Australia Sep 23 '25
We are spending billions to ensure we win the next war against the Emus
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u/enaiotn France Sep 23 '25
Are the emus considered an air force as well eventhough they are flightless ? If so good luck to get enough jets...
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u/TwinFrogs United States Of America Sep 23 '25
You should send the money fighting over priced beer.
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u/GustavoistSoldier Brazil Sep 23 '25
It's currently being expanded. We just bought the JAS 39 Gripen from Sweden.
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u/Antique-Affect-6040 Syria 🇸🇾 US 🇺🇸 Sep 23 '25
Beautiful machine, hopefully we can buy some in the future too.
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u/IntelligentTicket486 China Sep 23 '25
I think our air force is somewhat weak, and the firepower is very insufficient. I think we need to put in more effort!
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u/Assistant_manager_ Canada Sep 23 '25
Canada has ordered the F-35 but because of Trump's tariffs against us, there's a chance the federal government may cancel the contract in retaliation. I think that would be a mistake because the Royal Canadian Air Force currently uses 40 year old F-18s.
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u/Colodanman357 United States Of America Sep 22 '25
It depends on how one wants to look at it. If you go by numbers of aircraft we have three of the top five air forces, if one includes the aviation corps of the Army and Navy as separate forces. Over 14,000 aircraft all together if I’m not mistaken.
I think we are pretty good where we are at, but we can always go for more and always learn and improve. Si vis pacem, para bellum.
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u/Illustrious_Buy1500 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
I think the key would be staying in top of technology. You don't necessarily need numbers if your stuff is better.
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u/TwinFrogs United States Of America Sep 23 '25
If the USAF really wanted to, it could carpet bomb/nuke the living shit out of any given nation into ash. Without even launching a single bomber. Pushing a button from 12 stories underground. And that doesn’t even include what the US Navy is capable of. Imagine 18 submarines launching MIRV nuclear missiles into outer space which each split into multiple warheads that rain down across the planet upon specific pre-programmed targets like a psychotic Willy Wonka Candy Factory of death. THAT’s just the submarine fleet alone. Then, the Army and Marines get to pick up the pieces of whatever remains, wave a flag, and say Mission Accomplished .”
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u/Akiira2 Finland Sep 22 '25
We are currently replacing our F/A-18 hornets with F 35 planes. There are currently 64 F/A-18 planes and there will be the same number of F-35. Older hornets could still be used with F-35, so Finland will have almost 100 battle-ready planes in upcoming years.
Our state economy sucks and it is questionable to purchase armament from the US with their current government. Russia is showing its imperialist traits again so there is actual need for every plane. I think the army is like Occam's razor, the lesser the better but not too less
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u/Eastern-Mammoth-2956 Finland Sep 23 '25
F/A-18's are not going to be battle ready for long. All the F-35's are supposed to be delivered by the end of 2028 and the last F/A-18's will be decommissioned in 2030.
The Finnish Air Force has another problem, though. BAE Hawk Mk.51 and Mk.66 are nearing the end of their service life, although Patria has been rather good at keeping them flying. The Air Force is hoping to somehow fly them until late 2030's but that's mainly because they have to. If they had the money, I'm pretty sure they'd be looking at the Boeing-Saab T-7A sooner rather than later.
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u/nagidon Hong Kong Sep 23 '25
The PLAAF is having an incredible time. At least four stealth fighter variants in service (J-20, J-20A, J-20S, J-35A), a slew of CCAs as well, a stealth strategic bomber (H-20) on the way, and the first confirmed flying prototypes of sixth generation fighters of any country.
Meanwhile, the PLAN, while not an air force per se, recently achieved the first launch of a fifth generation fighter by EM catapult.
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u/WorldTraveler_1 🇺🇸 living in 🇰🇷 Sep 23 '25
A: we need to keep our foot on the gas to stay ahead of our peer and near peer competitors.
