What Russia’s Air Force Looked Like Before Operation Spider’s Web

On June 1, 2025, Ukraine executed a covert drone attack deep inside Russian territory. Operation Spider’s Web, as it’s known, was a series of coordinated drone strikes that targeted the Russian Air Force’s “Long-Range Aviation assets”. Ukrainian officials came out after the fact and said that these drone strikes damaged roughly one-third of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers. (Russia vs. Ukraine: Who Has the Stronger Military Going into 2025?)

Operation Spider’s Web took over a year and a half of planning but only one day to carry out. In terms of the details, less than 120 drones targeted five different Russian Air Bases: Belaya, Dyagilevo, Ivanovo Severny, Olenya, and Ukrainka. Damages to the Russian fleet are estimated to be around $7 billion in USD, while this attack was carried out by about $2,000 worth of drones. It’s worth noting that this war has been going on since February 2022, and an attack of this scale within Russian territory has not been seen until now.

This holds terrible implications for the future of warfare if a country’s air force can be devastated before it even takes off by an incredibly cost-effective countermeasure. Not only that, but the implications for naval warfare are fairly serious as well. What will become of drone warfare is still yet to be seen at its full potential.

Some have even compared this military operation to that of Israel’s pager attacks on Hezbollah fighters, noting it is one of the most ingenious in modern times with modern technology.

In the meantime, the Russian Air Force is still reeling from this attack. While this might have put a temporary constraint on Russia’s nuclear triad, the Red Army is still capable. However, one thing this attack definitely did was stall any potential peace talks. After a materiel loss like, one would suspect it’s hard for Putin to come to the table. (What Are the Prospects of Nuclear War in Ukraine?)

Russian officials are referring to this as a “terrorist attack” and have further said that the attack was repelled at three of the five bases and that there were no casualties.

What remains to be seen is how Russia responds to this attack, and what is left of its air force. Prior to the attack, Russia had 4,292 at the ready according to FlightGlobal (including training aircraft). Like China and the United States, Russia relies heavily on its fighter jets in terms of the bulk of its fleet. It has bombers, transports, and attack helicopters as well. Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at the Russian Air Force, and what it looked like before this devastating attack.

To identify every aircraft in the Russian military, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2025 World Air Forces report from FlightGlobal, an aviation and aerospace industry publication. We ordered these aircraft alphabetically. We also included supplemental data on how many aircraft are in active service, the type of aircraft, and top speed. We excluded trainer aircraft.

Here is a look at every aircraft in the Russian military:

Why Are We Covering This?

Understanding the aircraft in Russia’s Air Force is important because they play a big part in the country’s defense and global influence. Each type of aircraft has a specific job, like controlling the skies, bombing long-range targets, or using advanced technology to disrupt enemy systems. Knowing which aircraft are in use gives context to Russian military strategies and military capabilities.

An-12 Cub

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1959
• Active aircraft: 64
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 300 mph
• Armament: Typically none, sometimes tail-mounted 23mm cannons

An-124 Ruslan Condor

• Type: Strategic heavy-lift transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1986
• Active aircraft: 5
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 537 mph
• Armament: N/A

Antonov An-140

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 2002
• Active aircraft: 8
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 357 mph
• Armament: N/A

Antonov An-148

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 2009
• Active aircraft: 15
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 513 mph
• Armament: N/A

An-22 Antei

• Type: Heavy-lift transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1967
• Active aircraft: 4
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 460 mph
• Armament: N/A

An-26 Curl

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1969
• Active aircraft: 139
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 277 mph
• Armament: N/A

An-30 Clank

• Type: Transport / reconnaissance aircraft
• Year introduced: 1968
• Active aircraft: 16
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 336 mph
• Armament: N/A

An-72 Coaler

• Type: Tactical medium-lift transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1986
• Active aircraft: 35
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 438 mph
• Armament: 23mm gun pods, UB-23M rocket launcher system, conventional drop bombs

