AIDC AT-3 Tzu-Chiang
The AIDC AT-3 series of advanced weapons trainer aircraft was the second design produced by the Aero Industry Development Center of Taiwan (in conjunction with the American firm of Northrop), succeeding the Chung Tsing T-28 T...

AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-Kuo
The F-CK-1 "Ching-Kuo" was an ambitious and indigenous multirole fighter design in the vein of the F-16 Fighting Falcon as undertaken by the island-nation of Taiwan in the early 1980's. A US-imposed embargo forced the Taiwane...

Airco DH.2
Though not much to look at by today's fighter aircraft standards - let alone World War One-era aircraft standards, the Airco-produced DH.2 would prove to be a rugged and reliable platform. The DH.2 was the product of one Geof...

Airco DH.5
With the view afforded the pilots of the DH.2, famed aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland set out to create a similar, yet more than capable in terms of performance, off-shoot in the form of the DH.5. The end result would ...

Albatros D.I
The Albatros series of aircraft is a good study in how aircraft design evolved throughout World War One. The "D" series saw no fewer than five in the D.I, D.II, D.III, D.V and ultimately the D.Va. Such was the newfound weapon...

Albatros D.II
The Albatros D.II became a further development of the successful Albatros D.I series. The D.I was instrumental in winning back air superiority to the side of the Germans, with their powerful engines and dual-synchronized mach...

Albatros D.III
Having already found successes in the Albatros D.I and D.II models, designer Robert Thelen sought for more in the way of maneuverability when tackling the new Albatros D.III. This was accomplished by a new unstaggered wing la...

Albatros D.V
The Albatros D.V series is often regarded as the best of th bunch in regards to the preceding D.I, D.II and the D.III models. By the latter years of 1917, the improved D.III was already showing signs that it had become outcla...

Albatros D.Va
The Albatros D.Va was a further development in the “D” series and a continuation of the successful D.V series. As with all of the preceding Albatros D models, the D.Va featured only minor improvements in the hopes that the ai...

AMX International AMX (Ghibli)
The AMX International AMX is the result of cooperation between two Italian (Aeritalia - now Alenia - and Aermacchi) and one Brazilian (Embraer) aircraft firms. Development of the system began with just the two Italian compani...

Ansaldo A 1 Balilla (Hunter)
The Ansaldo A 1 Balilla ("Hunter") was the first aircraft fighter design of Italian origins. Italian forces consistently used French-designed aircraft in the early years of the war, leading the Ansaldo Italian firm to create ...

Arado Ar 240
The Arado Ar 240 was designed to an RLM 1938 response to replace the twin engine, two seat Messerschmitt BF 110 Zerstorer heavy fighter, being made obsolete by the changing face of war. The Arado firm and the Messerschmitt fi...

Arado Ar 68
The Arado-production of the Ar 68 signaled a stepping stone for fighter design in the German Luftwaffe. With the air force branch still held in secret from the rest of the world, the Luftwaffe quietly set about building up th...

Arado Ar E.381
The Ar E.381-series of prototypes was submitted in 1944 for review by the German Air Ministry. Whilst a plethora of companies (including Messerschmitt and Sombold) were competing to fulfill the role of what was to be dubbed "...

Arado Ar E.500
The E.500 was a proposed heavy fighter design put forth by Arado Flugzeugwerke of Germany. The system was designed as early as 1936 and featured a crew of four consisting of a pilot, co-pilot, dorsal turret gunner and ventral...

Arado Ar E.561
The Arado Ar E.561 was on the drawing boards as early as 1937. Classified as a heavy fighter, the type would have lived and died via its combination of firepower and performance. World War 2 brought about the need for purpose...

Arado Ar E.580
Once the Volksjager competition came around in 1944, Arado Flugzeugwerke went back to a 1943 design it had had and touched it up some, producing the E.580 design model. This aircraft was to be a single-seat, single-engine jet...

Arado Ar E.581.4
The Arado Ar E.581.4 was conceived of as a single-seat jet fighter utilizing a delta-wing shape. The system was not a "true" flying wing design in that it made use of twin vertical tail surfaces at the trailing edges. The sys...