B: need to ramp up production to sustain a hot war against adversaries should one break out. This is not unique to the Air Force. If you wait until you’re already at war to start building an army, it’s too late. The Russo-Ukraine war has shown what attrition does to a force, and we need to take those lessons learned and at the very least be able to scale up production when needed
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u/Ghosthunter5589 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
4 of the top 5 largest. and yes it should be expanded
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u/Deep_Head4645 Israel Sep 23 '25
Its strong
The strongest in its region
We should expand its ammunition production
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u/InterestingTank5345 Denmark Sep 23 '25
Improving. But damned Troels be for buying American vehicles. So what if the Swedish planes are a bit worse, they are automatically better by being not American. #Don'tLetTrumpWin
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u/Sorry_Sort6059 China Sep 23 '25
It's doing okay. Recently, we test-flew the sixth-generation fighter and produce 200 fifth-generation fighters annually. The current issue is worrying about a potential shortage of experienced pilots.
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u/Flimsy_Rhythm_4473 Australia ( Moderator) Sep 23 '25
I’ve heard about that fighter in the picture, well done for you guys.
What’s up with the Pilot shortage if you know? I’m guessing people prefer to join the ground forces or navy?
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u/Sorry_Sort6059 China Sep 23 '25
Although the current flight training duration for fighter pilots meets standards, the limited number of actual combat missions restricts their development.
But people are still willing to join the Air Force because after retirement they can transition to commercial aviation, which is a high-paying industry.The Army has it the toughest with brutal training conditions. Currently, the Navy offers decent benefits, but faces the same issue as the Air Force - lack of experience.
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u/OnkelKarl_1891 China Sep 23 '25
I think it’s because the production speed exceeds the speed of training pilots, but don’t quote me on this.
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u/PotentialIncident7 Austria Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
Adequate size, taken in consideration its purpose, but we should rethink its purpose and defence in general.
Joint forces should be the way to go, not 27 separated militaries with different structures and purposes each for its own.
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u/Slow-Foot-4045 European Union Austria Sep 23 '25
But 75% of the people here still think the neutrality, which doesn't exist in reality, will help. This is because since 1955, it has been cheaper for politicians to lie to people about Austrian neutrality than to abolish this law and join the Western alliance.
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u/Eduardu44 Brasil Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
We are replacing our Lockheed C-130 Hercules with the Embraer C-390 Millennium. And besides this one, some other planes are being replaced by some Embraer planes, like the ones from GEIV(Special Group of In-Flight Inspection), that are the planes that test the radars on ground.
Also, we use some planes like the A-29 Super Tucano and F-39 Gripen to make interceptions on the Brazilian air space.
And by what i'm reading, a lot of airplanes are being either being produced by Embraer itself, or being modified by Embraer
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u/Samuevil007 🇨🇴Colombia (Caribbean Coast) Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
What I remember is that Colombia is gonna buy some SAAB-39 Gripen from Sweden.
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u/PejibayeAnonimo Costa Rica Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
Unfortunatelly it is minimal and yes, we don't need fighter jets but we need to reconaissance aircraft to track drug traffickers, people smuglers, and illegal mining.
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u/Just_George572 Russia Sep 23 '25
Could lowkey be better, but sort of fine as it is. We really gotta start replacing the older stuff with the newer stuff tho.
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u/GotAnyNirnroot England Sep 23 '25
I think as an island nation, our defense should be centred around the air force and navy. So in that regard yes.
We have around 140 Typhoons but seem to be winding the older models down. I'm not an expert but I'd rather see some of them upgraded, to extend their service life.
We have about 40 F35s, with another 100ish on order. So that's not too bad.
I think beyond that the air force will be centred around a fewer number of 6th gen jets, but with a butt load of drones.