AS355 Twin Squirrel

• Type: Light utitlity helicopter
• Year introduced: 1979
• Active aircraft: 2
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 173 mph
• Armament: N/A

Be-12 Mail

• Type: Reconnaissance / maritime patrol aircraft
• Year introduced: 1961
• Active aircraft: 7
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 329 mph
• Armament: Torpedoes, depth charges, mines, conventional drop bombs

Be-200 Altair

• Type: Amphibious flying boat aircraft
• Year introduced: 2003
• Active aircraft: 2
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 435 mph
• Armament: N/A

IL-18 Coot

• Type: Transport / maritime patrol aircraft
• Year introduced: 1957
• Active aircraft: 4
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 419 mph
• Armament: N/A

IL-20 Coot-A

• Type: Electronic signals intelligence aircraft
• Year introduced: 1969
• Active aircraft: 29
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 419 mph
• Armament: N/A

Il-38 Dolphin

• Type: Anti-submarine maritime patrol aircraft
• Year introduced: 1968
• Active aircraft: 21
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 404 mph
• Armament: Conventional drop bombs, depth charges, anti-ship missiles, torpedoes

IL-76 Candid

• Type: Strategic transport / tanker aircraft
• Year introduced: 1975
• Active aircraft: 143
• Aircraft on order: 7
• Top speed: 559 mph
• Armament: 23mm GSh-23L tail-mounted cannons, conventional drop bombs

IL-78 Midas

• Type: In-flight refueling tanker aircraft
• Year introduced: 1984
• Active aircraft: 19
• Aircraft on order: 31
• Top speed: 528 mph
• Armament: N/A

IL-80 Maxdome

• Type: Airborne command post
• Year introduced: 1992
• Active aircraft: 3
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 186 mph
• Armament: N/A

Ka-226 Sergei (Hoodlum)

• Type: Light utitlity helicopter
• Year introduced: 2002
• Active aircraft: 36
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 127 mph
• Armament: N/A

Ka-27/28/29 Helix

• Type: Multi-role helicopter
• Year introduced: 1982
• Active aircraft: 108
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 143 mph
• Armament: Rocket pods, gun pods, anti-tank missiles, aerial torpedos, depth charges

Ka-31 Helix

• Type: Airborne early warning naval helicopter
• Year introduced: 1995
• Active aircraft: 3
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 155 mph
• Armament: N/A

Ka-52 Alligator

• Type: Attack / reconnaissance helicopter
• Year introduced: 2010
• Active aircraft: 138
• Aircraft on order: 41
• Top speed: 186 mph
• Armament: 30mm automatic cannon, air-to-surface anti-tank missiles, rocket pods, cannon pods

Let L-410 Turbolet

• Type: Twin-turboprop utility aircraft
• Year introduced: 1970
• Active aircraft: 53
• Aircraft on order: 2
• Top speed: 252 mph
• Armament: N/A

Mil Mi-2 Hoplite

• Type: Light utitlity helicopter
• Year introduced: 1965
• Active aircraft: 4
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 124 mph
• Armament: 23mm automatic cannons, rocket pods, anti-tank guided missiles, air-to-air missiles

Mil Mi-24/35 Hind

• Type: Attack helicopter
• Year introduced: 1973
• Active aircraft: 325
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 208 mph
• Armament: 12.7mm heavy machine guns, 23mm cannon, 30mm cannon, anti-tank missiles, rocket pods, machine gun pods, cannon pods, conventional drop bombs

Mil Mi-26 Halo

• Type: Heavy-lift transport helicopter
• Year introduced: 1983
• Active aircraft: 45
• Aircraft on order: 15
• Top speed: 183 mph
• Armament: N/A

Mil Mi-28 Havoc

• Type: Twin-engine attack helicopter
• Year introduced: 2009
• Active aircraft: 94
• Aircraft on order: 98
• Top speed: 199 mph
• Armament: 30mm Shipunov 2A42 cannon, rocket pods, Spiral missiles, gun pods, cannon pods

