A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing Aircraft that is in the current employ of a Military power A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them Fighters are comparatively small, fast, and maneuverable. Fighter aircraft are the primary means by which armed forces gain air superiority. Air superiority is the dominance in the Air power of one side's air forces over the other side's during a Military campaign. At least since World War II, air superiority has been a crucial component of victory in most modern warfare, particularly conventional warfare between regular armies (as opposed to guerrilla warfare), and fighters' acquisition and maintenance represent a very substantial proportion of military budgets in modern militaries. Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc
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Terminology
The word "fighter" did not become the official British term for a single seat fighter until after the First World War. In the RFC/RAF such aircraft continued to be called "scouts" into the early 1920s. The U. S. Army called their fighters "pursuit" aircraft (reflected by their designation in the "P" series) from 1916 until the late 1940s. In the French and German languages the term used (and still in use) literally means "hunter". This has been followed in most other languages, an exception being Russian, in which the fighter is called "истребитель" (pronounced "istrebitel") which is literally "exterminator".
Introduction
Fighters were developed in response to the fledgling use of aircraft and dirigibles in World War I for reconnaissance and ground attack roles. Terminology In some countries airships are also known as dirigibles from the French (fr ''diriger'' to direct plus -ible) meaning "directable" World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All
As aerial warfare became increasingly important, so did control of the airspace. Air power redirects here for electrical and mechanical energy supplied by air movement see Wind power By World War II, fighters were predominantly all-metal monoplanes with wing-mounted batteries of cannons or heavy machine guns. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including By the end of the war, turbojets were already beginning to replace piston engines as the means of propulsion, and missiles to augment or replace guns. TurboJET (噴射飛航 is the brand name for the operations of the Hong Kong -based Shun Tak-China Travel Ship Management Limited (信德中旅船務管理有限公司
For historical purposes, jet fighters are sometimes classified by generation. The generation terminology was initiated by Russian defense parlance in referring to the F-35 Lightning II as a "fifth-generation" plane. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
Modern jet fighters are predominantly powered by one or two turbofan engines, armed primarily with missiles (from as few as two on some lightweight day fighters to as many as eight to ten on air superiority fighters like the Su-37 Flanker or F-15 Eagle), with a cannon as backup armament (typically between 20 and 30 mm in calibre), and equipped with a radar as the primary method of target acquisition. A day fighter is a Fighter aircraft equipped only to fight during the day WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural The term caliber or calibre designates the interior Diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod
Piston engine fighters
World War I
The word “fighter” was first used to describe a two seater aircraft, with sufficient lift to carry a machine gun and its operator as well as the pilot. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Imperial War Museum is a Museum in London, England featuring military vehicles weapons war memorabilia an extensive library open to the public The first such “fighters” belonged to the “gunbus” series of experimental gun carriers of the British Vickers company which culminated in the Vickers F.B.5 Gunbus of 1914. Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 2004 WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The main drawback of this type of aircraft was its lack of speed. It was quickly realised that an aircraft intended to destroy its kind in the air needed at least to be fast enough to catch its quarry.
Fortunately another type of military aircraft already existed, which was to form the basis for an effective "fighter" in the modern sense of the word. It was based on the small fast aircraft developed before the war for such air races as the Gordon Bennett and Schneider trophies. The military scout aeroplane was not initially expected to be able to carry serious armament, but to rely on its speed to be able to reach the location it was required to “scout” or reconnoitre and return quickly to report – all the time making a difficult target for AA artillery or enemy gun-carrying aircraft. Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military Aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces British “scout” aircraft in this sense included the Sopwith Tabloid and Bristol Scout – French equivalents included the light, fast Morane-Saulnier N. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout For the later monoplane see Bristol M1 Monoplane Scout The Bristol Scout was a simple single seat rotary-engined Biplane
In practice, after the actual commencement of the war the pilots of small scout aircraft armed themselves with pistols, carbines and an assortment of improvised weapons with which to attack enemy aircraft – proving to be as successful in their efforts as specifically designed “fighter” aircraft.
It was inevitable that sooner or later means of effectively arming “scouts” would be devised. One method was to build a “pusher” scout such as the Airco DH.2, with the propeller behind the pilot. An Aircraft constructed with a pusher configuration has the engine mounted forward of the Propeller - which faces in a rearwards direction - giving an appearance The Airco DH2 was a single-seat Biplane " pusher " aircraft which operated as a fighter The main drawback was that the high drag of a pusher type's tail structure meant that it was bound to be slower than an otherwise similar tractor aircraft. An Aircraft constructed with a tractor configuration has the engine mounted with the Propeller facing forwards such that the aircraft is "pulled" The other was to mount the machine gun armament outside the arc of the propeller. Given the tendency of early machine guns to jam (and hence the need for the pilot to have access to the gun’s breech) as well as determining the aiming point, this was a stopgap solution at best. Despite this, a machine gun firing over the propeller arc was to remain in service from 1915 (Nieuport 11) until 1918 (Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 with its purpose built Foster mounting). WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout In early 1916 Sergeant Foster of No 11 Squadron RFC devised a sliding rail mounting for the upper wing Lewis Gun on a Nieuport 11.
