Fighter aircraft

Fighter aircraft are special planes used by military forces. Their main job is to protect other planes, like bombers and attack aircraft, by fighting enemy airplanes.

What makes a fighter plane special is that it can fly very fast and turn quickly. Good pilots and smart plans help decide which side controls the sky in a battle.

Many modern fighter planes can also attack targets on the ground. Some are called fighter-bombers because they can do two jobs. Others are special planes that can fight at night or stop enemy planes from getting too close.

History

Since World War I, controlling the sky has been very important for winning battles in conventional warfare.

Early fighter planes were small and had few weapons. They were mostly made of wood and fabric, and could fly about 100 mph (160 km/h). As battles became more important, countries made better planes to help their armies. By World War II, most fighters were made completely of metal and could fly almost 400 mph (640 km/h). These planes had machine guns or cannons.

Later, new engines made planes even faster. Pilots needed special seats to escape and suits to handle strong forces during quick turns. In the 1950s, new missiles let fighters attack from far away, even in bad weather. Today, fighters use computers and special designs to stay hard to see from enemy radars. Countries around the world keep working to make better fighters, spending lots of money on them.

Classification

A fighter aircraft is built to fight other airplanes in the sky. Over time, different kinds of fighters were created for special jobs. Some were called "scouts" or "pursuit" aircraft, but later they were all called fighters. One type is called an interceptor, which stops enemy airplanes from getting close.

There are several types of fighters, such as air superiority fighters, fighter-bombers, and interceptors. Some fighters can also attack targets on the ground. The most expensive fighters can do many jobs, like fighting in the air and attacking ground targets. Different countries use different letters to name their fighters, like "F" for fighter in English-speaking countries.

Piston engine fighters

1914–1918: World War I

The word "fighter" first described a two-seat aircraft with a machine gun and a pilot. Early examples were French Voisin pushers from 1910, with the Voisin III being the first to shoot down another aircraft on October 5, 1914.

At the start of World War I, most aircraft were unarmed and used for reconnaissance. On August 15, 1914, Miodrag Tomić fired back at an enemy airplane during a reconnaissance flight, marking the first exchange of fire between aircraft. Soon, all Serbian and Austro-Hungarian aircraft were armed.

Military aircraft based on fast designs for air racing became effective fighters. These included British scout aircraft like the Sopwith Tabloid and Bristol Scout. The French and Germans used two-seaters for reconnaissance but later modified racing aircraft into armed single-seaters. However, these proved difficult to use because pilots couldn't record what they saw while flying, and military leaders often ignored pilot reports.

Early attempts with handheld weapons like pistols and rifles were ineffective. The next advance was the fixed forward-firing machine gun, allowing pilots to aim the entire aircraft at the target. Roland Garros used metal deflector plates on the propeller to avoid shooting himself out of the sky, and some Morane-Saulnier Ns were modified. This technique worked, but the deflected bullets remained dangerous.

Pilots soon armed themselves with pistols, carbines, grenades, and improvised weapons, but these were ineffective. The solution was to mount weapons on the aircraft, but the propeller posed a problem since shooting straight ahead was ideal. Various solutions were tried, including a second crew member aiming a swivel-mounted machine gun, but this limited coverage and made coordination difficult. This was mainly used as a defense on two-seater reconnaissance aircraft from 1915 onward.

An alternative was the "pusher" scout, like the Airco DH.2, with the propeller behind the pilot. The main drawback was that the tail structure made it slower than similar "tractor" aircraft. A better solution was to mount the machine gun to fire forward outside the propeller arc. Wing guns were tried but were unreliable and impractical until after the war. The Nieuport 11 of 1916 used this system successfully, though aiming and reloading were difficult. The British Foster mounting and several French mountings were designed for this purpose, fitted with Hotchkiss or Lewis Machine guns, which were unsuitable for synchronization.