Mil Mi-38

• Type: Medium-lift twin-engine tranport helicopter
• Year introduced: 2019
• Active aircraft: 2
• Aircraft on order: 2
• Top speed: 186 mph
• Armament: N/A

Mi-8/17/171 Hip-H

• Type: Medium-lift transport helicopter
• Year introduced: 1981
• Active aircraft: 789
• Aircraft on order: 10
• Top speed: 158 mph
• Armament: Shturm missiles, rocket pods, 23mm cannon pods, 7.62mm machine guns

MiG-29/35 Fulcrum

• Type: Lightweight multirole fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 1984
• Active aircraft: 254
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 1,519 mph
• Armament: 30mm GSh-1 internal automatic cannon, Alamo missiles, Adder missiles, rocket pods, conventional drop bombs, guided bombs

MiG-31 Foxhound

• Type: Interceptor aircraft
• Year introduced: 1979
• Active aircraft: 128
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 1,864 mph
• Armament: 23mm GSh-6 internal cannon, Amos missiles, Aphid missiles, Acrid missiles

Su-24 Fencer

• Type: Long-range strike / attack aircraft
• Year introduced: 1974
• Active aircraft: 296
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 1,439 mph
• Armament: 23mm GSh internal six-barrel cannon, Ahpid missiles, Archer missiles, Kingbolt missiles, Krypton missiles, rocket pods, conventional drop bombs, guided bombs

Su-25 Grach Frogfoot

• Type: Close-air support / ground attack aircraft
• Year introduced: 1981
• Active aircraft: 132
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 590 mph
• Armament: 30mm GSh- internal cannon, rocket pods, guided munitions, conventional drop bombs, air-to-surface missiles, air-to-air missiles

Su-27 Flanker

• Type: Multi-role air superiority fighter
• Year introduced: 1985
• Active aircraft: 427
• Aircraft on order: 15
• Top speed: 1,553 mph
• Armament: 30mm GSh internal cannon, air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, conventional drop bombs, cluster bombs, anti-ship missiles, anti-radar missiles

Su-34 Fullback

• Type: Strike fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 2014
• Active aircraft: 142
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 1,367 mph
• Armament: 30mm GSh internal cannon, Archer missiles, Moskit missiles, air-to-ground missiles, air-to-air missiles, guided munitions, rocket pods

Su-57 Felon

• Type: Multi-role stealth aircraft
• Year introduced: 2019
• Active aircraft: 24
• Aircraft on order: 52
• Top speed: 1,616 mph
• Armament: 30mm GSh internal cannon, air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, guided bombs

Tu-134 Crusty

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1967
• Active aircraft: 6
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 590 mph
• Armament: N/A

Tu-142 Bear

• Type: Anti-submarine bomber aircraft
• Year introduced: 1972
• Active aircraft: 32
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 575 mph
• Armament: 23mm automatic cannon, torpedoes, naval mines, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles

Tu-154 Careless

• Type: Transport aircraft
• Year introduced: 1972
• Active aircraft: 4
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 590 mph
• Armament: N/A

Tu-160 Blackjack

• Type: Strategic heavy bomber aircraft
• Year introduced: 1989
• Active aircraft: 15
• Aircraft on order: 50
• Top speed: 1,243 mph
• Armament: Kent cruise missiles, Kickback nuclear missiles, conventional drop bombs, air-to-surface missiles

Tupolev Tu-214

• Type: Airborne command post
• Year introduced: 1996
• Active aircraft: 4
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 559 mph
• Armament: N/A

Tu-22M Backfire

• Type: Strategic maritime bomber
• Year introduced: 1972
• Active aircraft: 57
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 1,243 mph
• Armament: 23mm GSh tail-mounted cannon, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship missiles, conventional drop bombs, laser-guided bombs, cruise missiles

Tu-95 Bear

• Type: Strategic reconnaissance / heavy bomber aircraft
• Year introduced: 1956
• Active aircraft: 47
• Aircraft on order: 0
• Top speed: 531 mph
• Armament: 23mm cannons, air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship missiles, precision guided munitions, conventional drop bombs

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