So clear was the need to arm a tractor scout with a forward firing gun whose bullets actually passed through the propeller arc that inventors were busy trying various methods in both France and Germany. Hanz Schneider had patented a device before the war to interrupt the machine gun's stream of bullets (by preventing it from firing when the propeller's blade was in the way) before the war and Anthony Fokker developed this into the interrupter gear that would make the Fokker Eindecker such a feared name over the Western Front despite it being an adaptation of an obsolete pre-war French Morane-Saulnier racing monoplane. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Interrupter gear is a term that covers two related technologies The Fokker Eindecker was a German First World War Monoplane single-seat Fighter aircraft designed by Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker See Western Front (disambiguation for other meanings Western Front was a term used during the First and Second World Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier is a French aircraft manufacturer formed by Raymond Saulnier(1881-1964 and the Morane Brothers Leon(1885-1918 & Robert(1886-1968 in October Simultaneously, Roland Garros (the first French 'Flying ace') was also working on a Interrupter gear, which attempted to time the firing of the individual rounds similarly when the propellor wasn't in the way. The word " ace " comes from the Old French word 'as' (from Latin 'as' meaning 'a unit' from the name of a small Roman coin Unfortunately his choice of machine gun was poor - the gas operated Hotchkiss wasn't predictable enough to be able to time the firing and as a desperation measure he fitted metal wedges to protect the propeller's blades. At the same time the RNAS was taping up the blades on its scouts so that any rounds that damaged the prop wouldn't cause it to fail before the aircraft could be landed, with the fabric from the tape hopefully holding the blade together.
The success of the Eindecker started a cycle of improvement among the combatants, building ever more efficient single seat fighters. The Albatros D.I of late 1916 set the classic pattern followed by almost all such aircraft for about twenty years. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Like the D. I, they were biplanes (only very occasionally monoplanes, or triplanes). A biplane is a Fixed-wing aircraft with two main Wings The first powered heavier-than-air Aircraft, the Wright brothers' Wright Flyer For Félix du Temple 's invention see ''Monoplane'' (1874 Types of monoplane The main distinction in types of monoplane is A triplane is a Fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three sets of wings each roughly the same size and mounted one above the other The strong box structure of the biplane wing allowed for a rigid wing that afforded accurate lateral control, essential for fighter-type maneuvers. They had a single crew member, who flew the aircraft and also operated its armament. They were armed with two Maxim-type machine guns - much easier to synchronise than other types - firing through the propeller arc. The Maxim gun was the first self-powered Machine gun, invented by the American-born Briton Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884 The gun breeches were typically right in front of the pilot’s face. This had obvious implications in case of accidents, but enabled jams (to which Maxim-type machine guns always remained liable) to be cleared in flight and made aiming much easier.
Allied pilots of the World War I (and, until 1918, German pilots also) were not equipped with parachutes, so most cases of an aircraft catching fire, or structurally breaking up in flight were fatal. A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag. Parachutes were well developed by 1918, and were adopted by the German flying services during the course of that year (the famous "Red Baron" was wearing one when he was killed), but the allied command continued to oppose their use, on various grounds. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout [1]
| Notable fighter | Introduced | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Vickers F.B.5 | 1915 |  United Kingdom |
| Fokker Eindecker | 1915 |  German Empire |
| Nieuport 11 | 1915 |  France |
| Airco DH-2 | 1915 | United Kingdom |
| Albatros D.III | 1916 | German Empire |
| Nieuport 17 | 1916 | France |
| Fokker Dr.I | 1917 | German Empire |
| SPAD S.XIII | 1917 | France |
| Nieuport 28 | 1917 | France |
| Sopwith Camel | 1917 | United Kingdom |
| Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 | 1917 | United Kingdom |
| Fokker D.VII | 1918 | German Empire |
| Sopwith Snipe | 1918 | United Kingdom |
1919-1938
Fighter development slowed between the wars, the most significant change coming late in the period, when the classic WWI type machines started to give way to metal monocoque or semi-monocoque monoplanes, with cantilever wing structures. The Fokker DrI Dreidecker ( Triplane) was a World War I Fighter aircraft designed International Aerospace Exhibition ILA Held bi-annually on the southern section of Berlin - Schönefeld Airport, WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Fokker Eindecker was a German First World War Monoplane single-seat Fighter aircraft designed by Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Airco DH2 was a single-seat Biplane " pusher " aircraft which operated as a fighter The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Albatros DIII was a Biplane Fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Fokker DrI Dreidecker ( Triplane) was a World War I Fighter aircraft designed The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Fokker DVII was a German World War I Fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Monocoque, from the French for single ( mono) and shell ( coque) is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external A cantilever is a beam supported on only one end The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and Shear stress. Given limited defense budgets, air forces tended to be conservative in their aircraft purchases, and biplanes remained popular with pilots because of their agility. Designs such as the Gloster Gladiator, Fiat CR.42, and Polikarpov I-15 were common even in the late 1930s, and many were still in service as late as 1942. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Up until the mid-1930s, the vast majority of fighter aircraft remained fabric-covered biplanes.
Fighter armament eventually began to be mounted in the wings, outside the arc of the propeller, though most designs retained two synchronized machine-guns above the engine (which were considered more accurate). Rifle-caliber guns were the norm, with . 50 caliber (12. 7mm) MGs and 20mm cannons deemed "overkill. " Considering that many aircraft were constructed similarly to WWI designs (albeit with aluminum frames), it was not considered unreasonable to use WWI-style armament to counter them. WikipediaNaming There was insufficient aerial combat during most of the period to disprove this notion.