Arado Ar E.654 (Kampfzerstorer / Skorpion)
The Arado Ar E.654 was proposed as a heavy fighter / destroyer platform designed from another Arado product - the Ar 240. Though the Ar 240 model eventually saw operational service with the Luftwaffe (albeit in limited numbe...

Arado Ar Projekt I
The Arado "Projekt I" was intended to be a two-man jet-powered night fighter. The aircraft featured a slender yet short fuselage with a delta-wing design extending from the cockpit down to the base of the empennage. The crew ...

Arado Ar Projekt II
The Arado Ar Projekt II was a proposed jet-powered fighter of considerable size. It carried a basic classification of nightfighter / all-weather fighter and appeared in paper form towards the end of the European Campaign. The...

Arado Ar TEW 16/43-23
The single-seat, jet-powered Arado Ar TEW 16/43-23 design was penciled sometime in 1943. Categorized as a fighter, the type might have been an impressive addition to the ranks of the Luftwaffe where jet-powered aircraft were ...

Armstrong Whitworth Atlas
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Armstrong Whitworth FK.8
The Armstrong Whitworth FK.8 model series was an aircraft conceived of by aircraft designer Frederick Koolhoven of Dutch origins. The system turned out to be a most versatile platform used throughout the First World War and p...

Armstrong Whitworth Siskin
The Armstrong Whitworth Siskin (a siskin being a smallish yellow-tinged finch) was the primary air mount of many-a-Royal Air Force pilot in her heyday. She represented one of the earliest aircraft designs for the British in t...

Atlas (Denel) Cheetah
The Denel (formally Atlas) Cheetah came about through a need by the South African Air Force to update / replace its series of aging fighters while its bordering neighbors were receiving updated Soviet Bloc aircraft. Unfortuna...

Avia B.534
The Czechoslovakian Avia B.534 series of biplane was a highly regarded though often forgotten product of the European nation. Some reports make it the best aircraft of its category during its early run through the 1930s. Such...

Aviatik D.I (Berg D.I)
The Aviatik D.I served the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a fighter and reconnaissance escort through the final years of World War 1. The system eventually proved a capable combat aircraft with good speed, climbing ability and se...

Avions Fairey Fox
Avions Fairey was set up in Belgium as an offshoot of the Fairey Aviation Company of Britain. The production facility was initially created for the local production of the Fairey Firefly, to which the facilities were later us...

Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck
The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck is an often overlooked indigenous Canadian aircraft design that performed admirably well throughout a bulk of the Cold War years. The system, partnered with America in the NORAD program, was char...

BAe Sea Harrier
The arrival of the land-based Hawker Siddeley Harrier revolutionized the British military approach upon its inception into RAF service in 1969. The system allowed for vertical take-offs and landings by providing the hovering ...

Bell P-39 Airacobra
The Bell P-39 Airacobra is yet another in the long line of aircraft studies stemming from World War 2 in the "what-might-have been" category. The system had all the looks of a top performer, armament that could go head to hea...

Bell P-59 Airacomet
The Bell-produced P-59 Airacomet series is one of those aircraft that becomes more of a study in American jet pioneering than anything else. The aircraft itself was a very average to below average performer, even when compare...

Bell P-63 Kingcobra
At its core, the Bell P-63 Kingcobra proved a modest improvement over the relative failure that was the P-39 Airacobra. Though the P-39 developed into a useable platform, she never lived up to the original specifications than...

Bell XFL Airabonita
The XFL "Airabonita" was a Bell Aircraft Company product developed in parallel with the P-39 Airacobra, a land-based USAAF design that eventually achieved operational status. In essence, the Airabonita was a "navalized" versi...

Blackburn Firebrand
The Blackburn Firebrand was a carried-based strike fighter aircraft developed by Blackburn Aircraft of the United Kingdom. She was a design of G.E. Petty and went on to live a troubled development before reaching operation st...

Boeing / McDonnell Douglas / Northrop F/A-18 Hornet
The F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine carrier-based attack fighter currently in frontline service with a variety of forces worldwide. Derived from the failed YF-17 Cobra attempt at a new USAF lightweight fighter (the F-17 lost o...