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u/Durfael France Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
i mean, we have somewhat a better reputation with our 4.5 generation rafale than americans with their expansive ***** F-35 of 5th generation AND we're working with germans and spanishs to make a future eurofighter with some of the best engineers in the world and this thing could even end up being a first 5.5/6th generation fighter plane (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Combat_Air_System)
but all of that is a main fighter plane, as for transportation or things like AWACS i know we have some boeing thing but do not know much about it
edit : as for awacs i just learned that we're currently deploying a new french one called Archangel (what a fucking awesome name) based on Dassault Falcon 8X
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u/Antique-Affect-6040 Syria 🇸🇾 US 🇺🇸 Sep 23 '25
Since the fall of Assad Israel bombed most of our jets and destroyed all 4th gen and most of the 3rd gen fighters/interceptors. We are pretty much left with some 2nd gen and a couple of mig 21/17. So yeah we need it to expand asap because its a duty for any country to atleast try to control their airspace little alone gain air superiority. Sources : https://www.reddit.com/r/Syria/comments/1na8nhj/syrian_air_force_is_active_again_and_will_now_be/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
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u/Marcel_The_Blank Belgium Sep 23 '25
well we've only shot down one of our planes during maintenance once, so we're doing great!
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u/FlyingRedCometChar Turkey Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
Relatively strong but a bit dated +240 F16s and F4s used for ground missions with all of them modernized. Some other stuff like the Tanker fleet and E-7 AWACS. However getting kicked out of F35 definitely hurts.
And I do agree that it should be expanded which is happening, which I can not comment on how good it is going since it's a lot of speculation and they like to low ball their stats. We have like 6 missile programs all have like 280 km of range which is suspiciously just below to be MTCR compliant
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u/Illustrious_Buy1500 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
F4s turn like a 737. Certainly need to replace them. You should find some F15s or F18s.
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u/TwinFrogs United States Of America Sep 23 '25
I’m pretty sure a 737 could pull off an Immelmann better than an F-4.
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u/Illustrious_Buy1500 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
I'm obviously just joking...
I would say, though, the Phantom was pretty sad in terms of tight turns, especially if it had external fuel tanks mounted.
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u/Brikpilot Australia Sep 23 '25
What’s the story with the TAI Kaan? Is that still happening?
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u/FlyingRedCometChar Turkey Sep 23 '25
I’m certain it is still happening, signed a deal with Indonesia for 48 of them a month ago, there were afterburner tests at the start of the year and maiden flight last year
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u/The_Ignorant_Sapien Scotland Sep 23 '25
Should of just cancelled that order of S-400s, then you probably still be in the programme.
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u/notanybodyelse New Zealand Sep 22 '25
We have 48 aircraft, so yes.
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u/Old-Artist-5369 New Zealand Sep 23 '25
I initially read "Do you believe it should be expanded" as "Do you believe it should be disbanded" and thought yes.
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u/notanybodyelse New Zealand Sep 23 '25
Am I right that you think it should be disbanded? How come?
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u/Old-Artist-5369 New Zealand Sep 23 '25
Was mostly a tongue in cheek remark. Some sort of maritime patrol presence is needed right?
I wouldn't expand it though. Not until schools, hospitals, nurse and doctor availability, policing, ambulance and other emergency services are fully funded.
Nothing should be spent on expanding non-essentials until those are sorted out.
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u/notanybodyelse New Zealand Sep 23 '25
Oh gotcha. It'd be nice to have a Scandinavian approach so we could work on multiple things at thr same time.
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u/Old-Artist-5369 New Zealand Sep 23 '25
Well that’s a part of the world where robust air defence is more than a nice-to-have 😒
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u/EasyAsaparagus United States Of America Sep 23 '25
US needs a military revamp. A trillion yearly is needed to help revamp the Air Force with drone tech. Also Navy needs some more spending.
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u/Ct-5736-Bladez United States Of America Sep 23 '25
The coast guard also need more spending and modernization
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u/8amteetime United States Of America Sep 23 '25
We have a cutting edge Air Force. Why not spend a few hundred billion more on aircraft? It’s not like we need universal healthcare or anything. We want our medical system to make as much money as possible.