The rotary engine quickly disappeared, replaced by the stationary radial engine. The rotary engine was an early type of internal combustion Aircraft engine in which the Crankshaft remains stationary and the entire Cylinder The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion Engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central Aircraft engines increased in power several-fold over the period, going from a typical 180 HP in the 1918 Fokker D.VII to 900 HP in the 1938 Curtiss P-36. The Fokker DVII was a German World War I Fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The debate between the sleek in-line engines versus the more reliable radial models continued, with Naval air forces preferring the radial engines, and land-based forces often choosing in-line units. Radial designs did not require a separate (vulnerable) cooling system, but had increased drag. In-line engines often had a better power to weight ratio, but there were radial engines that kept working even after having suffered significant battle damage.
Some air forces dabbled with "heavy fighters" (called "destroyers" by the Germans). An air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps, is in the broadest sense the national military or armed service These were larger aircraft, sometimes adaptations of light or medium bomber types, and usually with two engines. Light bomber is a relatively small and fast class of Military Bomber aircraft which was employed mainly before the 1950s A medium bomber is a Bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances primarily to distinguish them from the much larger Heavy bombers Such designs typically had greater internal fuel capacity (thus, longer range) and heavier armament than their single-engine counterparts. In combat, they proved ungainly and vulnerable to more nimble single-engine fighters.
The primary driver of fighter innovation, right up to the period of rapid rearmament in the late thirties, were not military budgets, but civilian aircraft races. Aircraft designed for these races pioneered innovations like streamlining and more powerful engines that would find their way into the fighters of World War II.
At the very end of the inter-war period came the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of This was just the opportunity the German Luftwaffe, Italian Regia Aeronautica, and Soviet Red Air Force needed to test their latest aircraft designs. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. The Royal Air Force ( Regia Aeronautica) was the name of the Italian Air Force established as an independent service from 1923 until the The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы ( Voenno-Vozdushnye Each party sent several aircraft to back their side in the conflict. In the dogfights over Spain, the latest Messerschmitt fighters (Bf-109) did well, as did the Soviet Polikarpov I-16. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The German design had considerable room for development, however, and the lessons learned in Spain led to greatly improved models used in World War II. The Russians, whose side lost in the conflict, nonetheless determined that their planes were sufficient for their immediate needs. I-16s were later slaughtered en masse by improved German models in the Second World War, although they remained the most common Soviet front-line fighter until well into 1942. For their part, the Italians were satisfied with the performance of their Fiat CR.42 biplanes, and being short on funds, continued with this design even though it was obsolescent. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
Notable aircraft:
- Biplanes
- Monoplanes
World War II
Aerial combat formed an important part of World War II military doctrine. The ability of aircraft to locate, harass, and interdict ground forces was an instrumental part of the German combined-arms doctrine, and their inability to seize air superiority over Britain made a German invasion unfeasible. Erwin Rommel noted the effect of airpower: "Anyone who has to fight, even with the most modern weapons, against an enemy in complete command of the air, fights like a savage against modern European troops, under the same handicaps and with the same chances of success. Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel ( ( 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) (also known as the " Desert Fox " Wüstenfuchs "
This was the era of the fast, monoplane interceptor. The older biplanes, some of which (see Fiat CR.42) were quite maneuverable, were too slow to compete. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The pre-war Soviet-Japanese battle of Khalkhyn Gol, and the 1939's initial German invasion of Poland were too brief to provide much feedback to the participants. The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol (бои на реке Халхин-Гол Халхын голын байлдаан Japanese ノモンハン事件 Nomonhan jiken --i The Invasion of Poland (1939 precipitated World War II. It was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small German-allied The Battle of France gave the Germans ample opportunity to encounter British and French aircraft in combat, which overall went very well for the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt Bf 109. In World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Soviets got their noses bloodied by the outnumbered Finnish Air Force in the Winter War, with poor doctrine and training hampering the large Soviet formations. The Finnish Air Force (FAF ( Finnish: Ilmavoimat, Swedish: Flygvapnet) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Winter War (Talvisota Советско-финляндская война - official Зимняя война - unofficial Vinterkriget began when the
The Battle of Britain pitted a very capable Royal Air Force against the veteran Luftwaffe pilots, some of whom had combat experience in Spain. The Battle of Britain (German ''Luftschlacht um England'' is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the German Luftwaffe during the summer and The result was a victory for the British, with lessons learned on both sides. British fighters tore apart the lightly-armed German bombers (especially the Stuka dive-bombers), while the Bf 110 was finally revealed as a failed concept and relegated to night fighter and fighter-bomber roles. The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Stu rz' ka' mpfflugzeug, " Dive bomber " was a two-seat (pilot and rear gunner WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
Operation Barbarossa showed that strategic surprise made Soviet preparations woefully inadequate, and Red Air Force command had rendered any lessons learned from previous experience in Spain and Finland virtually useless. Operation Barbarossa ( Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the Codename for Nazi Germany 's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II The Axis were able to destroy large numbers of the Red Air Force aircraft on the ground, and in one-sided dogfights in the first few months. The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы ( Voenno-Vozdushnye However, by winter 1941 the Red Air Force was able to put together a cohesive air defence of Moscow, successfully interdict attacks on Leningrad and begin production of new aircraft types in the relocated semi-built factories in the Urals, Siberia, Central Asia and the Caucasus to replace the aging designs with advanced monoplane fighters, such as the Yak-1, Yak-3, LaGG-3, and MiG-3, to wrest air superiority from the Luftwaffe. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout However, Soviet aircrew training was hasty in comparison to that provided to the Luftwaffe, and Soviet pilots died in droves until a growing number of survivors were matched to more effective machines. From 1942 significant numbers of British, and later US, fighter aircraft were also sent to aid the Soviet war effort, with the P-39 proving particularly effective in the lower altitude combat typical of the Eastern Front. From 1942 the Eastern Front became the largest area of fighter aircraft use in the World, used in all the roles typical of the period, including close air support, interdiction, escort and interception roles. Some aircraft were armed with weapons as large as 45mm cannon, and the Germans began installing additional smaller cannon in under-wing pods to assist with ground-attack missions.
