Aircraft
12 entries
B-2A
B-2A Spirit
The only stealth flying-wing bomber to enter service. Twenty-one were built, at a unit price high enough to reshape the entire procurement plan.
- Origin
- United States
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 1989
F-15E
F-15E Strike Eagle
A heavy strike fighter derived from a pure air superiority design. It proved something counterintuitive — an airframe optimised to the limit for air combat also suits long-range heavy strike.
- Origin
- United States
- Generation
- Gen 4
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 1986
F-16C Block 50
F-16C Fighting Falcon
A multirole fighter built in more than 4,600 examples and flown by over twenty air forces. It proved that "good enough and affordable" outlasts "best performing".
- Origin
- United States
- Generation
- Gen 4
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 1984
F-22A
F-22 Raptor
The first fifth-generation fighter to enter service, and the first airframe to combine stealth, supercruise, and high agility.
- Origin
- United States
- Generation
- Gen 5
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 1997
F-35A
F-35A Lightning II
The most-produced fifth-generation fighter. Its design runs opposite to the F-22's — trading peak flight performance for sensor fusion, multirole capability, and affordable scale.
- Origin
- United States
- Generation
- Gen 5
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 2006
J-20
J-20 Mighty Dragon
China's first fifth-generation fighter and the only in-service fifth-generation design with canards. Almost none of its specifications have been officially released.
- Origin
- China
- Generation
- Gen 5
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 2011
MiG-29 (9.13)
MiG-29 Fulcrum
The light half of the Soviet high-low mix — the Su-27 and MiG-29 stand in the same relation as the F-15 and F-16. Excellent in a close-in fight; range was the limitation it never escaped.
- Origin
- Soviet Union
- Generation
- Gen 4
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 1977
Rafale C
Dassault Rafale
France's solo canard-delta multirole fighter. "Omnirole" was a design constraint, not marketing — one fleet had to cover nuclear deterrence, carrier operations, and the full conventional spectrum.
- Origin
- France
- Generation
- Gen 4.5
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 1991
Su-27S
Su-27 Flanker
The Soviet heavy air superiority fighter built to counter the F-15. Its integrated aerodynamic layout and enormous internal fuel made it the most prolifically derived fourth-generation platform.
- Origin
- Soviet Union
- Generation
- Gen 4
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 1981
Su-35S
Su-35S Flanker-E
The final form of the Flanker line — fourth-generation aerodynamics and agility taken to their limit, at the cost of abandoning stealth entirely.
- Origin
- Russia
- Generation
- Gen 4.5
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 2008
Su-57
Su-57 Felon
Russia's first fifth-generation fighter. Its aerodynamics and agility are widely respected; its stealth is where assessments diverge most sharply.
- Origin
- Russia
- Generation
- Gen 5
- Status
- Limited Service
- First flight
- 2010
Typhoon FGR4
Eurofighter Typhoon
A four-nation canard-delta fighter with very low wing loading and outstanding climb and altitude performance — bought with two decades of political coordination and the cost that came with it.
- Origin
- United Kingdom · Germany · Italy · Spain
- Generation
- Gen 4.5
- Status
- In Service
- First flight
- 1994