Indian Air Force Rises to 3rd Most Powerful Air Force in WDMMA Rankings 2025.

International | Dated: 21 Oct 2025

In October 2025, the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA), an authoritative annual ranking of global air forces, released its WDMMA Rankings for 2025. The report evaluates air forces worldwide based on overall effectiveness, capability, and TruVal Rating (TVR), highlighting the strongest and weakest military aviation powers.

🎯 Key Highlights:

  • - The Indian Air Force (IAF) surpassed China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) to become the world’s 3rd most powerful air force in terms of overall effectiveness. Despite this, in terms of TVR, IAF ranks 6th globally with a score of 69.4, while China ranks 7th with a TVR of 58.1.
  • - The United States Air Force leads the rankings with a TVR of 242.9, operating 5,004 aircraft, followed by the US Navy (TVR 142.4, 2,504 units) and the Russian Air Force (TVR 114.2, 3,677 aircraft).

💡 Other Important Facts:

  • (i) The Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) ranks 8th with a TVR of 58.1, followed by the Israeli Air Force (9th, TVR 56.3), French Air Force (10th, TVR 55.3), and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF) (11th, TVR 55.3), showing a concentration of strong air capabilities among advanced nations.
  • (ii) The report also identifies the least powerful air forces globally. The bottom five include Afghanistan (107th, TVR 0.3), Syria (106th, TVR 3.6), Albania (105th, TVR 3.9), Yemen (104th, TVR 5.2), and Bosnia & Herzegovina (103rd, TVR 5.8), highlighting significant disparities in air power worldwide.
  • (iii) Among India’s neighbours, Pakistan’s air force ranks 18th with a TVR of 46.3, while Bangladesh is positioned 83rd with a TVR of 14.1, indicating that IAF maintains a substantial qualitative and quantitative advantage in the region.

📚 Test Your Knowledge:

Recently, in the WDMMA Rankings 2025, what position did the Indian Air Force (IAF) achieve in overall effectiveness?

Correct Answer: 3rd

🚀 Quick Recap:

About Indian Air Force(IAF)

  • Chief of Air Staff (CoAS) : Amar Preet Singh
  • Headquarters: New Delhi