Eventually, the Allies developed advanced piston-engined fighters such as the P-47, P-51 and improved Spitfires that simply overwhelmed their German opposition. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Despite having jets and even a rocket-powered interceptor Me 163, the Germans were swamped by superior numbers. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Additionally, the Germans often dipped into their training pool to make up numbers when casualties surged, and the Luftwaffe was additionally hampered by acute fuel shortages from April of 1944 onwards. While Allied airmen in Europe were well trained, new Luftwaffe pilots were seldom able to get effectively trained -- particularly by the summer of 1944 when Allied fighters often loitered around their airfields.
In the Pacific Theater, the experienced Japanese used their latest A6M Zero to clear the skies of all opposition. The Pacific Ocean theater was one of four major naval theatres of war of the Second World War that pitted forces of the Japan against those of the United WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Caught off-guard, the Allied air forces (often flying obsolete aircraft, as the Japanese were not deemed as dangerous as the Germans) were driven back until the Japanese became overextended. Additionally, the Japanese went to war with a cadre of superbly trained airmen, but these were never replaced by pilots of the same quality while the Commonwealth Air Training Program and US schools produced thousands of competent airmen. Japanese fighter planes were also optimised for agility and range, and it took time for Allied airmen to realize tactics that made better use of the superior armanent and protection in their Wildcats and P-40s. The Wildcat ( Felis silvestris) sometimes Wild Cat or Wild-cat, is a small felid native to Europe, the western part of Asia WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout By 1943, newer Allied fighter models were faster and better-armed than the Japanese fighters, and improved tactics (see Thach Weave) helped counter the nimble Zero. The Thach Weave was an Aerial combat tactic developed by naval aviator John S Japanese industry was not up to the task of creating fighter designs equal to the latest Western models, and they were largely driven from the skies by mid-1944.
Piston-engine power increased considerably during the war. The Curtiss P-36 "Hawk" had a 900 HP radial engine but was soon redesigned as the P-40 "Warhawk" with an 1100 HP in-line engine. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion Engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout By 1943, the latest P-40N had a 1300 HP Allison engine. At war's end, the Ta 152 German interceptor could achieve over 2000 HP with MW-50 (methanol-water injection) and American P-51s had a similar amount of power. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout MW 50 was a 50-50 mixture of Methanol and Water (hence the name that was sprayed into the Supercharger of World War II German Aircraft Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, carbinol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a Chemical compound
The first jet-powered designs became operational in 1944, and clearly outperformed their piston-engined counterparts. New designs such as the Messerschmitt Me 262 and Gloster Meteor demonstrated the effectiveness of the new propulsion system. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Many of these fighters could do over 660 km/h in level flight, and were fast enough in a dive that they started encountering the transonic buffeting experienced near the speed of sound, occasionally breaking up in flight due to the heavy load placed on an aircraft near the so-called "sound barrier". Dive brakes were developed late in World War II to minimise these problems and restore control to pilots. A dive bomber is a Bomber aircraft that Dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy and limit the exposure to and effectiveness of
Armament became a priority once it became apparent that newer stressed-skin monoplane fighters could not be easily shot down with rifle-caliber machine guns. In Mechanical engineering, stressed skin is a type of rigid construction intermediate between Monocoque and a rigid frame with a non-loaded covering The Germans, with experience from the Spanish Civil War put 20 mm cannons on their fighters. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of The British soon followed suit, putting cannons in the wings of Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Americans, lacking a native cannon design, instead chose to place multiple . 50 caliber (12. 7mm) MGs on their fighters. Armaments continued to increase, with the German Me 262 jet having four 30 mm cannons in the nose. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Cannon fired explosive shells, and could blast a hole in an enemy aircraft rather than relying on kinetic energy from a solid bullet striking a critical subsystem (fuel line, hydraulics, control cable, pilot, etc. ). A debate existed over the merits of high rate-of-fire machine guns versus slower-firing, but more devastating, cannon.
As the war progressed, use of drop tanks became common. The term drop tank (or belly tank) is used to describe auxiliary fuel tanks in both aeronautics and spaceflight This made the heavy twin-engine fighter designs redundant, as single-engine fighters could now cover a similar distance. Extra fuel was carried in lightweight aluminum tanks below the aircraft, and the tanks were discarded when empty. Such innovations allowed American fighter cover to range over Germany and Japan by 1944.