Boeing / McDonnell Douglas / Northrop F/A-18 Super Hornet
The Super Hornet is the latest, and most likely the ultimate, evolution in the F/A-18 Hornet series of precision strike aircraft covering carrierborne operations. Produced by a consortium of contractors that includes Boeing a...

Boeing F4B
The Boeing-produced F4B series of aircraft was produced in large quantities for the United States Army and the United States Navy (as the P-12). The aircraft was of simple biplane design with open cockpit, a static undercarri...

Boeing P-26 Peashooter
The P-26 became the first all-metal fighter design for the United States. Appearing similar to the later "Gee Bee" series of racers, the P-26 replaced the P-12 to which the newer P-26 outclassed in nearly every way. The P-...

Boeing PW-9
The Boeing PW-9 series was based on the Model 15 aircraft. When evaluated by the US Army, the system was found to be quite the aircraft and ordered into a developmental stage with the XPW-9 series (a total of three were produ...

Boulton Paul Defiant
The inter-war years saw a vast shift to more modern and potent aircraft platforms. The Boulton Paul Defiant followed as only the RAF's third such monoplane aircraft and, amazingly enough, the Defiant also became the RAF's fir...

Breguet Bre.14
French aviation design triumphed with the arrival of the Breguet Bre.14 series (sometimes written as Breguet Br.XIV). The aircraft proved to be of the utmost reliability and lethality upon entering the war front in 1916 and w...

Brewster F2A Buffalo
The stubby F2A Buffalo series became the United States Navy's first operational aircraft of monoplane design. Despite this honor, the system as a whole failed to live up to expectations set forth by technology and combat tact...

Bristol Beaufighter
Serving until the 1960s with the Royal Air Force, the Bristol Beaufighter (or simply "Beau") became a national hero through her service in the Battle of Britain, World War Two and beyond. The Beaufighter became the world's fi...

Bristol Bulldog
In 1926, the British Air Ministry put forth a specification for a radial-piston engine fighter design that could operate in daytime and nighttime with armed with twin Vickers-type machine guns and capable of engaging the top ...

Bristol F.2
The Bristol F.2 fighter series operated throughout the British Empire for decades, serving through World War 1 and through the interwar years. The system proved a viable fighter platform despite its origination as a reconnais...

Bristol Scout
The Bristol Scout is a good World War One aircraft study in the "what might have been" category. Born from the pedigree of a racing plane, the Bristol Scout was used in the beginning of the war as an unarmed flying scout, uti...

Chengdu FC-1 Xiaolong / JF-17 Thunder
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Chengdu J-10 (Vigorous Dragon) / F-10 Vanguard
The Chengdu Jian-J10 (also "J-10" and "Annihilator" but known to the West as "Vigorous Dragon") was originally designed as an air-superiority fighter for China but was later revised to become an all-weather, day/night multiro...

Commonwealth (CAC) Boomerang
The Commonwealth Boomerang (also known as the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation - or "CAC" - Boomerang) was of completely Australian indigenous design. Based on the CAC Wirraway, which in turn was spawned from the American NA...

Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
The F-102 Delta Dagger was a prototypical American aircraft design in the years following the Korean War, particularly doing away with the smooth lines and straight wing features commonplace in the years following World War T...

Convair F-106 Delta Dart
The Convair F-106 Delta Dart began its production life as a direct successor to the interim F-102 Delta Dagger (detailed elsewhere on this site). Like the F-102 before it, the F-106 was designed to meet and "greet" high-flyin...

Curtiss A-12 (Shrike)
The A-12 was an inter-war product of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company first appearing in 1933. The type became the first quantitative monoplane aircraft in service with the United States Army Air Corps upon its incepti...

Curtiss F6C HAWK
The Curtiss F6C Hawk series of aircraft was in fact the US Navy/Marine model of the US Army's P-1 Hawk series. The US Navy found the P-1 attractive enough to begin fielding it as a carrier-based aircraft whilst the US Marines...

Curtiss P-36 Hawk / Mohawk
The P-36 Hawk aircraft produced by Curtiss was a widely accepted and operated weapon system. From its initial appearance once can see the influence that the P-36 had in the design of the P-40 Warhawk of "Flying Tigers" fame. ...

