How many military aircraft were flying, which types were most common, and when — measured by Squawk from live community ADS-B data, sampled once an hour. Only aircraft broadcasting a position are counted, so every number here is a floor.
| Peak in a single sample | 487 |
| Distinct military airframes seen | 7,017 |
| Busiest hour (UTC) | 14:00 · ≈287 airborne |
Counted by distinct airframe, so one tanker flying every day counts once.
| Type code | Distinct airframes |
|---|---|
| H60 | 1154 |
| TEX2 | 512 |
| EC45 | 358 |
| T38 | 301 |
| C30J | 290 |
| H47 | 247 |
| C17 | 204 |
| K35R | 179 |
| BE20 | 160 |
| PC21 | 158 |
| HAWK | 144 |
| C130 | 131 |
| V22 | 121 |
| EC35 | 93 |
| H64 | 83 |
| Region (approximate) | Share of sightings |
|---|---|
| North America | 59% |
| Europe | 25% |
| Asia-Pacific | 11% |
| Middle East | 3% |
| Elsewhere | 2% |
Squawk shows this traffic live on a map and can push you an alert when a military aircraft comes near you — even with the app closed. No ads, ever.
Once an hour Squawk takes a worldwide snapshot of military aircraft broadcasting ADS-B or Mode S and records how many were airborne, their type and their rough region. Hourly samples miss short flights, anonymised identifiers are not counted as airframes, and aircraft flying with transponders off are never seen. Hours where the feed did not answer are skipped, not filled in. Collection began on 8 October 2026.
Live positions come from volunteer-run ADS-B receivers, shared as open data under the ODbL licence. An aircraft is visible here only if its transponder is broadcasting and a receiver hears it, so coverage is dense over North America and Europe and thin over oceans, deserts and mountains. Not for navigation or operational use. More about our data.
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