The need to arm a "tractor scout" with a forward-firing gun passing through the propeller arc was clear even before the war. Inventors in France and Germany developed mechanisms to time firing to avoid hitting the propeller blades. Franz Schneider patented such a device in Germany in 1913, but it wasn't followed up. Raymond Saulnier patented a practical device in April 1914, but trials failed due to unreliable ammunition. In December 1914, Roland Garros asked Saulnier to install his synchronization gear on Garros' Morane-Saulnier Type L parasol monoplane. The Hotchkiss machine gun provided had an erratic rate of fire, making synchronization impossible. As an interim measure, propeller blades were fitted with metal wedges to protect them from ricochets. Garros' modified monoplane first flew in March 1915, and he began combat operations soon after. Garros scored three victories in three weeks before being downed on April 18, and his airplane, along with its synchronization gear and propeller, was captured by the Germans.

Meanwhile, the synchronization gear (called the Stangensteuerung in German) devised by Anthony Fokker's firm was the first to enter service. This led to the British term "Fokker scourge" and a period of air superiority for German forces, making the Fokker Eindecker monoplane feared over the Western Front. The first Eindecker victory came on July 1, 1915, when Leutnant Kurt Wintgens, of Feldflieger Abteilung 6 on the Western Front, downed a Morane-Saulnier Type L. This was one of five Fokker M.5K/MG prototypes for the Eindecker, armed with a synchronized aviation version of the Parabellum MG14 machine gun.

The success of the Eindecker sparked a competitive cycle of improvement. The Albatros D.I and Sopwith Pup of 1916 set the classic pattern followed by fighters for about twenty years. Most were biplanes, providing a rigid wing for accurate control in dogfighting. They had a single operator who flew and controlled armament. They were armed with one or two Maxim or Vickers machine guns, easier to synchronize, firing through the propeller arc. Gun breeches were in front of the pilot, but jams could be cleared in flight, and aiming was simplified.

1919–1938: Inter-war period

Fighter development slowed between the wars, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, where budgets were small. In France, Italy, and Russia, larger budgets allowed major development, but by the end of the 1920s, they overspent and were overtaken in the 1930s by Britain, the Americas, Spain, and Germany.

With limited budgets, air forces were conservative in design, and biplanes remained popular for their agility, staying in service long after they were no longer competitive. Designs like the Gloster Gladiator, Fiat CR.42 Falco, and Polikarpov I-15 were common in the late 1930s and still in service as late as 1942. Until the mid-1930s, most fighters in the US, UK, Italy, and Russia remained fabric-covered biplanes.

Fighter armament began to be mounted inside wings, outside the propeller arc, though most designs kept two synchronized machine guns ahead of the pilot for accuracy. Rifle-caliber .30 and .303 in (7.62 and 7.70 mm) guns remained standard, with larger weapons seen as too heavy or unnecessary against lightly built aircraft.

The rotary engine popular in World War I quickly disappeared, replaced by stationary radial engines, though advances led inline engines to gain ground. Naval air forces preferred radial engines, while land-based forces often chose inlines. Radial designs lacked a vulnerable radiator but had increased drag. Inline engines often had a better power-to-weight ratio.

Some air forces experimented with "heavy fighters" (called "destroyers" by the Germans). These were larger, often twin-engine aircraft, sometimes adaptations of light or medium bombers. They had greater fuel capacity and heavier armament but proved vulnerable to more agile single-engine fighters.

The primary driver of fighter innovation was civilian aircraft racing, introducing streamlining and more powerful engines that would influence World War II fighters. The Schneider Trophy races were particularly significant, where only national governments could afford to compete.

The Spanish Civil War allowed the German Luftwaffe, Italian Regia Aeronautica, and Soviet Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily to test their latest aircraft. The German Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Soviet Polikarpov I-16 performed well. The Germans learned from this and improved their designs for World War II. The Soviets failed to keep up, and despite newer models, I-16s remained common until 1942. The Italians developed monoplanes like the Fiat G.50 Freccia but had to continue using obsolete Fiat CR.42 Falco biplanes due to funds.

From the early 1930s, Japan improved training and aircraft, replacing biplanes with modern monoplanes. In the UK, Neville Chamberlain's efforts retooled the aviation industry to switch from biplanes to monoplanes in time for war with Germany.