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk / Kittyhawk / Tomahawk
The P-40 Warhawk / Kittyhawk / Tomahawk series of aircraft was the further development of the P-36 Hawk platform (detailed elsewhere on this site). The Warhawk would become synonymous with the American Volunteer Group fightin...

Curtiss P-6 Hawk
Originally based on the existing P-1B series of aircraft, the P-6 Hawk series was a first-line pursuit aircraft for the United States in the early 1930s. The Hawk became the last of the fighter biplanes built in quantity for...

Curtiss XP-46
The smallish XP-46 was to be the answer for the deficiencies encountered in the P-40 Warhawk platform. Unfortunately for Curtiss, the XP-46 would be doomed by underperformance and sluggish capabilities - essentially dooming t...

Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender
The XP-55 Ascender was an unorthodox attempt by the Curtiss-Wright company that produced just three prototype models. Answering a United States Army Air Corps call for unconventional aircraft designs, the XP-55 fit the bill w...

Curtiss-Wright XP-87 / XF-87 Nighthawk
The XF-87 was a failed proposal attempted by the Curtiss-Wright aircraft design bureau to meet an Air Force requirement for the world's first dedicated radar interceptor aircraft crewed by two personnel and operating under je...

Dassault Etendard
The base Dassault-produced Etendard (meaning "Standard") was a private venture that was initially greeted without much fervor. When the French Navy came looking for a lightweight carrier-capable platform, the Etendard series ...

Dassault Mirage F1
The Dassault Mirage F1 series was designed to replace the successful Dassault Mirage III series. With a host of new features added to this new aircraft, the Mirage F1 would be a substantial upgrade to the whole Mirage family ...

Dassault Mirage III
Though now outclassed by the latest in Next Generation aircraft, the Mirage III - for a time - was the best European fighter in operation. The delta-wing system, a design proving quite capable early pioneering developments, o...

Dassault Mystere / Super Mystere
The Dassault-produced Mystere series of turbojet aircraft appeared just when the French nation was in the rebuilding stages following World War Two. The owner of Dassault, himself a captive of one of the many German concentra...

Dassault Rafale
The Dassault Rafale, when released into operational service in the late 1990's, was the pinnacle of French aircraft engineering. The system incorporated the latest in fly-by-wire technology, composite materials and aerodynami...

Dassault Super Etendard (Standard)
The Dassault Super Etendard ("Standard") was a further development of the base Etendard platform that performed well in service with the French Navy. The system saw deliveries start from the late 1970's onward and by the end ...

Dassault-Breguet Mirage 2000
The Mirage 2000 was developed as a replacement for previous versions of the Mirage airframe platform. This new version incorporated many design, engineering and production elements learned from the post-war years of aircraft ...

de Havilland D.H.103 Hornet / Sea Hornet
From the outset, the de Havilland D.H.103 "Hornet" was designed to a British requirement of a twin-engine, long-range fighter-bomber capable of operations in the Far East. With the specification having been drawn up by 1943, ...

de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito
Few can find much fault in the de Havilland design of its Mosquito series of nightfighters featured so prominently in the Battle of Britain and throughout the entire World War Two campaigns across Europe. The twin-engine nigh...

de Havilland DH.100 Vampire
The de Havilland-produced jet fighter holds two key distinctions in the history of aviation. Firstly, the system was the first jet-powered aircraft to successfully land on a movie aircraft carrier (the Sea Vampire) and second...

Dewoitine D.500
The D.500 series, as a whole, was merely a stop-gap design for France - bridging a gap between two eras of aviation resulting from post-World War One design and preceeding World War, commonly known as the interwar years. The ...

Dewoitine D.520
The Dewoitine D.520 was a single seat piston-engine fighter designed and built for the French Air Force. Developed from lessons learned in their ill-fated D.513 design, Dewoitine produced a fighter of sleek design and accepta...

Dornier Do 215
The Dornier Do 215 was originally intended for export, beginning life as a redesignated version of the Dornier Do 17 light/medium bomber. Three prototypes were initially produced from the Do 17K - the V1, V2 and V3 - each wit...