With the increasing need for close air support on the battlefield, fighters were increasingly fitted with bomb racks and used as fighter-bombers. In Military tactics, close air support ( CAS) is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are in close proximity to Some designs, such as the German Fw 190, proved extraordinarily capable in this role -- though the designer Kurt Tank had designed it as a pure interceptor. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Kurt Waldemar Tank ( February 24 1898 - June 5 1983) was a resourceful German aeronautical Engineer and test Because an aircraft's lift is derived from the upper surface of the wing, the lower surface can easily be festooned with a variety of rockets, bombs, and other ordnance. This increases drag, and thus the performance of the fighter is lessened, but once the ordnance is delivered or jettisoned, the aircraft is again a fully capable fighter aircraft. Command staff had the freedom to designate a particular air group as air superiority or ground-attack as need occasioned in many cases.
Radar, invented shortly prior to World War II, was fitted to some fighters, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 110, Beaufighter, de Havilland Mosquito, F6F Hellcat and Northrop P-61 Black Widow to enable them to locate targets at night. Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range altitude direction or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as Aircraft, ships WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Bristol Beaufighter is also the name of a Car produced by Bristol Cars in the 1980s WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Germans developed several night fighter types as they were under constant night bombardment by British Bomber Command. Bomber Command is an organizational Military unit generally subordinate to the Air force of a Country. The British, who developed the first radar-equipped night fighters in 1940/41, lost their technical lead to the Luftwaffe. Since the radar of the era was fairly primitive and difficult to use properly, larger 2-3 seat aircraft with dedicated radar operators were commonly adapted to this role.
Some notable piston engine fighters:
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Rocket-powered fighters
The first rocket-powered aircraft was the Lippisch Ente, flown in 1928. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (疾風 "Gale" was a single-seat fighter used by the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout See also Kings of Romania The Kingdom of Roumania (or ' Romania ' in post-1969 and also current spelling was the old Romanian state based on a form of The IAR 80 was a Romanian World War II low-wing Monoplane, all-metal construction Fighter aircraft. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a leading 20th century U WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Vought is the name of several related Aerospace firms These have included in the past Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought Sikorsky WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a leading 20th century U WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Curtiss-Wright Corporation ( was once a leading Aircraft manufacturer of the United States, but has since become a component manufacturer specializing in WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Lockheed Corporation (originally Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was an American aerospace company founded in 1912 which merged with Martin Marietta The Bell Aircraft Corporation was an Aircraft manufacturer of the United States, a builder of several types of Fighter aircraft for World War WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Curtiss-Wright Corporation ( was once a leading Aircraft manufacturer of the United States, but has since become a component manufacturer specializing in WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Republic Aviation Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale Long Island New York. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout North American Aviation was a major US Aircraft manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft including the T-6 Texan trainer the The Bell Aircraft Corporation was an Aircraft manufacturer of the United States, a builder of several types of Fighter aircraft for World War WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croato-Slovene ie Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene: Kraljevina Jugoslavija The Rogožarski IK-3, a 1930s Yugoslav low wing Monoplane single seat interceptor fighter with retractable landing gear, was a product WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The only rocket plane ever to be mass-produced was the Messerschmitt Me 163 in 1944, one of several German World War II attempts at rocket-powered aircraft. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
In the 1950s the British developed mixed power designs to cover the performance gap that existed in current turbojet designs. The rocket was the main engine for delivering the speed and height required for high speed interception of high level bombers and the turbojet gave increased fuel economy in other parts of flight, most notably to make sure the aircraft was able to make a powered landing rather than risking an unpredictable gliding return. The Saunders-Roe SR.53 was a successful design and was due to be developed into production when economics forced curtailment of most British aircraft programmes in the late 1950s (both SR.53 and SR.177 and aircraft used a mixture of rocket and jet engines). The Saunders-Roe SR53 was a prototype Interceptor aircraft of mixed jet and Rocket propulsion developed for the Royal Air Force The Saunders-Roe SR53 was a prototype Interceptor aircraft of mixed jet and Rocket propulsion developed for the Royal Air Force The advancement of the turbojet engine output made a return to mixed power unnecessary.
