The US Air Force is the biggest in the world. But still not big enough. 

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If the US is seriously worried about numbers they can keep producing the F15EX , block 70 F16 and block 3 super hornet.These are fine for most missions after the stealth and drone forces have whittled down the small top tier forces most potential opponents possess or for the majority of recent situations where the US was fighting opposition with no serious aerospace capability.

Worth noting that between F16s and F35s alone, the US produces ~250 per year. Lot's of these are for export, but they maintain F16 production because it's simple to manufacture, they can ramp it up approximately 400% for the F16 without needing additional floor space, just more manpower from an extensive pool of trained aerospace technicians/engineers. Always consider the defence industrial base, as it is key to the overall strategic plan for the united states in having the ability to not only supply itself, but almost any of its allies should the need arise.

It’s funny how in WW2 Japan was struggling to supply their boys and the only trouble the yanks had was finding out a way to ship ice cream to the boys, funniest shit you’ll ever hear.

U.S. air force strength is the fact that it is so large that peer adversaries don't bother to try and compete seriously, hence focus on anti-AD and ground attack rather than fighter combat.

And this is why I laugh when people talk of Russia as the 2nd best army in the world. China has passed them many years ago, and it's growing way faster. Other than nukes, there's no field in which China cannot overmatch Russia. The real question is, what is their power ratio compared to the American coalition. Especially in this next 6 or so years before all the new 6th gen stuff comes online. I think it will take all the might of the opposition to win a decisive victory in case of conflict, it's not going to be a trivial matter if those superpowers come to blows. On the other hand, if a war doesn't happen, the armies of China and the US will be ridiculously advanced and powerful by 2040, it will be Desert Storm all over again if either of those behemoths decide to flex on some medium sized third world country.

US Airforce 's biggest competitor is US Navy

One factor not mentioned is the difference between pilot training in the US vs China. China's pilots are less trained with fewer hours of flight time. In a conflict scenario, US superior training combined with superior airframes and numbers would quickly shrink China's numbers through attrition. China's inexperience with military matters in general is a serious hurdle for them. They effectively don't even have any aircraft carriers, the first one they bought was unfinished and serving as a casino when they bought it, and the 2nd carrier is a clone of that one. Their 3rd carrier isn't operational and is really just a test platform, not a functional threat.

Just to point out something else: The Chinese aircraft engines are built with materials that just don't meet the US level of Metallurgy. What that translates into is more downtime for maintenance and engine replacement. Their engines wear out a lot faster and for every hour of flight they require about 2-3 times the maintenance time that US Aircraft require. Even if they had 2x the number of aircraft, they would have a seriously difficult time keeping them in the air to meet the US Aircraft coming.

China has surpassed Russia in military power, I thought this before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. US is a global superpower, China is a regional superpower (at least currently and this decade). Manufacturing base of China is unmatched. While they don’t have the top quality military hardware like the US, quantity eventually triumphs. China’s stealth tech is second rate though. J-20 has a huge RCS compared to the F-22 and F-35. US started stealth research in the 1970s, 1981 F-117 launched.

F15EX just doesn’t get enough love

The US NAVY is the second largest "Airforce" in the world i think US will be okay.

It should be noted that "mission capable rate" refers to normal operations. Planes are "non mission capable" because they have anywhere from a major to a relatively minor maintenance issue or they are overdue for an inspection. The USAF is very protective of its aircraft and will ground them over something that most likely will not cause an issue, but "most likely" is not good enough when talking about the safety of a $100m aircraft and crew during peacetime training. In large scale major combat operations, many of the maintained issues that those planes have will be waived.

The worlds second biggest airforce is the US Navy after the US Airforce.. :)

The US has an an entire fleet of Jets parked in the desert waiting to be reactivated or for parts. They can build very capable AI based fighters off these legacy systems.

I think one thing you should have mentioned is that the us is an expeditionary force, it has to go to the potential conflicts. Thats why the tankers and logistical capabilities. Russia, China, Iran, all have the home court advantage.

Can confirm. Most of our fleet (F-15, f16, fa18, b52, c130, kc-135, kc10...) qualify for antique license plates

The marines still have the third largest air force in the world

I didn't realize we had so many F-35s in the U.S. For some reason I always had this idea that there were just a few dozen or something.

