Fighter aircraft

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A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. Fighters are comparatively small, fast, and highly maneuverable, and have been fitted with increasingly sophisticated tracking and weapons systems to intercept and attack other aircraft.

An A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-86 Sabre, P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang fly in formation during an air show at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. The formation displays four generations of Air Force aircraft - 3 of them fighters

At one time, just before the opening of World War II, there were two types of fighters. Smaller single-engine planes were used as interceptors and day fighters, sometimes referred to as pursuits, while larger twin-engine designs were used as heavy fighters. The latter role proved to be unworkable, or at least not enough effort was put into them to remain useful. They then found themselves being converted to an ever-growing list of secondary roles, including strike fighters, bomber destroyers and night fighters, where their two engines gave them the increased payload needed to fill these roles.

As the performance of aircraft engines improved, notably with the jet engine in the 1960s, the need for different designs gradually disappeared. First the interceptor, bomber destroyer and night fighter designs merged into a single aircraft class. Later advances in targeting systems and the ever-increasing payloads meant that modern fighters can carry a load as large as the biggest WWII bombers, eliminating many of the bomber and ground attack aircraft roles as well. Today there are typically only two general fighter designs, smaller planes which make up the backbone of most air forces, and larger designs that operate at longer distances, sometimes referred to as interdictors.

Fighter aircraft were developed during World War I, and used to hunting down enemy reconnaissance aircraft and balloons. Engine power was so limited that they were barely able to lift themselves, but by the end of the war they had become one of the primary designs in the inventory.

An early fighter: the Boeing P-26 Peashooter which first flew in 1932

By the time of World War II fighter aircraft were extremely important. Control of the sky, or air superiority, had become a vital part of military doctrine, notably in the case of the blitzkrieg. The Luftwaffe's inability to destroy the British fighter squadrons during the Battle of Britain made the seaborne invasion of Britain infeasible. As engine power grew, existing designs were increasingly used in other roles, with aircraft like the Republic P-47 and Hawker Typhoon becoming celebrated attack aircraft.

Messerschmitt developed the first operational jet fighter, the Me 262, proving to be significantly faster than conventional propeller-driven aircraft. In general terms the jets were untouchable as long as the pilot properly used his speed advantage. The Me 262 could simply fly away from defending fighters, or, in the hands of a more competent pilot, it could run down opposing fighters so quickly that opponents simply didn't have time to get out of the way of its guns. The Me 262 was little used, partly due to German fuel shortages. Nevertheless the plane clearly pointed to the end of the piston engine for fighters. Britain's Gloster Meteor, which had been in development since the late 1930's, entered production soon after, spurred by reports of the German jets, and by the end of the war almost all work on piston powered fighters had ended.

In the 1950s, jet-engined fighter planes capable of supersonic flight were developed. Power remained low, and the designs were dedicated to specific roles. Any particular air force might deploy three or four designs, day fighters, night fighters, attack planes, etc.

These distinctions continued to erode during the 1960s, not always with good results. The McDonnell F-4 Phantom II was designed as a pure interceptor for the US Navy, but became a highly successful multi-role aircraft for the US Air Force and US Marine Corps as well as many other nations. Only a few years later, however, the General Dynamics F-111, intended as a multi-role, multi-service fighter, proved to be a near-disaster, so ineffectual as a fighter that the Navy version was abandoned, and the type eventually matured as bomber. Budgetary and political realities have increasingly forced the development of multi-role rather than specialized aircraft, but with some notable exceptions (like the F/A-18 Hornet), the demands of a good attack aircraft and a good air combat fighter remain somewhat mutually exclusive.

Current developments include reducing the radar visibility of fighters--techniques known as stealth--as well as increased range at supersonic speeds (supercruise) and better maneuverability. Ultimately, most authorities believe that there is no future for crewed fighter planes as they will eventually be replaced by Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV) . However, the world's major air forces are all in the process of replacing their craft with a new generation of planes, so the transition is likely some time away yet.

Historical overview

1914-1918

Although aircraft have been used in the Italo-Turkish War, actual aerial combat first appeared in World War I.

  • French aviator Roland Garros was decorated for his innovative machine gun attachment to his plane, which fired bullets through the propeller. Although the design eventually fell into German hands, Garros used it to shoot down three enemy aircraft. Inspired by this, Anthony Fokker's team invented the interrupter gear.

1919-1938

During the interwar period fighter design evolved from the fabric and wood bi-planes of the Great War into metal-skinned monoplanes with enclosed cockpits and retractable landing gear.

In the last few years leading up to the Second World War, the fighters that would become famous during the Battle of Britain were developed - the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109. The latter would be tested in the Spanish Civil War.

Biplanes

Monoplanes

1939-1945

Fighter aircraft of the second world war featured all the innovations of the 1930s. Piston-engined fighters continued to be refined and developed with increasing performance and capabilities, up until the advent of jet aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Me 262 and Gloster Meteor.

Many of these fighters would do over 400 mph (600 km/h) in level flight, and were fast enough in a dive that they started encountering the transonic buffeting experienced near Mach 1, 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 WW II to minimize these problems and restore control to the pilots.

1945-1952

The first generation of production jet fighter planes had performance problems near sonic speed (similar to that of the latest piston engined fighters) until aeronautical engineer Richard Whitcomb discovered the "area rule" in 1952. Subsequent designs featured a "Coke bottle-shaped" fuselage that improved performance. This would be an important distinction between early jet fighters (F-86, etc.) and later ones, like the F-5. A notable example of the importance of area rule is the Convair F-102(mentioned below). The prototype YF-102A had poor performance and was unable to achieve supersonic speeds in level flight. However, the production F-102 performed better, once the fuselage was redesigned with area rule in mind.

1953-1967

During this era, high-performance supersonic fighters became the norm. Specialized fighter designs were still common, ranging from fighter-bombers such as the F-105 and the Sukhoi Su-7 to interceptors such as the English Electric Lightning and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25.

Interceptor aircraft often sacrificed agility and payload in favor of speed and rate of climb. Since guided missiles were seen to be the wave of the future, many fighters of this period lacked gun amament and the manouverability needed to dogfight.

1967-1990

When dedicated designs showed deficiencies in the late 1960s, most fighters designed since then were conceived with versatility in mind. New technology such as swing-wings, smart weapons, and more powerful engines enabled airframes to be designed with more flexibility. Fighters such as the MiG-23 and Panavia Tornado have versions specially suited for various roles, while the multirole warplanes including the F/A-18 Hornet and Dassault Mirage 2000 are just as suited for ground attack as they are for aerial combat.

Unlike interceptors of the previous generation, most modern air-superiority fighters have been designed to be agile dog-fighters. Fly-by-wire controls and relaxed stability is common among modern fighters.

Recently Introduced, Experimental and Proposed Future Designs (1991-Present)

The current cutting edge of fighter design combines proven versatility with new developments such as glass cockpits, thrust vectoring, composite materials, supercruise, and stealth technology. With the exception of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, none of these fighters have been tested in combat to date.

See also: Military aircraft list, Comparison of 21st century fighter aircraft


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