Aircraft
Showing 5 of 12
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-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
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