Military Fighter Aircraft

Commonly called fighter aircraft or fighter jets; these fixed wing aircraft can be interceptors, bombers or reconnaissance aircraft with an electronic warfare role. Some modern fighter jets are what is called multirole aircraft. Military fast jets typically have one or two seats and often operate in a two-fighter team, with a lead and a wingman. It is their speed and versatility that distinguish a fighter from other types of military aircraft, such as transport planes or dedicated reconnaissance platforms.

Spangdahlem F-16CMs arrive at Kadena Air Base in rare deployment

Eight USAF Lockheed Martin F-16CM Fighting Falcons from the 480th Fighter Squadron ‘Warhawks’ of the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany touched down at Kadena Air Base in Japan on January 16

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More Typhoons in testing ahead of delivery to Kuwait

Two more Eurofighter Typhoons that are destined to join the ranks of the Kuwait Air Force were recently seen carrying out pre-delivery flight testing from Leonardo’s production and test facility at Turin-Caselle Airport in northern Italy

Iranian official claims country will soon receive first Su-35s

An Iranian lawmaker has told local media that Russia will deliver the first Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E multi-role fighters to the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force in the coming months

India deploys Su-30MKIs to Japan for inaugural air combat exercise

In a bid to promote bilateral air defence cooperation between the two countries, the Indian Air Force has deployed four Sukhoi Su-30MKI Flanker-H fighters to Hyakuri Air Base in Japan to participate in the inaugural joint air exercise: Veer Guardian 2023

Friendly fire downs former Ukrainian Falcons MiG-29 display jet

A Ukrainian Air Force-operated MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter painted in the colours of the air arm's long-disbanded 'Ukrainian Falcons' aerobatic team has been shot down in a friendly fire incident, resulting in the death of its pilot

First F-35A to receive TR-3 upgrades completes maiden flight

A developmental test team from the USAF’s 461st FLTS ‘Deadly Jesters’ conducted the first flight of an F-35A Lightning II in the fifth-generation fighter’s new Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) configuration at Edwards AFB in California on January 6

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Spain to arm Eurofighters with Brimstone missiles

The Spanish Air and Space Force has selected MBDA’s Brimstone air-to-ground missile for its fleet of Eurofighters

Canada inks $14bn F-35A deal to replace ageing Hornet fleet

The Canadian government announced on January 9 that it had finalised an agreement with its US counterpart, along with Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney, for the acquisition of 88 F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighters for an estimated cost of CA$19bn (US$14bn)

UK MOD claims Russia has been using Su-57 in Ukraine conflict

The UK Ministry of Defence has claimed that the Russian Aerospace Forces have “almost certainly” been using fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 multi-role fighters in combat missions against Ukraine for at least seven months

Russia receives more Su-57s as production ramps up

Russia’s state-owned Rostec State Corporation announced on December 28, 2022, that another batch of serial production-standard Sukhoi Su-57 fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighters has been handed over to the Russian Ministry of Defence

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.

Find out more about other types of Military Aircraft

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