The Spanish Civil War also updated fighter tactics. The German pilot Werner Mölders developed the "finger-four" formation. Each squadron was divided into flights of four aircraft, each flight into two pairs. This flexible formation improved situational awareness and allowed pairs to split and attack independently. The finger-four became the standard tactical formation in World War II, adopted by the British and later the Americans.

1939–1945: World War II

World War II saw fighter combat on a larger scale than any previous conflict. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel noted the effect of airpower: fighting against an enemy with complete air control was like fighting a savage. Fighters performed roles in establishing air superiority, tactical air support, and reconnaissance.

Fighter design varied widely. The Japanese and Italians favored lightly armed, armored, but highly maneuverable designs like the Nakajima Ki-27, Nakajima Ki-43, Mitsubishi A6M Zero, Fiat G.50 Freccia, and Macchi MC.200. In contrast, the UK, Germany, Soviet Union, and USA optimized for speed and firepower, believing that increased speed would create forces unbearable for pilots attempting maneuvers from World War I. Light, maneuverable aircraft had advantages in fighter combat, but these could be overcome with sound tactics, and their designs made them poor as interceptors or attack aircraft.

European theater

During the invasion of Poland and the Battle of France, Luftwaffe fighters—mainly the Messerschmitt Bf 109—held air superiority, playing a major role in German victories. During the Battle of Britain, British Hurricanes and Spitfires proved roughly equal to Luftwaffe fighters. Britain's radar-based Dowding system directing fighters and fighting above home territory allowed the RAF to deny Germany air superiority, saving the UK from invasion and dealing the Axis a major defeat early in the war. On the Eastern Front, Soviet fighter forces were overwhelmed during Operation Barbarossa due to tactical surprise, leadership issues, and inferior designs like the Polikarpov I-15 biplane and I-16. Modern Soviet designs like the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, LaGG-3, and Yakolev Yak-1 were not yet numerous and were inferior to the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Axis air forces destroyed many Red Air Force aircraft on the ground and in one-sided dogfights. Later, Soviet training, leadership, and equipment improved. By 1942, Soviet designs like the Yakovlev Yak-9 and Lavochkin La-5 matched the German Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. British and U.S. fighter aircraft were supplied to aid the Soviet war effort, with the Bell P-39 Airacobra effective in low-altitude combat on the Eastern Front. The Soviets were indirectly helped by American and British bombing campaigns, which forced the Luftwaffe to shift fighters away from the Eastern Front. The Soviets increasingly challenged the Luftwaffe, and while the Luftwaffe kept a qualitative edge, the growing numbers and effectiveness of the Soviet Air Force were crucial to turning back and defeating the Wehrmacht.

Meanwhile, air combat on the Western Front focused on strategic bombing campaigns by the RAF and USAAF against German industry. Axis fighters defended against Allied bombers, while Allied fighters mainly served as bomber escorts. The RAF raided German cities at night, and both sides developed radar-equipped night fighters. The Americans flew daylight bombing raids into Germany. Unescorted Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses proved unable to fend off German interceptors, but with long-range fighters like the North American P-51 Mustang, American fighters could escort far into Germany, attriting the Luftwaffe and establishing control of the skies over Western Europe.

By Operation Overlord in June 1944, the Allies had near-complete air superiority over the Western Front. This allowed intensified strategic bombing of German cities and industries and tactical bombing of battlefield targets. With the Luftwaffe largely cleared from the skies, Allied fighters increasingly served as ground attack aircraft.

Allied fighters, gaining air superiority over the European battlefield, played a crucial role in the eventual defeat of the Axis.

Pacific theater

Major air combat in the Pacific began with the Western Allies following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service operated the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, and the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service flew the Nakajima Ki-27 and Nakajima Ki-43, initially enjoying success due to better range, maneuverability, speed, and climb rates than Allied counterparts. Japanese pilots were well-trained and many were combat veterans from Japan's campaigns in China. They quickly gained air superiority over the Allies, who were often disorganized, under-trained, and poorly equipped, contributing to Japanese successes in the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, and Burma.