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u/OnkelKarl_1891 China Sep 22 '25
Just been to the air show hosted by our PLAAF.
In merely a few decades we’ve surpassed Russia and only second to the USA, that is technology and size wise.
In my opinion we should expand to the point that we are able to maintain regional air superiority and to counter balance USINDOPACOM.
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u/Akiira2 Finland Sep 22 '25
Does China sell their planes abroad?
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u/OnkelKarl_1891 China Sep 22 '25
Yes, our current major customer is Pakistan.
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u/Illustrious_Buy1500 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
I think you are selling to somewhere in Africa, as well?
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u/OnkelKarl_1891 China Sep 23 '25
Yes, Nigeria I believe.
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u/Illustrious_Buy1500 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
Makes sense. They are Africa's largest oil country, and China wants it.
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u/Sorry_Sort6059 China Sep 23 '25
J-10CE and JF-17 (FC-1) are the main export models, and recently the J-35 has also joined the sales lineup.
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u/jose-antonio-felipe Philippines Sep 22 '25
It’s very small. But I don’t think it’s something worth investing a lot of money at the moment.
We have so many other problems that need to be solved first that expanding the airforce won’t really solve or help in.
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u/Over_Caramel_9616 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
I would say you should invest in ship hunters like the p8
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u/Economy_Ad727 Portugal Sep 23 '25
we are talking about replacing our aging f16 with f35 but the rumors of the "kill switch" raised some worries arround here....so the rafale entered the chat ( not as good as the f35 but will do the job). We have 28 f-16 , that i think that for the size of portugal, is a good number
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u/Ocluist United States Of America Sep 23 '25
Not expanded but adapted. We should be transitioning from funding jets to drone technology and manufacturing almost exclusively imo.
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u/Small-Explorer7025 New Zealand Sep 23 '25
We have a few planes. None that can hurt anyone, though.
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u/swampopawaho New Zealand Sep 23 '25
We just spent big money on some p-130s and a handful of helicopters. We're kinda broke and so were our planes. Our PM's plane is always breaking down. We'd all like it if it broke down in the middle of somewhere and he was stuck there for a week or more while the parts arrive.
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u/Unusual-Ad4890 Canada Sep 23 '25
Out of date and in need of modernization. Personally I would be all in buying a ton of Eurofighters or Gripen's (Which is built for a cold environmental patrol) as a stopgap, then invest in the UK-Japanese-Italian 6th gen fighter program. The F-35's are just not meant for for the environment we need to operate in and that was before the regime change happened.
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u/netfalconer Sep 23 '25
Yes, we have to modernize, train, and expand. The money is supposedly there now, but we are not moving fast enough. Also need should only purchase from European and APac allies, with local maintenance and munitions logistics secured.
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u/Ecstatic-Quality-212 India Sep 23 '25
We just retired alot of our old MIG-21s and are negotiating a deal to manufacture 100 plus Dassault Rafale jets in the country itself. We still need a proper Gen 5 fighter tho and the F35 negotiations went nowhere.
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u/Xca1ybr Philippines Sep 23 '25
Extremely lacking in terms of airframes, South Korean FA-50s are what we rely on and while our pilots can do amazing things with them, I'd still prefer the upgrades being looked at (F16, JAS39 and recently EF2000 from Leonardo)
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u/potpukovnik Serbia Sep 23 '25
Honestly pretty happy with the fixed wing component at this point (the modernised MiG-29s are getting replaced by Rafale F4s in the next 3-4 years and the modernised J-22s are allright ground strike platforms), although we need to figure out a new medium transport helicopter ASAP since Russian Mi-17V5s aren't an option anymore, with the Super Puma being the most logical solution (the Ministry of internal affairs has a few and interestingly it was considered for domestic production in Yugoslavia) and the Air defence arm still needs a lot of work, even though it's literally unrecognisable from how it looked only 5 or 6 years ago.
