Airplanes have been used in the military for over a hundred years, and they are still going strong. Since World War I, air superiority has been considered extremely important to warfare. Fighter jets provide reconnaissance, interception, tactical and strategic bombing, and air-to-air combat, and of course they look really cool.
Here’s a list of some of the most famous and infamous fighter planes of all time. From jet fighters that are still used today, to others that never made it past the prototype stage, take a walk through history and admire some of the coolest and most fascinating planes ever developed for military service.
1
The Blériot XI was the first aircraft used for military applications. It was created in France in 1909, and entered military service in 1910. It was used to drop bombs on targets below.
2
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was a bomber introduced by the United States in 1938. The B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II, and is the third most produced bomber of all time.
3
The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a carrier-capable fighter aircraft used by Japan during World War II from 1940-1945. It was armed with two machine guns and two cannons. It eventually became used in suicide attacks as one of the first kamikaze planes.
4
The Messerschmidt Me 262 was the world’s first operational jet fighter. Its maiden flight was in 1941. It was designed and produced by Germany during World War II.
5
The Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender was a fighter jet developed by the United States in 1942. It featured an unusual wing configuration and a propeller on the back of the plane. The Ascender’s development was cancelled during the test-flight stage, when it was found to be inferior to more conventional aircraft.
6
The Vought V-173, aka the “Flying Pancake”, was an experimental aircraft created in America in 1942. It had a unique disc shape to try and improve lift and maneuverability.
7
The Horten 229 was a prototype German bomber designed late in World War II, in 1944. Its wing configuration is considered ahead of its time. The aircraft’s design and production halted due to the end of Third Reich, and the Allies captured and studied the remaining prototypes to use its technology in their own fighters.
8
The Northrop XP-79 was designed as a “flying ram”, with its main purpose to collide physically with other aircraft. It was basically a missile with a pilot in it. Its first flight was on September 12th, 1945, and the project was cancelled the very same day after the test pilot had to eject and was killed.
9
The Convair F2Y Sea Dart was a seaplane fighter that took off and landed from water. It was created and tested in the 1950s, but never entered mass production. The entire project was cancelled when a Sea Dart disintegrated in midair, killing the test pilot.
10
The Convair XFY Pogo was designed in 1954 as an experimental fighter jet by the US Navy. It had four triangular wings in a cross shape as well as a large propeller. The plane was designed to take off and land vertically instead of horizontally.
11
The Nord 1500 Griffon was an experimental ramjet-powered fighter from France. Its maiden flight was in 1955. Due to complications with its unusual configuration, the Griffon never made it past the prototype stage, and was retired in 1961.
12
The Saab 35 Draken was a fighter-inceptor jet from Sweden, manufactured between 1955 and 1974. It pioneered many fighter jet features, including true supersonic capability and double delta wings. The word “Draken” has a double meaning, translating as either “The Kite” or “The Dragon”
13
The NASA M2-F1, nicknamed the “Flying Bathtub”, was a prototype aircraft designed to test the concept of a plane with no wings. Its first flight was in 1963 and it was retired only 3 years later in 1966.
14
The Yakovlev Yak-38 was the only Soviet strike fighter capable of taking off and landing vertically. It was first manufactured in 1975, and was used until it was retired in 1991. The Yak-38 had an automatic ejection seat, meaning that if one of the takeoff engines failed or if the plane rolled past 60 degrees, the pilot would automatically be ejected.
15
The Rockwell HiMAT was an experimental remote controlled fighter jet that was manufactured by NASA in 1975. The aircraft was controlled by a pilot in a remote cockpit that featured either nose camera video or a 3D synthetic visual display. Only two were ever built.
16
The Rockwell XFV-12 was a prototype supersonic fighter jet built by the US Navy in 1977. It was intended to take off and land vertically, but the program was terminated in 1981 when it could not meet performance requirements.
17
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, introduced in 1983, was the first operational aircraft designed with stealth technology. Even after its introduction to the US Air Force, the existence of the plane was denied by officials.
18
The Grumman X-29, an American experimental fighter jet from 1984. It was unique for having inverted, forward-swept wings.
19
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a fourth-generation jet fighter first manufactured in 1994. It was manufactured to be a joint multinational European fighter, but has gained a lot of attention in non-European countries as well. The Typhoon is the backbone of many of the most powerful air forces in the world.
20
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor was the first fifth-generation fighter aircraft. It was introduced to the United States Air Force in 2005. Many consider it the greatest air-to-air combat vehicle ever created.
21
The Shenyang J-35 is a Chinese stealth fighter jet manufactured in 2021. China is the only country besides the US that equips two different types of stealth fighters.
