Inside Ukraine's extensive but ageing air defence system
As Russian military forces maintain their strong presence along the Ukrainian border and tensions continue to rise, we provide an in-depth overview of Ukraine's extensive air defence system - which was strengthened significantly since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, but still faces a crisis with its ageing fighter fleet
USAF seeks solutions for a host of F-22A upgrades
The USAF plans to seek out small businesses to offer potential solutions for a host of upgrades on its F-22A Raptor fleet, including the integration of Thales’ Scorpion helmet-mounted cueing system and a long-range IRST sensor
Inside the French Air and Space Force's latest Rafale squadron
Escadron de Chasse 3/30 ‘Lorraine’ boasts a long and glorious history, but it is also the latest fighter squadron in the French Air and Space Force to adopt the Dassault Rafale, as we explain
F-22A Raptor undergoing major rebuild in Alaska following crash
More than three-and-a-half years after USAF Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor 07-4146 ‘AK’ was extensively damaged in a fiery crash, the aircraft is well on its way to being made airworthy again
Is retiring the RAF's Tranche 1 Typhoons the right move?
In March 2021, the UK announced plans to retire the RAF's fleet of Tranche 1 Eurofighters by 2025. We explore the decision to prematurely withdraw roughly one quarter of the air arm's Typhoon force and the ramifications this will bring
Netherlands reaches IOC with F-35
The Netherlands Ministry of Defence and Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) declared initial operational capability (IOC) for its F-35A fleet on December 27
Another three F-35As arrive in Norway
A further three Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighters have arrived in Norway, increasing the Royal Norwegian Air Force fleet to a total of 34 aircraft
First four F-35As arrive at RAF Lakenheath
The arrival of four Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, UK, on December 15 marked the much-anticipated delivery of aircraft for the USAF's first F-35 squadron to be based in Europe
F-35A officially wins Finland’s HX programme
On December 10 the government of Finland authorised the Finnish Defence Forces to sign a procurement contract for 64 F-35A Block 4 multi-role fighters with the US Government
Croatia formally signs for Rafale acquisition
After selecting the Dassault Rafale F3-R as the winner of its Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft programme, the Croatian government has officially signed an acquisition agreement with its French counterpart and will become the third European nation to equip itself with the type
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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