Dornier Do 335 Pfeil (Arrow)
The Dornier Do 335 Pfeil (or "Arrow") was one of the more unique prop-driven designs of the Second World War. Designed and patented by Doctor Claudius Dornier as early as 1937, the Do 335 utilized a concept in which one engin...

Douglas A-20 Havoc / Boston
The Douglas A-20 Havoc served Allied forces through most of World War 2, fighting for British, American and Soviet forces. The type saw extensive use, proving itself a war-winner capable of withstanding a great deal of punish...

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
The A-4 Skyhawk (nicknamed "Heinemann's Hot Rod" and the "Scooter") came about as a private venture when the Douglas corporation was seeking to replace the aging AD Skyraider (A-1 Skyraider) piston-engine aircraft. The succes...

Douglas F3D / F-10 Skyknight
The Douglas F3D series of aircraft holds several distinctions in the world of aviation history and in the circle of United States military aviation. To start off, the F3D became the world's first jet-powered carrier-based nig...

English Electric / BAC Lightning
The English Electric Lightning was an impressive engineering feat for the British people. She was the first (and only) Mach 2-capable platform ever developed for the island nation and itself the fastest British fighter of all...

Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon
The Eurofighter Typhoon program could be the call of the future in Europe in terms of how military programs progress. With the cost and production sharing between the nations of Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy (France was a...

Fairey Firefly
The Fairey Firefly was a hugely successful, two-seat, carrierborne fighter aircraft serving with the Royal Fleet Air Arm through the latter half of the Second World War, eventually seeing service up until the mid-1950's. The ...

Fiat / Aeritalia G.91
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Fiat CR.32
Arguably the best biplane fighter of Italian design before the start of the Second World War. The plane was also built for export for Spain and Sweden air defence. The Fiat CR.32 saw air combat service with Spain in the Spani...

Fiat CR.42 Falco (Falcon)
Despite its by-gone era appearance, the Fiat CR.42 Falco (meaning "Falcon") played a crucial role in the early war years for Italy, serving as the primary fighter for the Italian air force (Regia Aeronautica. The system was f...

Fiat G.50 Freccia (Arrow)
The Fiat G.50 Freccia (meaning "Arrow") series provided the Italian Air Force with a then-modern monoplane fighter featuring a retractable undercarriage, all-metal construction and an enclosed cockpit. During this period in a...

Fisher XP-75 / P-75 Eagle
General Motors became a major player in the American manufacturing realm when World War 2 arrived for the United States. With its automotive plants adept at mass-production, it was only fitting that the US military look to su...

Focke-Wulf Fw 187 Falke (Falcon)
Despite demonstrating some impressive performance statistics from underpowered engines, the Focke-Wulf product Fw 187 Falke (or "Falcon") never materialized into a production quantity models. Similar in design and reach to th...

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Wurger (Shrike)
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 single-seat fighter is held by some to be the best German piston fighter of the Second World War - and with good reason as the weapon system accounted for hundreds of Allied bomber and fighter losses thr...

Focke-Wulf Ta 152 Leistungsdaten
The Focke-Wulf Ta 152 aircraft design was intended for use as a high-altitude interceptor for the German Luftwaffe and appeared in the later years of the war. Now managing a defensive type campaign, German warplanners were lo...

Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito (Mosquito)
The Ta 154 Moskito ("Mosquito") was another product of the Focke-Wulf aircraft design firm operating for the Third Reich. The design was classified as a night fighter and appeared most promising until a series of delays and l...

Focke-Wulf Ta 183 Huckebein
By this time in the war, Germany had already made a stout commitment to the production of fighter designs over bombers. Seeing it that she would be fighting a defensive war for some time to come, models such as the Messerschm...

Fokker D.VII
The Fokker Dr.VII is now regarded as the best German fighter of the First World War. This biplane design entered development and production towards the end of the war but aircrews still managed some very impressive kill-to-lo...

Fokker D.VIII
The Fokker D.VIII was a monoplane design and is regarded as one of the best fighters produced by the Germans during the First World War. It combined survivability, firepower and adaptability in a sturdy airframe. The syst...