By mid-1942, the Allies began to regroup. While some Allied aircraft like the Brewster Buffalo and P-39 Airacobra were outclassed by the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, others like the Army's Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and the Navy's Grumman F4F Wildcat had attributes like superior firepower, ruggedness, and dive speed. The Allies developed tactics like the Thach Weave to exploit these strengths. These changes paid off, as Allied ability to deny Japan air superiority was critical to victories at Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, and New Guinea. In China, the Flying Tigers used similar tactics with success but couldn't stop Japanese advances. By 1943, the Allies began to gain the upper hand. The Lockheed P-38 Lightning and second-generation Allied fighters like the Grumman F6 Hellcat, Vought F4 Corsair, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, and North American P-51 Mustang outperformed Japanese fighters in all respects except maneuverability. Other issues with Japanese fighters became apparent, such as lack of armor and light armament, making them inadequate as bomber-interceptors or ground-attack aircraft. Japan's training program failed to replace losses with well-trained pilots. In contrast, the Allies improved the quantity and quality of pilots. By mid-1944, Allied fighters had gained air superiority throughout the theater. The extent of Allied superiority was shown during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, where Japanese fliers were shot down easily. Late in the war, Japan produced new fighters like the Nakajima Ki-84 and Kawanishi N1K to replace the Zero, but only in small numbers, and Japan lacked trained pilots and fuel to mount an effective challenge. During the closing stages, Japan's fighter arm was largely reduced to Kamikaze attacks.

Technological innovations

Fighter technology advanced rapidly during World War II. Piston-engines, which powered most fighters, grew more powerful, from 1,000 hp to over 2,000 hp by the war's end. The Spitfire, in continuous production, went from a 1,030 hp Merlin II in 1939 to a 2,035 hp Rolls-Royce Griffon 61 in 1945. However, these fighters could only achieve modest speed increases due to compressibility problems as they approached the sound barrier, and propeller-driven aircraft were nearing their performance limits. German jet and rocket-powered fighters entered combat in 1944, too late to impact the war's outcome. The Allies' only operational jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor, also entered service that year. World War II fighters increasingly featured monocoque construction for aerodynamic efficiency and structural strength. Laminar flow wings improved high-speed performance, as seen on the P-51 Mustang, while the Messerschmitt Me 262 and Me 163 featured swept wings to reduce drag at high subsonic speeds. Armament advanced as rifle-caliber machine guns proved ineffective against rugged warplanes. Air forces replaced or supplemented them with cannons firing explosive shells, which could blast holes in enemy aircraft. Cannons brought down heavy bombers with a few hits but had a slower rate of fire, making them difficult to hit fast-moving fighters in dogfights. Eventually, most fighters mounted cannons, sometimes with machine guns. The British led this shift, mounting eight .303 in machine guns early on, then combining machine guns and 20 mm cannons by mid-war, and often only cannons by late war. The Americans struggled with cannon design, so they placed multiple .50 in heavy machine guns on their fighters. Fighters were also fitted with bomb racks and air-to-surface ordnance beneath their wings for close air support roles as fighter-bombers. While they carried less ordnance than bombers and had shorter range, they were cheaper to produce and maintain, and their maneuverability made it easier to hit moving targets. If they encountered enemy fighters, they could jettison their ordnance and engage, eliminating the need for fighter escorts.

Heavily armed fighters like Germany's Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Britain's Hawker Typhoon and Tempest, and America's Curtiss P-40, F4U Corsair, P-47 Thunderbolt, and P-38 Lightning excelled as fighter-bombers, and ground attack became an important secondary capability for many fighters. World War II also saw the first use of airborne radar on fighters. The primary purpose was to help night fighters locate enemy bombers and fighters. Due to bulkiness, these radar sets were carried on larger heavy fighters or light bombers like Germany's Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Junkers Ju 88, Britain's de Havilland Mosquito and Bristol Beaufighter, and America's Douglas A-20, which then served as night fighters. The Northrop P-61 Black Widow, a purpose-built night fighter, was the only fighter of the war to incorporate radar into its original design. Britain and America cooperated closely in developing airborne radar, while Germany's radar technology lagged slightly behind. Other combatants developed few radar-equipped fighters.

