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Fighter aircraft overview and lists

10 articles

Air superiority fighter

An air superiority fighter is a combat aircraft designed to gain and maintain control of the airspace over a battlefield so friendly forces can operate without enemy interference.

Basic fighter maneuvers

Basic fighter maneuvers (BFM) are the individual offensive, defensive, and neutral maneuvers a fighter pilot uses in visual-range air combat to gain positional advantage over an opponent.

Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft, or fighter jet, is a military aircraft designed primarily to destroy other aircraft in air-to-air combat, with specialized fighters emerging by 1916 in World War I.

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon operators

The F-16 Fighting Falcon operators are the air forces of about 29 countries flying roughly 3,100 of the multirole fighters, among the world's most widely used combat aircraft.

List of fighter aircraft

A survey of fighter aircraft, military planes built for air-to-air combat, tracing selected types from early propeller fighters of 1914 through jet generations to current sixth-generation programs like GCAP.

Loyal wingman drone

A loyal wingman drone, also called a collaborative combat aircraft, is an autonomous, armed drone that flies alongside crewed fighters, performing sensing, combat, and electronic warfare missions.

Multirole combat aircraft

A multirole combat aircraft, also called a multirole fighter, is a combat aircraft able to perform both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions, such as ISR and strike.

Sixth-generation fighter

A sixth-generation fighter is a combat aircraft intended to follow fifth-generation fighters such as the F-22 and F-35, expected to offer deeper stealth, better sensors, and crewed-uncrewed teaming.

Sting (drone)

Sting (STING) is a Ukrainian FPV interceptor drone made by Wild Hornets, designed to ram and destroy Russian Shahed attack drones, with over 3,000 downed since June 2025.

Supermaneuverability

Supermaneuverability is a fighter aircraft's ability to maneuver at and beyond the stall angle of attack, typically achieved through thrust vectoring and advanced flight controls.