Fighter aircraft

Fighter aircraft are military aircraft primarily designed to fight other aircraft. They date back to World War I, when pilots first began mounting guns to their rotary-powered aircraft. Over the ensuing century, fighter aircraft have developed into forms unrecognizable from their ancestors. Modern fighter aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound, and often utilize powerful, high-caliber automatic guns and computer-guided missiles.

Background

American aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright developed the first successful heavier-than-air flight machine in 1903. Their first aircraft, known as the Wright Flyer, earned them a great deal of attention from the media. While hot air balloons had already allowed some form of flight for many years, their direction of flight was entirely subject to wind currents. In contrast, the Wright Flyer's mechanical parts allowed pilots to quickly alter the direction of the aircraft.

Governments were quick to realize the strategic significance of properly controlled flight machines. The first military aircraft, the Wright Military Flyer, was built in 1909. It was purchased by the US Signal Corps, and Orville Wright himself trained its first pilots.

Initially, military aircraft were used primarily for reconnaissance missions. Cameras were mounted on the aircraft, and as the pilots flew over enemy lines and battles, they took pictures of the scene below. These images would depict enemy fortifications, troop movements, and supplies. They were invaluable to commanders.

It soon became apparent that an army with active aerial intelligence would have a distinct advantage over an army without it. For this reason, militaries began looking for ways to protect their own pilots while attacking their enemy's pilots. The ensuing arms race led to the first aircraft designed to combat other aircraft. These were called fighter aircraft.

Overview

Reconnaissance missions were extremely dangerous. Pilots needed to fly quickly over hostile war zones, and sometimes needed to land under dangerous conditions. However, at this point, aircraft could not engage each other in combat without crashing both planes. Pilots sometimes attempted to utilize handguns to target other pilots while flying, but such tactics were rarely effective. The French solved this problem by attaching a machine gun to the front of the plane, in front of the cockpit. This allowed the pilot to fire the machine gun at any plane in front of the aircraft. The first fighter aircraft were born.

Unfortunately, the fastest and most maneuverable planes of the era were driven by a propeller in front of the cockpit. Any forward-facing machine gun would inevitably shoot the propeller, causing the plane to crash. The French armored the propeller, allowing it to temporarily withstand a hail of bullets from the cockpit-mounted machine gun. However, if the weapon was fired frequently, bullets would eventually tear through the armored plating and the plane would go down.

After inspecting a captured plane featuring the new front-facing machine gun and armored propeller, German scientists discovered a novel solution to the problem. Using intricate mechanics, the scientists tied the machine gun's rate of fire to the propeller's rotational speed. This allowed the machine gun to reliably shoot between the blades of the propeller, even when flying at full speed. These synchronized machine guns made flying during the World Wars an even deadlier profession.

Fighter aircraft continued to evolve over the coming decades. In the 1940s and 1950s, engineers began to equip fighter planes with turbojet engines. These aircraft, the first generation of fighter jets, quickly replaced their propeller-driven counterparts in most military roles. Fighter jets were much faster than any propeller-driven craft, and could break the sound barrier during a dive. However, they were still armed similarly to propeller-powered aircraft.

The second generation of fighter aircraft was technologically superior to its predecessors. Advancements in radar technology allowed fighter jets to carry onboard radar, enabling them to recognize other fighter jets at much greater distances. Onboard radar also allowed for the use of newly developed guided missile technology. Additionally, some second-generation fighter jets utilized engine afterburners. This new engine technology allowed fighter jets to break the sound barrier during level flights.

The third generation of fighter jets featured massive technological improvements. Large varieties of powerful guided missiles saw use, and fighter jets became faster and more maneuverable. Improvements to Doppler radar and computer systems made it possible to shoot down an enemy pilot before the planes were within visual range.

The fourth generation of fighter crafts featured more streamlined, aerodynamic hulls. This granted them greater mobility than their predecessors. It also featured several famous aircraft, including the MiG-29, F-15, and F-16. Later fourth-generation aircraft, sometimes called generation four and a half, added stealth capabilities to some fighters and bombers. The aircraft bodies were shaped and angled in special ways, causing their structures to interfere with radars. Additionally, many featured Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. This system gives fighter pilots early warnings of incoming attacks.

The fifth generation of fighter jets is best represented by the F-22 Raptor. While the F-22 entered service in 2005, many other fifth-generation fighters are still in development. Fifth-generation fighters feature innovatively designed anti-radar technology, making them all but invisible to modern means of detection. They feature sensors and cameras on many surfaces of the jet, awarding the pilot a 360-degree area of awareness without having to maneuver the fighter so that the cockpit faces a target. Many fifth-generation fighters are networked together, allowing pilots to share information about the battlefield faster than ever before. This improves a squadron's reaction times to external threats, and allows a greater degree of teamwork than ever before. Finally, fifth generation fighters are much more durable than their predecessors, making them both safer to pilot and longer-lasting in a fight. They are also far more lethal, carrying harder-hitting guns, missiles, and bombs than ever before.

From their origins as tools to gather intelligence, fighter aircraft have evolved to become indispensable weapons for pushing back the enemy. Modern aerial combat, and the technology involved, fundamentally changed warfare. Twenty-first century fighter aircraft have significant power and reach, and the technology that allows them to share information increases their impact. Numerous countries, including the United States, China, and Russia, have publicly announced the development of sixth generation fighter aircraft. These aircraft would substantially surpass the military performance of the advanced fifth generation fighter jets in operation across the world. Though evidence showed that China had made substantial progress in the development of such an aircraft during the early 2020s, the program's details remained classified. In test flights, Chinese sixth generation prototypes displayed innovative tailless designs.

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