A concept from German engineer Bernhard J. Schrage in 1943 responded to the threat from Allied heavy bombers, particularly at night. The Schrage Musik system mounted upward-facing cannon turrets, typically twin 20mm or 30mm guns, in the belly of German night fighters like the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and later Junkers Ju 88. These guns were angled upwards to target the vulnerable underside of enemy bombers.

Rocket-powered fighters

Main article: Rocket-powered aircraft

The first aircraft that used rockets was the Lippisch Ente, which flew in 1928. During World War II, Germany worked on fast aircraft for defense. The most famous was the Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet, built in 1944.

After the war, other countries also tried making rocket-powered planes. In the 1950s, Britain made a plane called the Saunders-Roe SR.53 that used rockets and jet engines. But new jet technology made these designs unnecessary, so they were not used much. The same happened with a similar American plane, the Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor.

Some planes used rockets to help them take off, but this method was later replaced by new missile technology.

Jet-powered fighters

See also: Jet fighter generations, Jet aircraft, and Jet engine

Jet fighters are military planes built to fight other planes in the sky. They help countries control the air above a battle, allowing them to attack enemies from far away and prevent enemies from doing the same.

1940s–1950s: First-generation

The first jet fighters appeared near the end of World War II and in the years after. These planes looked similar to older planes with propellers, but they were faster because they used jet engines. Early jets had some problems, like short engine life and tricky controls, but they showed that propeller planes were becoming old-fashioned.

After World War II, the United States began using jet fighters. The British made new jets too, like the de Havilland Vampire. In the Korean War, American pilots faced fast Soviet MiG-15 jets and had to hurry to make better planes like the F-86 Sabre.

1950s–1960s: Second-generation

New technology from the Korean War helped create better jets. These planes could fly faster than the speed of sound and used new radars and missiles. Some were designed to chase down enemy planes, while others were built to carry bombs.

1960s–1970s: Third-generation jet fighters

The third generation of jets focused more on being able to turn quickly and attack from the ground. They used better missiles and radars, and some could take off and land short distances. Planes like the F-4 Phantom became very successful in fighting and bombing.

1970s–2000s: Fourth-generation

Fourth-generation fighters were often built to do many jobs, like fighting other planes and bombing. They used smart computers and new materials to be faster and harder to see. Some could even hide from enemy radars, a trick called "stealth".

1990s–2000s: 4.5-generation

After the Cold War ended, some older jets were updated with new computers and better weapons. These updated planes, called "Generation 4.5", could do more than the older ones but were not as advanced as the newest jets.

2000s–2020s: Fifth-generation

The newest jets, called fifth-generation, are very hard to see on radar and can share information with other planes. They first appeared with the F-22 Raptor. Other countries, like China and Russia, are also making these advanced fighters.

2020s–present: Sixth-generation

Some countries are now planning even newer jets called sixth-generation. These planes will be even harder to detect and will work together in new ways to fight future battles.

Weapons

Fighter planes have guns for fighting other planes, starting from the late 1950s. Before that, they used rockets mostly for attacking ground targets. Today, guided missiles are the main weapons for air-to-air combat. Fighter planes still carry guns as a backup. These guns are very powerful and still important.

In the early days, fighters had machine guns, like those used in cars, which fired a small number of bullets each second. By World War II, fighters had heavier guns that could fire more bullets very quickly. After the war, new types of guns were developed, such as the M61 Vulcan, which can fire many bullets very fast and has special sights to help pilots aim.

Because guns have a shorter range than missiles, missiles were developed to give fighters more range and power. There are two main types of missiles: heat-seeking missiles, which follow the heat from an enemy plane, and radar-guided missiles, which are guided by radar. Heat-seeking missiles are smaller and easier to carry, while radar-guided missiles are bigger, more expensive, and can go farther.

The AIM-9 Sidewinder, a heat-seeking missile, was developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s. It can fly up to 35 kilometers and has improved over time to track targets from different angles. Radar-guided missiles, like the AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-120 AMRAAM, can go even farther and are useful in different situations. These missiles have become very effective, allowing pilots to attack from far away and avoid close combat.