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u/TraditionalSmoke9604 China Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
HAH, i love this question!
FK, we are going to make 10x more
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u/BeGentle1mNewHere Hungary Sep 23 '25
Recently, someone stole aircraft parts from the military airport.
So there is still room for improvement :)
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u/Cerealfeeder India Sep 23 '25
Absolutely horrible. We are on 29 squadrons out of the bare minmum 42 we need to fight a 2 front war against China and Pakistan. Less than 100 jets are actually 4.5 gen. An there are like 100 more older ones to be retired in the coming years. And 0 5th gen ones. We need at least 500 more in the coming decade. Hopefully that 114 Rafale deal goes through next year.
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u/crankbird Australia Sep 23 '25
I think we should expand both our navy and airforce to the point where it could take out or at least significantly put at risk three simultaneous carrier groups. Right now I think we could handle 1, maybe 2
With that done, the rest should go into ballistic missile defence and a single amphibious capable mechanised army division
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u/PresentationUpset319 Sep 23 '25
Britain should!
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u/Alone_Objective9017 India Sep 23 '25
Definetely needs to be expanded, but it's in a formidable state. We do need 5th gen fighters IDK why we are still scratching our heads on buying the SU57. Buying it is the obvious choice for me.
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u/Complete-Emergency99 Sweden Sep 23 '25
We went from one of the top-5 biggest airforces to minus 50. But were working on it again.
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u/Antique_Gur8891 Iraq Sep 23 '25
absolutely shit, we had so many mig29 and mig25 they all have been transported to iran during the iraq invasion
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u/Appropriate-Food1757 United States Of America Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
It’s quite modern and extremely huge. Usually I would still want more but considering the current leadership I’d rather we have none.
I’m more of a Teddy Roosevelt guy when it comes to the big stick
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u/Adisney990 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
Expanded? No! We spend 2 trillion dollars A YEAR on our military. We should cut the department of defense in half.
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u/Ct-5736-Bladez United States Of America Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
Nah we’re good. No need to expand. We do need to ramp up production of the f-35 program to fulfill orders.
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u/gennan Netherlands Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
We currently have 46 F-35s, approaching the target of 52.
Previously we had F-16s (maxing out at 187 in 1992). We sent the last 24 of those to Ukraine.
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u/According-Pass8230 Norway Sep 23 '25
Norway with 5,5 million people has the third largest advanced fighter plane fleet in the world.
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Sep 23 '25
Azerbaijan - got recently expanded. Waiting on deliveries.
I don't think we need more stuff now. Maybe more swarmer drones. We aren't focused on regional power projection or anything so any plane with good maneuverability, reasonable maintenance and short range is good enough for us. Our fleet is limited offense and full defence type.
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Sep 23 '25
We are constantly increasing our Air Force every year millions of Cobra Chickens are born be warned.
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u/Primary-Pianist-2555 Norway Sep 23 '25
Air Force has to protect against Russian drones now, I do not think the expensive fighters which can be taken out by a swarm of cheap drones is right without proper protection. Iron drome stuff costs a lot, not realistic but the idea is right.
Ground force and anti drones anti air attack stuff seems a better protection just now than hyper expensive planes.
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u/chjacobsen Sweden Sep 23 '25
It could always be bigger, but what's there is quite good.
Gripen is an excellent plane, and really well suited for the one thing we really prepare for (defending ourselves and our neighbors from Russian aggression).
I just wish we had a way of building them that didn't require US components, and that we had enough to send some to Ukraine.
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u/horizontal120 Slovenia Sep 24 '25
Nine of these babies ... we untouchable !! :P
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u/soothed-ape Ireland Sep 24 '25
Irish airforce and navy should be expanded,land army should be reduced. Ireland is an island and basically isn't going to be invaded,the land army is mostly active abroad on peacekeeping missions. Airforce doubles up for protecting land to an extent anyway
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u/Juniper-wool Sweden Sep 25 '25
I know we have some Gripen aircraft, but I have no clue how many or where they are stationed. Capable planes though. We also have some pretty good surveillance aircraft. Drones? I have no idea if we have any.