The US has never developed a rocket-powered fighter/interceptor. The only known USSR's rocket-powered interceptor is the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
Jet-powered fighters[2]
First-generation jet fighters (1944-1953)
The first generation represents the first attempts at using turbojets for propulsion, providing greatly increased speed (the efficiency of piston-driven propellers drops off considerably at transsonic speeds). Aircraft classified as first generation jet fighters are the first attempts at creation of military aircraft using Jet engines. Many of these early jets resembled their piston-driven counterparts in several ways. Many were straight-winged aircraft armed primarily with heavy machine-guns; radar was not yet in common usage except on specialized night fighters. A night fighter (also all-weather fighter) is a Fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility
The first jets were developed during World War II and saw combat in its last year. Messerschmitt developed the first operational jet fighter, the Me 262. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout It was considerably faster than piston-driven aircraft, and in the hands of a competent pilot, was quite difficult for Allied pilots to defeat. The design was never deployed in numbers sufficient to stop the Allied air campaign, and a combination of fuel shortages and technical difficulties with the engines kept the number of sorties low. Nevertheless the plane indicated the obsolescence of piston-driven aircraft. Spurred by reports of the German jets, Britain's Gloster Meteor entered production soon after and the two entered service around the same time in 1944. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Meteors were commonly used to intercept the V-1 "buzz bomb", as they were faster than piston-engined contemporaries. The Fieseler Fi 103, better known as V-1 (German Vergeltungswaffe 1 was an early Cruise missile used during World War Two By the end of the war almost all work on piston powered fighters had ended. Mixed-propulsion designs such as the Ryan FR Fireball saw brief use, but by the end of the 1940s virtually all new combat aircraft were jet-powered. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
Despite the advantages, the early jet fighters were far from perfect, particularly in the opening years of the generation. Their operational lifespans could be measured primarily in hours; the engines themselves were fragile and bulky, and power could be adjusted only slowly. Many squadrons of piston-engined fighters were retained until the early-to-mid 1950s, even in the US and Soviet Air Forces (though the types retained were the best of the WW2 designs -- such as the F-4U Corsair). Innovations such as swept wings, ejector seats, and all-moving tailplanes were introduced in this period. A swept-wing is a wing Planform common on high-speed Aircraft, with the wing swept back instead of being set at right angles to the Fuselage. In Aircraft, an ejection seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military in an emergency A tailplane, also known as horizontal stabilizer, is a small lifting surface located behind the main lifting surfaces of a Fixed-wing aircraft
The Americans were one of the first to begin using jet fighters post-war. The P-80 (soon re-designated F-80) was less elegant than the swept-wing Messerschimitt, but had a cruise speed (410 mph / 660 km) as high as the combat maximum of many piston-engined fighters. The British designed several new jets, including the iconic de Havilland Vampire which was sold to the air forces of many nations. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Ironically, the British transferred the technology of the Rolls-Royce Nene jet engine technology to the Soviets, who soon put it to use in their advanced MiG-15 fighters. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout These proved quite a shock to the American F-80 pilots who encountered them over Korea. Where the American jets were armed with a "traditional" load of six . 50 cal (12. 7mm) heavy machine-guns, the MiGs used two 23mm cannons and a single 37mm cannon (good against bombers). A few hits from the MiG could knock an American fighter out of the sky.
The response to this was to rush F-86 squadrons to battle against the MiGs. While carrying the same armament as the F-80, the F-86 was a true swept-wing transonic fighter, as was the MiG-15. Transonic is an Aeronautics term referring to a range of velocities just below and above the Speed of sound (about mach 0 The two aircraft had different strengths, but were similar enough that only the superior skills of the veteran United States Air Force pilots allowed them to prevail.
The world's navies also went for jets during this period, despite the need for catapult-launching of the new aircraft. The F9F Panther was adopted by the US Navy as their primary jet fighter in the Korean War period. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Vampire was commonly used in this role for the Royal Navy.
Notable aircraft:
Soviet Union
A MiG-15 in Polish markings
Second generation (1953-1960)
The second generation describes the integration of many new technologies to greatly improve the fighting capability of the jet fighter. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipe diaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The introduction of guided missiles such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 Sparrow moved combat to beyond visual range (though it often devolved into dogfights in visual range), necessitating the standardization of radar to acquire targets. The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range Air-to-air missile carried by Fighter aircraft and recently certain gunship helicopters The AIM-7 Sparrow is a medium-range Semi-active radar homing Air-to-air missile operated by the United States Air Force, United States Navy A dogfight or dog fight is Aerial combat between Fighter aircraft. Designers experimented with a variety of aeronautical innovations, such as the swept wing, delta wing, variable-geometry wings, and area ruled fuselages. Aeronautics (from Greek aero which means air or sky and nautis which means sailor i A swept-wing is a wing Planform common on high-speed Aircraft, with the wing swept back instead of being set at right angles to the Fuselage. The delta wing is a Wing Planform in the form of a triangle named after the Greek uppercase delta which is a triangle (Δ A Variable-sweep wing is an Aeroplane Wing that may be swept back and then returned to its original position during flight The Whitcomb area rule, also called the transonic area rule, is a design technique used to reduce an Aircraft 's drag at Transonic and Supersonic With the aid of swept wing, these were the first production aircraft to break the sound barrier.
The primary specializations of this era were the fighter-bomber (such as the F-105 and the Sukhoi Su-7), and the interceptor (English Electric Lightning and F-104 Starfighter). Ground-attack aircraft are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground and are often deployed as Close air support for and in proximity to their own ground forces WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipe diaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout An interceptor aircraft (or simply interceptor) is a type of Fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy Aircraft, particularly WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The interceptor was an outgrowth of the vision that guided missiles would completely replace guns and combat would take place at beyond visual range. As a result, interceptors were designed with a large missile payload and a powerful radar, sacrificing agility in favor of speed and rate of climb. In Aerodynamics, the rate of climb RoC is the speed at which an Aircraft increases its Altitude.