Fokker D.XXI
Designed by Anthony Fokker in 1935, the Fokker D.XXI first flew on March 27th, 1936. The system was originally intended to fill the ranks of the Netherlands East Indies Army Air Service but the arrival of World War 2 eventual...

Fokker Dr.I (Dreidecker) Triplane
The Fokker Dr.I ("Dr" for "Dreidecker" meaning "triplane") series is most closely associated with Manfred von Richthofen (aka "the Red Baron") as the triplane aircraft was his chosen mount in the final months of his life, acc...

Fokker E (Eindecker) Monoplane
As with most aircraft developed during the First World War, the Eindecker series enjoyed a relatively short period of time at the front lines. Aviation technology was ever changing to the point that aircraft designs could be ...

Folland / Hawker-Siddeley Gnat
The Folland Gnat was a swept-wing, jet-powered fighter of British origins appearing in the middle of the 1950's. Designed as a light-weight, cost-effective aircraft with impressive performance specifications, the diminutive G...

General Dynamics / Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon
The F-16 Fighting Falcon can officially go down as one of the most successful aircraft designs of the Cold War. The system was designed in a head-to-head competition with the Northrop YF-17 Cobra and successfully defeated it ...

Gloster / Armstrong Whitworth Meteor
The Gloster Meteor became Britain's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. It reached operational status in the latter years of World War 2 and saw limited action in the conflict though it never faced off against any...

Gloster Gauntlet
Gloster Gauntlet origins lay in a Gloster design appearing in the late 1920's for the Royal Air Force and served throughout the 1930's with several local and foreign-based air groups. The aircraft was designed as a fighter an...

Gloster Gladiator
The Gloster Gladiator was a product of the Gloster Aircraft Company and a design of one Henry Phillip Folland. Achieving first flight on September 12th, 1934, the system was officially introduced into Royal Air Force service ...

Gloster Javelin
The Gloster Javelin was the first twin-engine delta-wing jet fighter design to take up service with any one air force. The system would also become the United Kingdoms first all-weather day or night fighter and the very final...

Grumman F11F / F-11 Tiger
The Grumman-produced F11F Tiger was designed at about the time the Grumman Cougar was already close to production. The program goal of the Tiger series was to produce a highly-capable daytime fighter with exceptional dogfight...

Grumman F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat-series of variable-geometry wing carrier-capable interceptors is one of the true living success stories of Cold War aircraft design. The system was popularized by the Hollywood motion picture "Top Gun"...

Grumman F2F
Leroy Grumman designed this portly biplane fighter for the United States Navy. Grumman had already made a steady image for his company with the design of the FF-1, a similar two-seat biplane fighter that proved quite the spee...

Grumman F4F Wildcat
The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the unsung hero of the Allied Pacific Theater campaign in the early years of World War 2. Often overshadowed by the upcoming Grumman F6F Hellcats and Vought F4U Corsair hotrods, the stubby Wildcat ...

Grumman F6F Hellcat
The F6F Hellcat was the successor to - and a logical evolution of – the capable F4F Wildcat series of carrier-borne aircraft fielded by the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater of World War 2. In the conflict, the Hellca...

Grumman F7F Tigercat
The F7F Tigercat was another carrier-borne aircraft development in Grumman's long line of "cat" named fighters. The system was originally designed as a twin-engine fighter for use off of the decks of US Navy Midway-class airc...

Grumman F8F Bearcat
In many ways, the Grumman F8F Bearcat was the pinnacle of United States piston-engine fighter design. The aircraft arrived within the waning months of World War 2, missing combat action in all theaters altogether, but still m...

Grumman F9F Cougar
The F9F Cougar was a direct and further development of the F9F Panther (detailed elsewhere on this site. The similarities between the two were limited to just the forward fuselage of the Panther being used in the Cougar desig...

Grumman F9F Panther
The Grumman F9F Panther series saw extensive combat in the Korean War for the United States Navy, accounting for over 78,000 combat sorties. The system was primarily utilized as a close-support strike aircraft but could hold ...