Amateurs talk strategy. Pros talk logistics. Hence the large tankers and transport fleet in USAF!

Innovation > Imitation

Title brought to you by Lockheed Martin

I like the last line. I'm in the same boat, fascinated by military history, but with no illusions about the nature of war.

make a video about the most advanced ICBM's and which country maintain the best types today and in the near future.

As mentioned in previous videos, the US abililty is greatly multipied once its allies forces are taken into consideration, sOmething that sOme other 'lubtries simply dont have.

4:31 - - E7 Wedgetail 9:38 - - E3G AWACS decrease in usability 12:46 - - AF satellites 🛰️ increasingly used for Opposed Force tracking 12:58 - - Constellations of 🛰️ monitoring tests w/AI 🤖 13:08 - - battle field surveillance from space 🛰️🌌 13:12 - - (Ground Moving Target Indicator from space) 🛰️🌌 13:21 - - 100 B21 stealth bombers to replace B1s + B2s 13:42 - - 6th Generation fighters + large numbers of drones 14:16 - - (2025) AF to buy = 51 F35As, 12 F15EXs // Navy = 20 F35s 14:34 - - (2025) AF to retire = 32 F22s, 91 F15s, 56 A10s, 11 F16s 14:35 - - (2026-2030) AF + Navy to buy = 780 F35s 14:59 - - AF heavily invested in new tech - in a military race w China 15:16 - - and remember - Berkov🐸 (Kermie’s cousin🐸) may talk about war - - but only real peace🕊️can bring us all together!😃🫱🏼‍🫲🏽😁🇺🇸🇨🇳🇪🇺🇷🇺🕊

Thank you so much for referring to the U-2 as Recon aircraft and not a "Spy Plane" as so many do :)

When I was in Germany with a friend I admired an example of the comparable dreadnought fleet and the Royal Navy (the preeminent force of the period). He remarked of the issues modernising it and supplying it, similar the problems the US has now.

Lol remember Pooh Bear, availability always drops to 0% after your little toys off Wish encounter an F-22.

Damn, so many negative comments about a speculative video.

How many conflicts or what kind of experience does the Chinese Air Force have?

The United States Air Force and the United States Navy have the first and second largest air forces in the world.

How well does the Chinese Air Force perform in combat?

Let's not forget quality and experience during war

op 10 Nations with the Most Military Aircraft (All Branches Combined) - Flight International 2022: United States 13,300 Russia 4,182 China 3,284 India 2,200 South Korea 1,608 Japan 1,451 Pakistan 1,147 Egypt 1,069 Turkey 1,065 France 1,004

The great thing about Binkov is his understanding of the ancillary. Even Superman needs to sleep, get maintenance and look for Allies. Good Job my well decorated Frog, Good Job.

Dang the USAF only has 192 helicopters does that seem weird? Does the army have lot more maybe?

Where are the American keyboard lions here

I very much enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

I think having more aircraft is the very last thing the US needs to worry about.

Fun Fact ! China has one air refueling squadton , just one

The US has the 1st and 2nd largest airforces in the world.

YES

Pilots, Ground Crew, pilots, ground crew, pilots, ground crew. If Ukraine has taught us anything it's that Russia exaggerates and the PRC can't let their data out: translation? their production, training and capabilities are always "best case/best case"

Doesn't the US Navy have the 2nd largest air force in the world? 😂

Besides the number of aircraft that each country has, how about pilots themselves, how do they compare with one another?

Aren’t your numbers of available F35s a little short? As of May 24 there are 630 currently in the US Military

