Aircrafts

The Germans knew the bombers were coming, and they prepared even as the U.S. 457th Bomber Group first assembled in the early morning sunlight over faraway London. That March 18, 1945, raid on Berlin included more than 1,220 Allied bombers and scores of North American P-51 Mustang fighters contending with heavy German flak and tangling with fast-flying German Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighters employing air-to-air rockets operationally for the first time.

It was the last great air battle of the European war, one that would be a final, deadly encounter for many American flyers and nearly so for Oberleutnant Gunther Wegmann, commander of Jagdgeschwader 7’s 9th Squadron of Me-262 jets. Wegmann led his squadron in a loose formation toward the incoming bombers. He and his two wingmen fired their R4M rockets into one tight formation of some 60 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from a distance of 3,000 feet. The scores of rockets created devastation, with bits of aircraft, smoke, and flame erupting from the formation of bombers.

An airforce is a crucial part of any army – air superiority provides cover and safety for the troops on the ground. More importantly, fighter jets help protect bombers, so superior fighter jets are a must for every country that wants to secure their positions as a prominent military force in the world.

Currently, fifth-generation jet fighters are the most advanced fighter jets. American military aircraft builder Lockheed Martin defines fifth-generation fighters having these characteristics:

• All-aspect stealth when armed;
• Low-probability-of-intercept-radar, meaning it can avoid radar detection;
• High-performance airframes;
• Advanced avionics;
• Highly integrated computer systems capable of connecting to other systems for situational awareness.

With this in mind, let us count down the top 10 most advanced jet fighter in 2019!

10. Dassault Rafale

The fighter jet developed by the French company Dassault is a multirole fighter.

As the French Air Force were sought after new aircraft to replace its current fleet, France, in order to reduce costs agreed to enter into an agreement with other European countries. As disagreements arose, France decided to develop its own fighter – the Rafale. The fighter jet first entered service in 2001 and ever since has been regarded as one of the best military aircraft in the world.

9. McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle

Developed by McDonnell Douglas and later on by Boeing, the F-15 is still produced. But, Boeing is set to end the production of F-15 in 2022. Even though it was delivered more than 35 years ago, the F-15 is still considered a very capable fighter in the air. It still is operated by 4 countries: Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

Recently, an F-15 has hit headlines as an Israeli F-15 lost a canopy at 30.000 feet in the air.

F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet

8. JF-17 Thunder

The JF-17 Thunder or the FC-1 Xiaolong is a multirole combat aircraft. Developed by a joint-operation between China and Pakistan to provide the Pakistani Air Force with a cheap and modern alternative to its aging and a large fleet of various fighters, bombers and interceptors. Because of this, the JF-17 is going to become the backbone of the PAF.

After a difficult time of testing and redesigning, PAF finally received its first jets in 2007. Ever since then, the Pakistani Air Force has heavily relied on the JF-17 to conclude various missions in its territory. In 2013, PAC Kamra began the production of the Block 2 JF-17 – the updated jet has air-to-air refueling, better avionics, better load capacity, data link and electronic warfare capabilities.

8. HAL Tejas Fighter Jet

The HAL Tejas is an Indian fighter jet that is replacing the MiG-21, which the Indian Air Force has been using since 1964. Pilots praise the HAL Tejas for its high maneuverability. Production on the fourth-generation Indian jet fighter began recently, due to the fact that the program struggled to obtain an Operational Clearance.

 HAL Tejas

7. Eurofighter Typhoon

Out of all the fighter jets in the list, the story of the Typhoon is one of the most interesting ones. A joint operation of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, an Italian company developed the Typhoon. After development began in 1983, the first official test flight took off in 1994. The Typhoon was plagued by delays. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and a change of government in Germany, the Chancellor of Germany at the time made a promise to cancel the project. However, the program survived and after a myriad of delays Germany deployed the first Eurofighter Typhoons.

6. Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor

The first fifth-generation fighter jet in the world, the F-22 Raptor entered service in 2005. The United States government canceled the Raptor in 2011. Even though it was a critical part of the USAF (the United States Air Force), the rising development and maintenance costs, lack of air-to-air missions put an end to the production of the jet. Lockheed delivered the last Raptor to the USAF in 2012.