Grumman XP-50 Skyrocket
Firmly entrenched as an aircraft supplier to the United States Navy, the Grumman aircraft company set about to supply an equally lucrative deal with the US Army to produce a hybrid high-speed pursuit fighter and light bomber ...

HAL HF-24 Marut
The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd HF-24 Marut was the first Indian attempt at an indigenous aircraft design since separating from British rule. The Marut - or "Spirit of the Tempest" - was the first design that was produced for t...

Halberstadt CL.IV
The CL.IV was a further development of the CL.II design, both aircraft a product of Halberstadt Flugzeugwerke of Germany. The CL.II was found to be a perfect platform when used in the close-support role and, as such, the CL.I...

Hansa-Brandenburg C.I (Type LDD)
The Hansa-Brandenburg C.I was a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft seeing action with the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War 1. The C.I was another aircraft design by German engineer Ernst Heinkel who had also produced the pr...

Hansa-Brandenburg D.I (Type KD)
The D.I was another of Ernst Heinkel's aircraft designs for the Hansa-Brandenburg firm (known formally as Hansa und Brandenburgische Flugzeug-Werke) during World War 1. The single-seat aircraft was categorized as a fighter, a...

Hawker / Armstrong Whitworth Sea Hawk
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Hawker Fury (I & II)
The Hawker Fury was the mainstay of Britain air defense throughout the 1930's until being replaced by the Gloster Gladiators. The Fury's design was in all actuality, a stop-gap design while the Hawker Hurricane was being desi...

Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter was the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy jet fighter of choice for decades since its inception, becoming the longest serving British jet-powered fighter of her time. Outwardly, the Hunter was of a most convent...

Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane was indeed the true star of Britain's march against the Third Reich. Often overshadowed by the sleeker and sexier Supermarine Spitfire, the Hurricane system evolved from the Hawker "Fury Monoplane" as it ...

Hawker Sea Fury / Fury
The Hawker Sea Fury was developed out Hawker's Typhoon and Tempest aircraft designs utilized by Britain during World War 2. Though not without their limitations, the Typhoon and Tempest platforms had substantial inherent bene...

Hawker Sea Hurricane
The Hawker Sea Hurricane appeared in 1941 in an effort to protect British merchant ships from German naval attacks. Basically modified versions of the successful Hawker land-based Hurricane fighters, Sea Hurricanes were at fi...

Hawker Tempest
The Hawker Tempest originally appeared as an improved Hawker Typhoon, the war-winning aircraft that effectively failed in its intended role as an interceptor but went on to star as a low-level fighter-bomber. The Tempest bega...

Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon (affectionate known as the "Tiffie") was initially intended as a dedicated interceptor and set to succeed the 1930's-era Hawker Hurricane and was first drawn up in 1937. The system was designed to a British...

Heinkel He 112
The Heinkel He 112 was the only serious threat (next to the Messerschmitt Bf 109) to becoming Germany's first modern monoplane design in operational service. The aircraft exhibited potential right from the start but was ultim...

Heinkel He 162 Volksjager (Peoples Fighter)
The He 162 Volksjager (the "People's Fighter") was developed as a quick solution to stem the tide of the major Allied advances witnessed by German forces in the latter years of the war. The plan was to produce these inexpensi...

Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Eagle-Owl)
The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (meaning "Eagle-Owl") was designed in response to a German need for a dedicated nightfighter type to thwart the advances being made the British nighttime bombing raids on German interests. The He 219 wa...

Heinkel He 280
Though never produced in any operational format, the Heinkel He 280 series was the world's first turbojet fighter aircraft designed from the start as a fighter. German scientists were on the cutting edge of turbojet developme...

Heinkel He 51
The He 51 was a product of the German Heinkel firm and a design of the Gunter twins, Walter and Siegfried. The Gunters became part of the Heinkel firm in 1931 and made the He 49 their first product with the company. The He 49...

Horten Ho IX / Horten Ho 229
The Horten Ho IX (or "Horten Ho 229" - sometimes wrongly designated the "Gotha Go 229") maintains a certain level of celebrity status in the world of military aviation, essentially becoming the first production-worthy form of...