J-20 is NOT even as stealthy as F-35. And this can already be proven. 1ST. Their is a 3rd party radar scattering CAD simulation done on Aircraft 101. Without RAM coatings, they compared all 3 F-35, J-20, and Su-57 low observable LO characteristics through their shapes/geometry alone. In a 20x20deg frontal aspect, "J-20 RCS is higher than F-35A RCS through the frequency range (approximately 3.5 times in X-band, 1.5 times in VHF band), it still has much better RCS characteristic when compared to Su-57.” So in geometry alone without the RAM coatings, a 3.5 times difference would translate to 37% difference in detection range in the X-band which is pretty significant. Even with RAM coatings of the same level used on F-35 or F-22, J-20 is still less stealthy. But obviously their will still be a substantial difference in RAM coatings. So F-35 definitely has the “first look, first shoot, first kill” maybe even a 2nd shot in beyond visual range BVR. 2ND. Both Pacific Air Force (PACAF) head Gen. Wilsbach and US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Brown assessment of J-20 as “It’s not anything to lose a lot of sleep over” when F-35s were able to close in on J-20s and observe them near Japan. 3RD. J-20’s canards and the whole vertical stabilizers are moving. Plus their are more than 1000+ F-35s. That is 5 times more than J-20 with more than half of that in US arsenal. So US has both quality and quantity.

An advantage China may have with lower-tech aircraft is the ability to produce more of them, in shorter time. Attrition could whittle away the present US advantages in quantity and quality, if USAF airframes take significantly longer to produce.

You know who else had a huge air force but it was garbage because it was old, not well maintained and the pilots were crap? China and Russia at some point...

Man the comments on Russia or China adjacent topics can be real rubbish.

Why did you stop making country A vs. country B videos?

F15 EX is the best fighter which should be procured atleast 360+

oh boy time to see the warzone that is this comment section below every Binkov Video.

According to the numbers from the Indian air force and navy the Russian engines are available for 45% of the time when relatively new. As the Chinese use those engines in their aircraft or clones of them it will be close to that number.

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) might make conventional airforces less relevant over the tactical battlefield.

"You can help by expanding it."

thank you for the 15 minutes video, this is the optimal length for many topics.

Numbers are subjective. Local logistics are the linchpin.

05:09 I see the USAF has C8 Corvettes now. They like to buy high performance chase cars for the U2. I remember them using fox body Mustangs back in the '80's.

It's kind of wild to think that one country has an air force larger, more sophisticated, and more powerful than its next two near-peer competitors COMBINED, and it's not even the totality of the air assets it has.

airforce not big enough you say? got it, triple the defense budget and get index on the phone!

Good video, but I would like to push back a bit. I’m pretty sure you are missing a fairly large number of aircraft, both fighters and other platforms. I think perhaps 400 fighters from the US total, ~178 tankers, 38 AWACS, etc. Many are in the war reserve (storage) and others are scattered in places you wouldn’t expect (like the US navy operating a couple of squadrons of F-16’s in aggressor squadrons, air show teams or just sitting in the desert somewhere. Those fighters in storage all have hot production lines and could readily be modernized and brought into service in a long war to replace losses. Current production lines in the US can build upwards of 274 modern aircraft per year, most of which is sold internationally, and there are large numbers of parts in storage to bring back planes from the boneyard and the military practices doing it regularly. As to readiness, I think it is not the issue you think it is in a wartime scenario. Certifying aircraft as ready is an involved process that can include engine runs or even test flights along with a bunch of other tests and checks to achieve certification. It is actually detrimental to aircraft fleet management to maintain excessively high readiness because it might literally involve putting extra hours on aging airframes or engines, etc. Besides, much of the mtx is deferrable and is fact deferred without really impacting the ability of the aircraft to perform most missions, so I think it is completely unrealistic to think either side would not do missions unless there was some safety critical item preventing it. As to the Chinese though, new airplanes or not, they have crap engines that need to go through major overhauls far, far more often than US engines. That implies much more lower level maintenance also. There is no reason to think other Chinese components do not suffer similar problems. That said I’m sure they would also maintain high levels of availability in wartime conditions as well. The U.S. has numbers, the tech advantage and a vastly larger aerospace industry to draw on. China doesn’t have tankers because they are barely able to build them. Most of the world’s aerospace capacity is either in the US (over 50% of the total) or its partners (most of the rest). There are basing issues in the western pacific that along with distance will slow down sortie generation and could cause problems if Taiwan were to quickly collapse, but the reality is that China just isn’t in the same league when it comes to air power. Not this decade anyways.

Availablity rate have nothing to do with the age of the platform, the only factors that effect availability is spare parts and manpower.

can you do Spain vs Andorra war please

The moment that debt payments overcome the expending on defense, its when the beginning of the end of all these magical unending without control expenditure will start. Yes, that year is 2024.

