Viper's Bite: The Evolution of the F-16
With more than 4,600 aircraft produced, the F-16 is a design masterpiece and a stunning export success. While today's variants may be a world away from the original in terms of capability, the Falcon is still fighting and could win more orders in the future, as Key.Aero explores
Australia receives another three F-35As
Australia’s Department of Defence confirmed on March 1 that three more Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs had arrived in the ‘Land Down Under’, bringing the RAAF’s fleet up to 33 aircraft
Italian Eurofighters intercept unidentified aircraft over the Baltic
A pair of Italian Air Force-operated Eurofighter F-2000As were scrambled from Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania to intercept an unidentified aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea on February 17
No 77 Squadron RAAF: Legacy Hornet Walkaround and Pilot Interview
Key.Aero speaks with Flt Lt Em, a junior legacy Hornet pilot with No 77 Squadron RAAF, who gives us an exclusive tour of an F/A-18A and discusses what its like to fly the matured fighter and how it continues to impress the aviators who fly it
Has France's Mirage 2000C fleet become obsolete?
Thirty-six years after the first example touched down in Dijon with the Escadron de Chasse 1/2 'Cigognes', we detail what remains of France's Dassault Mirage 2000C fleet and explore whether or not the platform is now obsolete
An in-depth look at Canada's changing air force
Few Western air arms are going through such a large and overdue modernisation of their aircraft fleet as the Royal Canadian Air Force. We report on how Canada’s fleet has changed in recent years, and what’s in the pipeline
Italy's aircraft carrier arrives in US for F-35B sea trials
The Italian Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, ITS Cavour (CVH-550), arrived at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on February 13 to conduct a series of sea trials with the F-35B Lightning II in the Western Atlantic
No 77 Squadron RAAF: Transitioning from Legacy Hornets to the F-35A
After more than three decades of operations, the RAAF’s No 77 Squadron has bid an emotional farewell to its legacy Hornets, but looks ahead to a promising future with the F-35A Lightning II, as Key.Aero reports
Jordanian F-16 air combat training centre gains US approval
The US State Department has approved Jordan’s request to establish an in-country F-16 Air Combat Training Center, along with the possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of related equipment for an estimated cost of US$60m
Greek F-16s: A New Golden Age
Having emerged from a decade of economic difficulties, Greece is now spending billions to modernize and upgrade the Hellenic Air Force's F-16 Fighting Falcon fleet, as Key.Aero explores
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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