USAF's third F-15EX Eagle II takes flight ahead of delivery
Boeing completed the first flight of the third F-15EX Eagle II for the USAF on October 27, some ten weeks after the new fighter was rolled off the assembly line. That day, two sorties were flown from the firm’s facility at St Louis Lambert International Airport in St Louis, Missouri
Israel scores F-35's first confirmed cruise missile kill
An Israeli Air Force-operated F-35I Adir (or ‘Mighty One’) has been credited with scoring the type’s first known air-to-air kill against a cruise missile on October 31, probably using an AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile to achieve this feat
Omega KDC-10 tanker refuels deployed USAF F-16Cs in new first
The USAF recently conducted the first commercial air-to-air refuelling of F-16C Fighting Falcon fighters while supporting a deployment in the Indo-Pacific theatre
Canadian Hornet fleet deemed ‘not credible’ as it suffers instructor shortage
A report by the UK-based RUSI – commissioned by the Canadian Department of National Defence – was leaked to The Globe and Mail newspaper, revealing that its author, Professor Justin Bronk, had assessed that Canada’s CF-188A/B Hornet fighter fleet may be unable to meet its commitments, judging that it was “not credible in a NATO context against many of the higher-end mission sets”
Ukrainian Su-24s destroy Russian corvette in Crimean shipyard strike
Late in the afternoon of November 4, the Ukrainian Air Force-operated Su-24M Fencer-Ds equipped with UK/French-supplied Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG air-launched cruise missiles struck yet another blow against a high-value target in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula
US Navy clears Super Hornet fleet to wield StormBreaker
In what is a major development milestone, the US Navy has now cleared its frontline F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleet to carry and deliver the Raytheon GBU-53/B StormBreaker – formally known as the Small Diameter Bomb Increment II (SDB II) – operationally
First Dutch ‘Vipers’ arrive in Romania for Ukrainian F-16 pilot training
As preparations continue to be made for the training of Ukrainian Air Force air/ground crews on the Fighting Falcon, the Royal Netherlands Air Force delivered the first batch of its F-16AM/BM (MLU) fighters to the newly established European F-16 Training Centre (EFTC) at the Romanian Air Force’s 86th Air Base in Borcea, Romania, on November 7
Argentina moves to buy Norwegian Orions and Danish ‘Vipers’
The Argentine Air Force and Navy are being prepared for a major recapitalisation with the acquisition of four P-3C/N Orion maritime patrol aircraft from Norway and up to 38 F-16AM/BM (MLU) Fighting Falcon multi-role fighters from Denmark, after the respective deals were green lit by the US government on October 11
Wake turbulence cited as cause of USAF F-35A crash at Hill AFB
Full details of the Accident Investigation Board report into the loss of USAF F-35A Lightning II (15-5197/HL) from the 388th FW's 421st FS 'Black Widows' at Hill AFB, Utah, on October 19, 2022, have now been published
F-16Cs return to USAF’s ‘Blacksnakes’ after 13-year absence
The Indiana ANG’s 122nd Fighter Wing celebrated the arrival of the first F-16C Block 40 Fighting Falcons for the 163rd Fighter Squadron ‘Blacksnakes’ on October 23
Fighter aircraft were not the first heavier-than-air military aircraft. During the First World War bi-planes with a pilot and a crew member would carry out. Guns were soon added to these aircraft and the fighters were born; the term dogfight became synonymous with the new form of aerial combat. These aircraft would also crudely drop bombs with a crew member simply throwing the bombs out of the aircraft. After the First World War, fighter development led to the single wing, enclosed cockpit, propeller powered aircraft such as the RAF Hawker Hurricane, Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the United States Army Airforce North American Aviation P-51 Mustang. After the war, the RAF Gloster Meteor was the RAF’s first operational jet fighter and it was rapidly joined by fast jets from France, Russia and the USA.
Today, the roles of military fast jets have hardly changed, from intercepting other fast jets fighters or bombers, to maintaining air superiority, they are bombing air defences and photographing bombed sites for battle damage assessment as well as escorting slower, more vulnerable aircraft.
Different Types of Fighter Planes
From the first aerial reconnaissance aircraft, the Wright brothers military flyer, or Model A, sold to the US military in 1909, it took 45 years until the United States Airforce’s North American F-100 Super Sabre became the world’s first operational supersonic fighter in 1954. There has been a huge amount of technological development between the Super Sabre and the world’s first operational fifth generation fighter, the United States Marine Corp’s Lockheed Martin F-35B/C Lightning II, which entered service in 2015. All fixed wing aircraft, since the advent of jet fighters in World War Two, have been a variety of designs to meet the military’s changing needs. Jet engines were in development before World War Two, but it was only near the end of that war that the first operational fast jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me 262, took to the skies.
Fighters steadily developed to fly higher and faster, carry more payloads, both missiles and bombs, and became supersonic. The need for greater speed saw the delta wing shape for supersonic flight, air-to-air missiles were used in the Korean War for the first time, and it was only later that fighters were equipped with radar, allowing for longer range interception. The 1960s saw the development of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability with the Royal Navy’s Hawker Siddeley Harrier, which is still in service with the Indian military. Propeller powered fighter aircraft did not end with the flights of the Gloster Meteor and the 1950s saw experiments with VTOL propeller powered aircraft that sat on their tails in a vertical position.
Since the 1980s fast jets have become stealthy, first with the now retired Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk which was primarily a bomber, to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, an interceptor, and the multirole Lockheed Martin F-35, which are both said to have very small radar signatures.
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