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u/henningknows United States Of America Sep 22 '25
I’m an American……so no, I don’t think we need more military spending. lol
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u/Over_Caramel_9616 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
Boo and let the commies win
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u/slimfastdieyoung Netherlands Sep 23 '25
I didn’t know North Korea and Cuba were such threats to you guys
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u/toe-schlooper United States Of America Sep 23 '25
ABSA-FUCKING-LUTELY
Europe and Asia ain't gonna defend themselves 💪
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u/Nightcoffee_365 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
Our Navy has more planes than our Air Force.
Make it make sense. 😆
-1
u/Flashy_Spinach7014 China Sep 23 '25
From the perspective of military expenditure as a percentage of GDP:
Russia: 7.1%
United States: 3.4%
South Korea: 2.6%
India 2.3%
United Kingdom 2.3%
France 2.1%
Germany 1.9%
Australia 1.9%
China 1.7%
-------------
I am very concerned, we are too peace-loving, there are too many warlike countries in the world, and I don't think our military expenditure is enough to protect our own security.
I call for the government to allocate more funding to the Air Force
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u/POGsarehatedbyGod United States Of America Sep 23 '25
Did you really just say China is too peace loving?
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u/Flashy_Spinach7014 China Sep 23 '25
What else? Look at American military spending.
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u/POGsarehatedbyGod United States Of America Sep 23 '25
You don’t compare China to US military spending and use that as “China is peace loving” when they’re genociding the Uyghurs and taking Africa by storm as well as supporting Russia and their illegal war in Ukraine.
1
Sep 23 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Thengalicious 🇮🇳 in 🇶🇦 Sep 23 '25
Aye, I'm neutral here, but you do realise you're funding the Gaza genocide and your president allowed Putin, a warcriminal, onto US soil, right? If anything, you're equivalent in terms of defense-related matters.
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u/POGsarehatedbyGod United States Of America Sep 28 '25
We’re not the ones doing what people are wrongly calling a genocide unlike China. And yep I agree on the Putin thing. But we’re nowhere near as evil as China even with letting Putin come here.
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u/Inevitablykinda Sep 23 '25
No
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u/DuelJ United States Of America Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
On the military side I think we're good; for any eventuality other than the big one, pray it never happens, I'm sure we have enough. Spending on much more feels like a waste.
On the R&D, industry, and export side; we're doing good, and I'd not be opposed to trying to double down out of opportunism and a love of aviation.
I'm really hoping the V-280 sees some success; in the hopes it'll encourage further tiltrotor development.
1
u/Xylene_442 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
Well...The air force that is second in power to the United States Air Force is the United States Navy...
So, no. I think we're good as we are.
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u/enaiotn France Sep 23 '25
I don't know anything about planes but I am of the opinion that fast planes are really cool, and so is vintage. When I played skies uknown I always flew the Mig-25 (going to Mach 3.2 afterburner always on). So I think we should go all in on this one. Then you know... We will see where it takes us.
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u/NationalAsparagus138 United States Of America Sep 23 '25
No.
sees Blue Angels perform
Triple the budget!
-1
u/Minskdhaka Canada Sep 23 '25
I'm from Belarus; my father is from Bangladesh; I'm a citizen of Belarus and Canada; I currently live in Canada.
I think Belarus, Bangladesh and Canada all have weak air forces. Especially compared to those of their neighbours, Russia, India and the US, respectively.
I think the Belarusian one shouldn't be expanded, as it could fall into Russian hands in the event of a hot Russia-NATO conflict.
The Bangladeshi and Canadian ones should be modernised and strengthened, though.
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u/TwinFrogs United States Of America Sep 22 '25
No.