I think that huge factor missed in this video is the capability to use jets in potential conflict time. Russian invasion showed how difficult it is, even if Russia poseses quite a number of jets they have issues to use them in big number, due to problem with communication, friendly fire etc. US showed it's capacity to use jets massively numerous of Times, it's hard to say something about china but my guess is they wpuld fail to coordinate such amount of planes in the air

Can you make a video on the entire air power of the USA. you keep mentioning USN and the USMC. Include all the air supremacy vs china.

US Coast Guard has another 200+ aircraft

You forgot the US navy

The great thing everyone forgets is that if you pick a fight with the US you pick a fight with NATO Japan Australia South Korea etc etc etc..

US SPACE FORCE needs to start building Space Battlecruisers disguised as unarmed cargo/mining vessels on the way to developing OMEGA CLASS Destroyers armed with Mass Drivers to hurl asteroids at Earth based targets (but they the just Mining Ships send cargo back to Earth 😉)

Day 2 of asking for a hypothetical war video between Morocco and Spain or Morocco and Algeria because of the rising tensions between those countries I look forward to seeing such video Keep up the good work💪👍

U.S. Air Force..the largest air force in the world...the second largest air force in the world? U.S. Navy.

Ofcourse you have the #2 Air Force, USN air

F16 from us to Ukraine in 2025?

World: USA, how many aircrafts do you need? USA: Yes

West-Taiwan bots are not happy in the comments section xD

US needs to add more to its aircraft-carriers fleet--10 new more by 2050.

One factor to consider in a US vs China future conflict is that the US is a global power. As such, China would never face more than 2/3 of US naval or air forces. The rest will be deployed in the Middle East, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, etc. Given that, US forces need to be 50% more numerous just to cover the gap.

Not big enough for what? Also, the Navy has a few planes too.

We have over 600 tanker aircraft Just sayin 🤓

Very disigenuous to assume China has a higher availability rate automatically despite no available information.

US Air Force may not be funding NGAD anymore not certain but that apparently is recent buzz.

Why we aren't replacing old F-15 with the new EX makes no sense to me. Same with the F-16 and 35

These are the same people that thought one child policy for 40 years was a good idea at the same time everyone stated living in condos. Nobody checked the demographics

Everyone loves to compare fighter numbers, but they forget about the most critical factor: RANGE. None of the USAF planes as the range to operate over Taiwan without being based there. That means they'd based on runways getting bombed by Chinese missiles. They could maybe fly in from Okinawa or the philippines, but that's hardly safe either and would give them just a few minutes of loiter time. That's why the air force is pushing the B21 and NGAD so hard, both with an emphasis on range: most of its existing planes are useless for a serious fight over Taiwan.

Is china can attack Philippines first ignoring taiwan and japan?

>The US Air Force is the biggest in the world. But still not big enough. Maybe it's not the size of the USAF that's the problem, but the size and scope creep of the mission?

TRIPLE THE DEFENSE BUDGET 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

@Binkov, please make a video about the Russia ~ North Korea militairy pact and the implications it will have for NATO and the US. Tell your fans what master move Putin has done now. :D

The US Navy is the second largest air force in the world as well. Quantity is not a quality all it's own when we're talking about cheap knockoffs.

Starategic actical means vs high cost i think with high tech availabimities

china has already peaked

Hmmmm, apparently unaware that there is now a Space Force (re who controls satellites, for example). Uncharacteristic lapse on Binkov's part.

2

#USA 💙

Chinese planes are based on Russian designs which are not easy to maintain or built to last, while USAF planes designs are required to be maintainable and long-lived, so a 15 year old USAF plane is half way through its' service life, while a 9 year old Chinese plane is one year away from the junkyard. That is the difference.

If you need a drone operator, I've been training for years

The advantages of F22 are speed and super maneuverability, but its electronic equipment is old, and it lacks EODAS and EOTS, so its actual combat performance may not be better than F35. Although F35 can only cruise at subsonic speed and its maneuverability is not as good as F22, its battlefield perception ability is the best in the world. With this advantage, I can say that F35 is much better than F22. F22 is similar to F14, and it is more of an appearance bonus, which does not mean that it is more powerful than the following fighters.