Notable aircraft:
Third generation (1960-1970)
The third generation is marked by maturity in the innovations introduced in the first generation. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Saab 35 Draken ( Swedish: "kite" or "dragon" is a Fighter aircraft manufactured by Saab between 1955 and 1974 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Vought is the name of several related Aerospace firms These have included in the past Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought Sikorsky WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a leading 20th century U WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a leading 20th century U WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout North American Aviation was a major US Aircraft manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft including the T-6 Texan trainer the The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American Aerospace manufacturer based in St WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, commonly known as Convair, was a US aerospace development and manufacturing complex of the 1940s and later WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Lockheed Corporation (originally Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was an American aerospace company founded in 1912 which merged with Martin Marietta WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Republic Aviation Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale Long Island New York. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipe diaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, commonly known as Convair, was a US aerospace development and manufacturing complex of the 1940s and later WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF) is the Air Force branch of the Australian Defence Force. As this aeronautical development approached maturity, growth in combat capability grew via the introduction of improved missiles, radar, and other avionics. Most significantly, as a result of combat experience with guided missiles, designers deduced that combat could and would degenerate into close dogfights. New automatic-fire weapons, primarily chain-guns that use an electric engine to drive the mechanism of a cannon -- allowed a single multi-barrel weapon (such as the 20mm Vulcan) to be carried -- with greater rate-of-fire and accuracy. The M61 Vulcan is a 20 mm Hydraulically or Pneumatically driven six- barreled air-cooled Third generation designs also put a new emphasis on maneuverability for many aircraft.
These innovations, while greatly improving the capabilities of fighters (the F-4 could carry a payload greater than the B-24 Liberator, a World War II heavy bomber), also came at a considerable increase at cost. Whereas militaries had previously specialized fighters for specific roles, such as night fighter, heavy fighter and strike fighter, in order to counter the growing cost of fighters, militaries began to consolidate missions. The McDonnell F-4 Phantom II was designed as a pure interceptor for the United States Navy, but became a highly successful multi-role aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps as well as many other nations. It is the only combat aircraft to be simultaneously flown by the Navy, Air Force and Marines.
Notable aircraft:
Fourth generation (1970-1990)
In reaction to the continually rising cost of fighters and the demonstrated success of the F-4 Phantom II, multirole fighters became popular during this period, and even aircraft designed for a specific role (as the F-4 had) acquired multi-role capability. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. The Azarakhsh ( Persian: آذرخش lightning) is Iran 's first domestically manufactured combat jet fighter Saeqeh ( Persian "thunderbolt" alternative spellings Sa'eqeh; Saegheh) or Saeqeh-80, is an Iranian single-seater For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United States of America —commonly referred to as the McDonnell Douglas was a major American Aerospace manufacturer and Defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Aircraft classified as fourth generation jet fighters are those in service approximately from 1980–2010 representing the design concepts of the 1970s Fighters such as the MiG-23 and Panavia Tornado have versions specially suited for various roles, while true multirole warplanes include the F/A-18 Hornet and Dassault Mirage 2000. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout This was facilitated by avionics which could switch seamlessly between air and ground modes. As development costs increased, economics further pushed the development for multirole aircraft.
Unlike interceptors of the previous era, most modern air-superiority fighters have been designed to be agile dog-fighters, though the MiG-31 and Panavia Tornado ADV are notable exceptions. For the fictional aircraft of the novel and movie "Firefox", see Mikoyan MiG-31 (fictional. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Fly-by-wire controls and relaxed stability are common among modern fighters. Aircraft flight control systems consist of Flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls connecting linkages and the necessary operating mechanisms to control In aviation relaxed stability is the tendency of an aircraft to change its attitude and angle of bank on its own accord Aircraft here make up most of the "fourth generations" of fighter jets. The other significant revolution came with standardization of parts and a stronger reliance on ease of maintenance -- some early jet fighters might require 50 man hours of work by a ground crew for every hour in the air; later models substantially reduced this to allow faster 'turn-around' times and more sorties in a day. Some modern military aircraft only require 10 man-hours of work per hour of flight time, and others are even more efficient.
Notable aircraft:
- France
People's Republic of China- People's Republic of China /
Pakistan 
Taiwan- Soviet Union
- United Kingdom /
West Germany / 
Italy 
United States
Generation 4. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout For the fictional aircraft of the novel and movie "Firefox", see Mikoyan MiG-31 (fictional. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a leading 20th century U McDonnell Douglas was a major American Aerospace manufacturer and Defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft General Dynamics Corporation ( is a defense conglomerate formed by Mergers and Divestitures and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest Defense contractor Lockheed Martin ( is a large multinational Aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology Company formed in 1995 by the merger of McDonnell Douglas was a major American Aerospace manufacturer and Defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Northrop Corporation was a leading Aircraft manufacturer of the United States from its formation in 1939 until its merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout 5 (1990-2000)
This half-generation has been coined to describe an interim period of aircraft design marked by a relative stagnation of aerodynamic technologies compared to third and fourth generation advances, but with tremendous achievements made in the field of avionics and other flight electronics. This was largely due to advances made in microchip and semiconductor technology in the 1980s and 1990s. This combination led designers to produce "upgraded" fourth-generation designs, with airframes either based on existing airframes or on similar design theory as previous iterations, but implementing the avionics and radar advances developed in the interim as well as some of the lessons learned in fourth-generation stealth designs, which would later be fully envisaged in fifth-generation fighters. A prime example of this generation is the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, based on the 1970s F/A-18 Hornet design. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout While the external profile remains largely the same, the Super Hornet features improved avionics in the form of a glass cockpit (which is still 90% common to the original), a solid-state AESA fixed-array radar, new engines, the structural use of composite materials to reduce weight, and a slightly modified shape to minimize its radar signature. A glass cockpit is an Aircraft cockpit that features electronic instrument displays. Another is the F-15E Strike Eagle, a ground-attack variant of the Cold War-era F-15 Eagle fighter with an strengthened airframe and upgraded engines, glass cockpit displays, and the very latest terrain-following navigation and targeting systems. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Of the 4. 5 generation designs, only the Super Hornet, Strike Eagle, and the Rafale have seen combat action.
