Fighter aircraft facts for kids

F-22s, a type of fighter aircraft

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.

Images for kids

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
Hawker Sea Hurricanes in formation
MiG-17 underside
Grumman F-14 Tomcat firing an AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missile.
Vickers F.B.5 Gunbus
Airco DH.2 "pusher" scout
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.
The actual aircraft used by Wintgens in his pioneering aerial engagement, his Fokker M.5K/MG with IdFlieg military serial number "E.5/15", as it appeared at the time of the engagement.
A Sopwith Camel at the RAF Museum
German Fokker Triplanes of Jasta 26 in World War I
Hawker Fury of 43 Squadron, RAF, a typical late inter-war biplane
An early monoplane fighter: the Boeing P-26 Peashooter, which first flew in 1932
Parasol monoplanes were popular in many European countries, and paved the way for cantilever low-wing monoplanes. This is a restored Swiss Air Force Dewoitine D.26
Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2/Trop 'Black 6'
The long-range Mitsubishi A6M Zero typified the highly maneuverable, but lightly armored, fighter design.
Macchi MC.200 in the markings of 372° Sq. Regia Aeronautica
LaGG-3
Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 D-3801
This Supermarine Spitfire XVI was typical of World War II fighters optimized for high level speeds and good climb rates.
P-47 Thunderbolt
Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero Model 22
Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, early 1942
Captured Nakajima Ki-43-I under evaluation by the Allies
Lockheed P-38 Lightnings in formation
Grumman F6F-3 Hellcats, May 1943
North American P-51D Mustang during WWII
German Bf 110G-4 night fighter with nose-mounted radar at the RAF Museum in London
A Northrop P-61 Black Widow of 419th Night Fighter Squadron
Soviet Lavochkin La-9
A Ryan FR-1 Fireball of VF-66 at NAS North Island, 1945. This aircraft featured a piston engine for range and a jet engine in the tail for speed.
The Messerschmitt Me 163 was the fastest aircraft of WWII
Messerschmitt Me 262A at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
RAF Gloster Meteor
Lockheed P-80B Shooting Stars at Langley AFB
A US Navy McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee over Wonsan, North Korea, 1952
English Electric Lightning
Dassault Mirage III
MiG-21F interceptor
U.S.Navy McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II taking off
Soviet MiG-23MLA "Flogger-G"
Shenyang J-8D in flight
F-16 Fighting Falcon
McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
Mikoyan MiG-29
Sukhoi Su-27 'Flanker'
French Air Force Dassault Mirage 2000
Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet
Eurofighter Typhoon
French Air Force Dassault Rafale
Chengdu J-10A
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
Sukhoi PAK FA
Chengdu J-20
Shenyang J-31
The versatile Swedish JAS 39 Gripen is among the lightest of jet fighters currently in production. Its advanced canard-delta aerodynamics allows a similar weapons load as the F-16, at about 80% the airframe weight.
M61 20mm gun installation on West German Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
AIM-9 Sidewinder (underwing pylon) and AIM-120 AMRAAM (wingtip) carried by lightweight F-16 fighter