
Fighter aircraft facts for kids

Fighter aircraft are small military airplanes that are made to fight other airplanes. They are often fast, having aerodynamic shapes (shapes that make them move through air easily) and very powerful engines for their size. They also usually are maneuverable (turn well). Fighters can carry many different kinds of weapons, including missiles, machine guns, and bombs. While fighters may be used as attack aircraft to attack vehicles, soldiers, or buildings on the ground, they are different from bombers because they are mainly designed to attack other airplanes.
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Images for kids
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A fly by of an F-22 Raptor, a pair of F-86 Sabres, and a P-38 Lightning during Heritage Flight training at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base
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Hawker Sea Hurricanes in formation
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MiG-17 underside
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Grumman F-14 Tomcat firing an AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missile.
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Billy Bishop sitting in his Nieuport 23 with the machine gun (just visible at the top of the picture) mounted to fire over the propeller.
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A Sopwith Camel at the RAF Museum
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Hawker Fury of 43 Squadron, RAF, a typical late inter-war biplane
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An early monoplane fighter: the Boeing P-26 Peashooter, which first flew in 1932
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Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2/Trop 'Black 6'
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The long-range Mitsubishi A6M Zero typified the highly maneuverable, but lightly armored, fighter design.
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This Supermarine Spitfire XVI was typical of World War II fighters optimized for high level speeds and good climb rates.
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Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, early 1942
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Lockheed P-38 Lightnings in formation
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The Messerschmitt Me 163 was the fastest aircraft of WWII
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Messerschmitt Me 262A at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
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RAF Gloster Meteor
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Lockheed P-80B Shooting Stars at Langley AFB
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MiG-21F interceptor
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Sukhoi Su-27 'Flanker'
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French Air Force Dassault Rafale