Nevertheless, the F-22 was a pioneer. It was the first fighter jet to combine supercruise, supermaneuverability, stealth and sensor fusion.

5. Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin

A unique example on the list, the Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin is a fifth-generation… test aircraft? Yep. Even though it’s not a fighter jet in itself, the Japanese are using the X-2 as a testbed for other fighter jet technologies. The backstory of this jet is that Japan was looking to replace its fleet of current fighters. The Japanese government contacted the United States for the possibility of purchasing F-22 Raptors, but the U.S. Congress shot down any probability of that happening to protect its military secrets.

The first Shinshin flight took off in 2016 and after successful tests, Mitsubishi started producing the aircraft. The X-2 is a predecessor to the F-3, a sixth-generation fighter jet. The Japanese are going to produce the F-3 from 2027.

Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin

4. Shenyang FC-31

FC-31 or the J-31 is the second fifth-generation fighter jet that is going to be introduced into the Chinese Air Force. Although less advanced than its counterpart, the Chengdu J-20, it is still a very capable fighter jet. The exact specifications remain unclear for anyone that is outside the Chinese Military. Foreign experts, primarily US ones, indicate that the FC-31 is on par with other fifth-generation fighters. However, the better jet is decided by a multitude of other factors. Namely, the readiness of the pilots and capabilities of radars and sensors of the aircraft.

Shenyang FC-31

3. Chengdu J-20

The best Chinese fighter jet, the Chengdu Aerospace Corporation introduced the J-20 in 2017. After more than 20 years of development, it first flew in 2011. There were quite a few changes to the design of the aircraft after the first flights took place, namely a new intake, new stealth coating and a new design of the vertical stabilizers. In spite of some issues that arose after production, the Chengdu J-20 is the first fifth-generation fighter jet in Asia.

Chengdu J-20

2. Sukhoi Su-57

Developed by Sukhoi Company, the Su-57 is going to become the most technologically advanced Russian fighter jet. It’s the first fighter to tick every box in the list of fifth-generation fighter features. Sergey Bogdan was the first pilot to test the Su-57 in 2010. Compared to the F-35, the Su-57 only cost the Russians an estimated $10 million to research, develop and prepare for production.

The Russian Air Force is expected to introduce them into full service in 2019. However, in 2018, journalists spotted two Su-57s in Syria.

1.  Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

United States Air Force introduced the newest fighter jet in 2015. The F-35 has three main variants, with differences in their landing capabilities. The estimated cost of the F-35 program is mind-blowing. The US government spent a whopping $1.508 trillion on the fighter jet. But on the other hand, Lockheed projects that the USAF will utilize the fighter jet until 2070. Although the F-35 has its critics, it certainly cannot be denied that it is the most advanced fighter jet currently in the air.

In commercial aviation, speed is one of the most crucial factors. A lot of the profit airlines make depends on their ability to transfer passengers quickly. Especially low-cost airlines, which rely on making multiple flights per day to profit off their cheap ticket prices. Meanwhile, fighter jets have their differences in avionics, weaponry systems and the distance they can travel, speed is also very important to military jets. If you can’t catch up to your enemy or the enemy can catch up to you easily, then you’re at a very bad disadvantage and the consequences can be sad. And sad is the word to put it lightly! However, a question stands: which fighter jet is the fastest in 2019? To answer the question that is on everybody’s mind, here is the list of the fastest jet fighters in 2019. Keep in mind that this list includes only piloted aircraft and which are still in operational service!

The aircraft industry is expecting a seven-fold increase in air traffic by 2050, and a four-fold increase in greenhouse gas emissions unless fundamental changes are made. But just how “fundamental” will those changes need to be and what will be their effect on the aircraft we use?

The crucial next step towards ensuring the aircraft industry becomes greener is the full electrification of commercial aircraft. That’s zero CO2 and NOx emissions, with energy sourced from power stations that are themselves sustainably fuelled. The main technological barrier that must be overcome is the energy density of batteries, a measure of how much power can be generated from a battery of a certain weight.

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th Generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully fused sensor information, network-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. Three variants of the F-35 will replace the A-10 and F-16 for the U.S. Air Force, the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier for the U.S. Marine Corps, and a variety of fighters for at least ten other countries.