Top 10 Countries With the Most Helicopter Carriers (2026): Türkiye’s TCG Anadolu Makes the List — USA, China, Japan

We open with the smallest aircraft/helicopter carrier in the world. Built in Spain in 1997, HTMS Chakri Naruebet is a scaled-down derivative of the Spanish Príncipe de Asturias design. It originally embarked AV-8S Harrier jump jets, but those were retired years ago, and the ship now operates effectively as a helicopter platform.

Tight budgets and a low operational tempo mean she spends long stretches alongside, often cited in royal-yacht and disaster-relief roles. Even so, Thailand remains one of the very few nations in Southeast Asia to operate a carrier-class ship at all — a capability most of its regional rivals simply do not have.

At #9 sits the largest warship in Latin America: NAM Atlântico. The ship is no stranger — she was formerly the Royal Navy’s HMS Ocean. Brazil bought the helicopter carrier from the UK in 2018 and made her the flagship of its fleet.

Atlântico gives Brazil continent-scale helicopter deployment, amphibious landing and disaster-relief capability. Even with a single hull, Brazil retains a decisive voice in the South Atlantic; regional neighbours such as Argentina and Chile field no ship in this class. Buying second-hand was a smart way to acquire strategic capability on a constrained budget.

On raw hull count Türkiye is listed among the single-ship nations — but that ranking is only half the story. When TCG Anadolu entered service in 2023, the Turkish navy was suddenly promoted to the power-projection league. Built on the Spanish Juan Carlos I design, she is a sister to Australia’s Canberra class — meaning she descends from one of the most proven amphibious bloodlines afloat.

What sets Anadolu apart from every other ship on this list is her technology. After the F-35B procurement crisis, Türkiye turned a weakness into a global first by arming the ship with unmanned aircraft. TCG Anadolu is the first vessel in the world to operationally fly fixed-wing drones — the Bayraktar TB3, with the jet-powered KIZILELMA to follow. It is a template every major navy, from China to the United States, is now examining.

And this is not a one-ship story. A second LHD and national shipbuilding programmes are on the table. Anadolu is the seagoing face of the same domestic ecosystem that produces the HÜRJET jet, the MİLGEM/İstif frigates, the ALTAY tank and the KAAN fighter. She may look like one of the list’s smallest members, but Türkiye is proving that capability is not measured in numbers alone.

At #7, the first of the two-ship nations is South Korea. The Dokdo (2007) and Marado (2021) amphibious assault ships symbolise the Korean navy’s blue-water ambitions. Marado outclasses its predecessor with an advanced AESA radar and an enlarged flight deck.

Long known as a land-army power facing North Korea, South Korea has sharply expanded its reach at sea in recent years. Seoul is also studying a light carrier (CVX) able to embark F-35Bs. For a nation competing in the same waters as Japan and China, these ships are critical to the regional balance.

Egypt sits at #6 with two Mistral-class ships — and there is an intriguing diplomatic backstory. The vessels were originally built for Russia; when France cancelled delivery after the Crimea crisis, Egypt stepped in and bought both in 2016.

The move gave Egypt one of the most powerful amphibious navies in Africa and the Arab world. Bordering several critical theatres — the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and the Libyan coast — Cairo can now shift forces quickly across vast distances. Egypt’s navy thereby built a continent-leading helicopter-carrying capability.

Australia’s two Canberra-class ships at #5 are TCG Anadolu’s closest relatives: both are based on Spanish shipbuilder Navantia’s Juan Carlos I design. That kinship is itself proof of how solid the architecture behind the Turkish ship really is.

Canberra and Adelaide give Australia amphibious-landing, humanitarian and helicopter-operations reach across the Pacific. Within a deepening alliance with the United States against China’s regional rise, these ships are the centre of gravity of the Australian fleet. Their ski-jump ramps even leave the theoretical door open to future fixed-wing integration.

France enters the top four with three Mistral-class amphibious assault ships. Mistral, Tonnerre and Dixmude give the French navy the flexibility to be present in several seas at once. The class has also been an export success — Egypt’s ships on this very list share the design.

With strong command-and-control suites, these ships are the backbone of a global maritime strategy that stretches from France’s former colonial ties to the Indo-Pacific. Alongside the nuclear carrier Charles de Gaulle, the Mistrals make France the most balanced power-projection navy in Europe, and they frequently serve as flagships in NATO operations.

On the third step of the podium are Japan’s four ‘helicopter destroyers‘: Izumo, Kaga, Hyūga and Ise. Officially labelled destroyers because of constitutional constraints, they are in fact full flat-deck helicopter carriers.

The most consequential development is the conversion of Izumo and Kaga into light carriers able to operate F-35Bs. With that upgrade Japan gains fixed-wing-capable ships for the first time since World War II. Facing the rapid growth of China’s navy, Tokyo is quietly but firmly rebuilding its naval air power.

At #2 is the navy that has surprised the world most over the past decade: China. The Type 075 amphibious assault ships (Hainan, Guangxi, Anhui and more) are roughly 40,000-tonne giants — the largest in this class outside the United States.

China is mass-producing these ships at a remarkable pace and has already launched the even larger Type 076, designed to operate unmanned aircraft. Central to any Taiwan scenario, these vessels are the concrete expression of Beijing’s amphibious-assault and power-projection ambitions. A ranking this high would have been unthinkable a few years ago — China’s rise is rewriting the table.

At the top sits the nation that alone fields more helicopter carriers than the rest of the world combined: the United States. Each of its nine amphibious assault ships (America and Wasp classes) is bigger than most countries’ single carrier; some outsize the full carriers of mid-tier nations.

These ships effectively operate as light aircraft carriers: each can embark a squadron of F-35B fighters. Alongside America’s 11 supercarriers, these 9 amphibious ships let Washington deploy air power across several oceans simultaneously. In total tonnage and aircraft capacity, the US amphibious fleet is more powerful than most countries’ entire navies — and that gap explains why no navy will overtake the United States any time soon.