War Thunder Air RB Nations Tier List

This board ranks the same ten nation tech trees for Air Realistic Battles — and the order is very different from the ground meta, because a nation's tanks say nothing about its planes. The question here is full-tree value for someone actually flying the grind: how good are the props, do the early jets hold up through the brutal subsonic and early-missile brackets, and does the tree end in a top-tier fighter that can compete in the current Fox-3 meta? As with the ground board, this judges whole trees, not individual aircraft.

France is the headline: the Rafale is widely called the single best jet in the game right now — great flight performance, the best active-radar missiles, and an outstanding defensive kit — and the Mirage family gives the tree a real spine on the way up, which is why the mid-tree gaps and slow start are worth eating. The USA matches it as an S-grind for the opposite reason: not one hero plane but the deepest air tree in the game, competitive at essentially every bracket from legendary props through Sabres and Phantoms to the F-15C/E missile buses. Great Britain earns its spot just below on Typhoon strength — a close second at top tier — plus superb Spitfire props, with Indian aircraft (HF-24, Jaguar IS, MiG-21 Bison) already folded into the tree and more Commonwealth additions expected. Sweden (Gripens and excellent strike jets, but very thin early), the USSR (superb props and classic MiGs, with a top tier held back by its missile selection), and Germany (elite energy-fighting props, a serviceable middle, and a Typhoon at the end) round out the strong grinds.

Lower down, the picture inverts some ground reputations. Japan has some of the best props in the game but suffers real battle-rating gaps through the jet era, leaning on a strong F-15J(M)/F-2 pair at the very end. China's early tree is mostly borrowed US and Soviet aircraft, though its Flanker and J-10 top end is genuinely interesting. Israel starts partway up, in the late-prop era, with a thin roster — great F-15s and F-16s at the summit, but a poor value proposition as a tree. Italy props up the table: charming props, a rough mid tier, and only the very top end saving it.

Notice Britain jumping from ground-trap to air-powerhouse and France going from mid-table to the very top — that is the point of splitting these boards. If you think the Typhoon already beats the Rafale, or the USSR's props deserve more credit, cast your votes and move the tiers.