- Domain
- Air
- NCF capability
- Air enablers
- Military Balance category
- Tanker
- SIPRI category
- Aircraft
- Evidence that places a platform here
- tanker · aerial refu?el · air.to.air refu?el · multi.role tanker · \bMRTT\b · KC-\d
The 24 nations
None, legacy only, modern, or modern and on order. Modern: in service from 1995, or the current generations of fighters, tanks, submarines and long-range air defence.
United StatesModern · 4United KingdomModern · 2AustraliaModern · 1FranceModern and on order · 5GermanyModern and on order · 3JapanModern · 3South KoreaNoneCanadaModern and on order · 3ItalyLegacy only · 3IndiaModern · 3TürkiyeModern · 2Saudi ArabiaModern · 4BrazilModern · 2IndonesiaModern and on order · 3MexicoNoneArgentinaLegacy only · 1South AfricaModern · 1RussiaLegacy only · 1ChinaModern · 2IsraelModern · 4UkraineNoneTaiwanNoneIranNoneNorth KoreaNone
Generation timeline
Each platform from its first flight or launch to today, the 40 most operated, earliest in service first. Grey is development and, after the lead operator retires it, the years other nations keep it; colour is service.
- Development, from first flight or launch
- In service, from first deployment
- After its lead operator retires it, still held elsewhere
- Today
- Flag beside the name: the home country
Dates from Wikidata: first flights or launches for 8 of these 10, retirements for 1. A bar without grey at its start has no first flight recorded.
Platforms
Ranked by the number of the 24 nations that hold each.
| Platform | Operators | Active | On order | In service | Generation | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A330 MRTT | 9 | 63 | 20 | 2011 | FRA | |
| Lockheed KC-130 Hercules | 7 | 110 | 1983 | USA | ||
| Airbus A400M Atlas | 6 | 171 | 25 | 2013 | DEU | |
| Boeing 707 | 4 | 41 | 1958 | USA | ||
| Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker | 4 | 421 | 1957 | USA | ||
| Il-78 | 3 | 9 | 1985 | SUN | ||
| KC-46 Pegasus | 3 | 83 | 2019 | USA | ||
| KC-767 | 2 | 8 | USA | |||
| Airbus CC-330 Husky | 1 | 3 | 2023 | |||
| CC-150 Polaris | 1 | 3 | 1992 | |||
| Xian Y-20 | 1 | 95 | 2016 | CHN |
Fingerprints
Each nation's equipment fingerprint with only tanker in colour.
United States Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker 396, Lockheed KC-130 Hercules 85, KC-46 Pegasus 77
United Kingdom Airbus A400M Atlas 22, Airbus A330 MRTT 14
Australia Airbus A330 MRTT 7
France Airbus A400M Atlas 24, Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker 15, Airbus A330 MRTT 13
Germany Airbus A400M Atlas 53, Airbus A330 MRTT A330-200 MRTT 9, Airbus A330 MRTT A330 MRTT 1
Japan KC-46A 4, KC-767J 4, Lockheed KC-130 Hercules KC-130H 2
Canada Airbus CC-330 Husky A330-200 3, CC-150 Polaris 3, Airbus A330 MRTT 2
Italy KC-767 – 4, Lockheed KC-130 Hercules KC-130J 4, Airbus A330 MRTT A330 MRTT 0
India Il-78MKI 6, Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker KC-135R 1, Airbus A330 MRTT A330 MRTT –
Türkiye Airbus A400M Atlas 10, Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker 9
Saudi Arabia Airbus A330 MRTT A330-243 MRTT 12, Boeing 707 KE-3A 7, Lockheed KC-130 Hercules KC-130H 7
Brazil Embraer C-390 Millennium KC-390 7, Airbus A330 MRTT 1
Indonesia Airbus A400M Atlas A400M MRTT 2, Lockheed KC-130 Hercules KC-130B 1, Airbus A330 MRTT –
Argentina Boeing 707 2
South Africa Airbus A400M Atlas 60
Russia Il-78 –
China Xian Y-20 95, Il-78 3
Israel Lockheed KC-130 Hercules KC-130H 7, Boeing 707 KC-707 "Saknai" 5, Lockheed C-130 Hercules KC-130H "Qarnaf" 3