Notable aircraft:
- France
India
Japan / United States- People's Republic of China
Russia- Russia / India
- Russia / People's Republic of China
Sweden- United Kingdom / Germany / Italy /
Spain - United States
- Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle and all later derivatives
- General Dynamics / Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 50/52 and all later derivatives
- Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
Fifth generation (2000-Present)
The current cutting edge of fighter design combines previous emphasis on versatility with new developments such as thrust vectoring, short takeoff/landing, composite materials, supercruise, stealth technology, advanced radar and sensors, and integrated avionics designed to reduce the pilot's workload while vastly improving situational awareness. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The designation MiG-33 has been associated with two different Mikoyan fighter designs The Mikoyan MiG-35 ( Микоян МиГ-35 NATO reporting name "Fulcrum-F") is a mature development of the MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-29K/KUB WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Saab AB is an Aerospace and defense company based in Sweden. History "Svenska Aeroplan AB (aktiebolaget" ( Swedish for WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout General Dynamics Corporation ( is a defense conglomerate formed by Mergers and Divestitures and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest Defense contractor Lockheed Martin ( is a large multinational Aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology Company formed in 1995 by the merger of The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Thrust vectoring is the ability of an Aircraft or other vehicle to direct the Thrust from its main Engine (s in a direction other than parallel to Composite materials (or composites for short are engineered Materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical A supercruising Aircraft is able to maintain Supersonic speeds in level flight without the use of Afterburners and with a cargo/weapons load Stealth technology also known as LOT (Low Observability Technology is a sub-discipline of military Electronic countermeasures which covers a range of techniques used with Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range altitude direction or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as Aircraft, ships Avionics means "aviation electronics" It comprises electronic systems for use on aircraft artificial satellites and spacecraft comprising Communications The avionics technologies such as glass cockpits and helmet-mounted display and targeting that were developed during Generation 4. 5 have been further advanced and integrated into totally new aircraft designs, which draw on lessons learned from fourth-generation stealth, VTOL and composite aircraft like the F-117, B-2 and AV-8 Harrier. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
Of these, only the American F-22 Raptor, put into production in 2004, is operational, and is often regarded as the first of a new generation of fighters, termed the "fifth-generation". Design elements of the F-35 Lightning II (formerly Joint Strike Fighter) currently in pre-production, and the F-22 Raptor have influenced continued development of fourth-generation designs, and the shape of design work for the Russian PAK FA and other countries' long-term fighter development projects (for instance, the rumoured Chinese Shenyang J-XX project, Indian Medium Combat Aircraft and South Korean KFX). WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout J-XX (or J-X or XXJ However a 2006 article in Military Technology referred to three designs two by Shenyang and one by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation The Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA is a twin-engined 5th generation stealth strike aircraft being developed WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Later cancelled technology demonstrators of fifth-generation fighter aircraft include the United States YF-23 Black Widow II (which lost the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition to what is now the F-22), Boeing X-32 (which lost the Joint Strike Fighter competition to the YF-35) and McDonnell Douglas X-36, and the Soviet Union Project 1.42, later upgraded by Russia to version 1. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF contract was a demonstration and validation program undertaken by the United States Air Force to develop a next-generation WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout 44.
In Service
- United States
- Lockheed Martin / Boeing F-22 Raptor (maiden flight achieved 1997)
In Development
- India
- Medium Combat Aircraft - maiden flight expected 2012
- People's Republic of China
- Russia
- Russia / India
- 5th Generation Fighter Project - based on Sukhoi PAK FA, maiden flight expected 2012[5][6]
South Korea- United States
- Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II- (maiden flight achieved 2006)
Technology Demonstrators
- Japan
- Mitsubishi ATD-X (maiden flight expected 2014)
- Russia
- Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut 'Firkin' (maiden flight achieved 1997)
- Mikoyan Project 1.44 'Flatpack' (maiden flight achieved 2000)
- United States
- Lockheed Martin YF-22 Lightning II (maiden flight achieved 1990)
- Northrop YF-23 Black Widow II (maiden flight achieved 1990)
- Lockheed Martin X-35 (maiden flight achieved 2000)
- Boeing X-32 JSF (maiden flight for X-32A was archived 2000, X-32B STOVL version maiden flight 2001)
See also
References
- ^ Lee, Arthur Gould No parachute - London, Jarrolds, 1968 - ISBN 0090865901
- ^ Fighter Aircraft Generations: A Reference..., page 1
- ^ Russia's fifth generation combat aircraft to fly by late 2008-Ivanov
- ^ Russia to build fifth-generation fighter prototype soon
- ^ Times of India
- ^ Flight Global
External links
- Fighter Planes Info & Pictures
- WW2DB: Aircraft of World War II
- World War II Allied/Axis airplane links
- Measures of Fighter Capability
- Fighter Combat Quotations
- Fighter-planes.com: data and images
- Military fighter aircraft in detail
- AirToAirCombat.com: Fighter and Military Aircraft Reference
- FighterPlanePhotos.com: Fighter Plane & Military Aircraft Photos
- PAF Falcons website
- Air Forces
- WW 2 aviation forum
Dictionary
fighter aircraft
-noun
- A military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft.
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