IAI Kfir / F-21A
The Kfir (translated to "Lion Cub") was a semi-indigenous Israeli fighter development designed to fulfill an IAF (Israeli Air Force) requirement for a ground strike fighter. While Israel had purchased and was awaiting deliver...

IAR 80 / IAR 81
When first unveiled in 1938, the Romanian-produced I.A.R. 80 (IAR = Industria Aeronautica Romana) piston engine, single-seat fighter was a promising performer even when compared to her contemporaries. The aircraft served with...

Junkers CL.I
The Junkers CL.I was a break-through aircraft design produced in limited quantities in the final year of World War One. The system was an all-metal design proposed and accepted at a time when wood and fabric-constructed plane...

Kawanishi N1K-J Shiden (George)
Despite some early setbacks in design, the Kawanishi N1K1-J "Shiden" (or "violet lightning" - codenamed "George" by the Allies), was an exemplary fighter that was capable of going head-to-head with even the fabled American F6...

Kawasaki Ki-100
Despite being produced in severely limited numbers (thanks in large part to the Allied bombing campaigns in the Pacific), the Kawasaki Ki-100 is often regarded as one of the best Japanese production fighters available in the ...

Kawasaki Ki-45 KAIc Toryu (Nick)
Despite serving in limited numbers, fielded with no search-finding radar and appearing as the only Imperial Japanese Army night-fighter of the Second World War, the Kawasaki-brand Ki-45 KAIc night-fighter platform proved a su...

Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (Nick)
By 1937, interest in a twin-engine fighter had peaked for the Imperial Japanese Army so much so that a requirement was put forth for the nation's first. Kawasaki entered into the fray successfully and presented the Ki-45 seri...

Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (Tony)
The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (meaning "Swallow" and codenamed "Tony" by the Allies) was another of the oft-forgotten yet impressive Japanese-brand fighter designs of the Second World War, joining the equally impressive Kawanishi N...

Lavochkin La-11 (Fang)
The Lavochkin La-11 was designed from the successful Lavochkin La-9 series of piston engine fighters with the difference being that the La-11 was to be a long-range bomber escort. The system was under development in the closi...

Lavochkin La-5
Design of the Lavochkin La-5 series of low-to-medium altitude fighters was spurred on by a need for equipment capable of matching or exceeding anything the German Luftwaffe was fielding. Initially caught by surprise by the Ge...

Lavochkin La-9 (Fritz)
The Lavochkin La-9 series (codename “Fritz” by NATO) was a direct development of the Lavochkin La-126 prototype. In essence, the La-9 represented the La-7 but with all-metal construction as opposed to wood used in the with mo...

Lavochkin LaGG-3
The LaGG-3 piston-engine pursuit fighter (the LaGG in the designation coming from "Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov") was one of the earlier successes of modern aircraft design for the Soviet Union in World War 2. Basically an impr...

Lloyd C.II
The Lloyd C.II was a reconnaissance biplane fielded by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War 1, with service of the type beginning in 1915. The C.II had a direct origin from the pre-war Lloyd C.I, an competition-winning, t...

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
The Lockheed F-104 was in many ways an engineering marvel whose legacy suffered terribly due to several internal and external circumstances, so much so, in fact, that the aircraft was dubbed the unflattering name of "Widowmak...

Lockheed F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation fighter development of the United States that incorporates new and learned stealth technology and practices with advanced computer processing and systems through a "budget-...

Lockheed Martin / Boeing F-22 Raptor
The F-22 Raptor series of aircraft reportedly represents the most advanced aircraft design in the world to date. The system utilizes technology, design and experience to field a system that is designed to be the most potent f...

Lockheed P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning (often called the "Fork-Tailed Devil" from the German perspective) was the brainchild of aviation engineer Kelly Johnson. The name "Lightning" itself is believed to be derived from the designation ...

Lockheed P-80 / F-80 Shooting Star
The Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star is undoubtedly the world's most successful first generation jet-powered fighter. Appearing by the last few months of World War 2, the Shooting Star failed to undertake a single combat sort...

Lockheed XP-49
The XP-49 was a development of the Lockheed Corporation and a possible replacement for its successful line of P-38 Lightning aircraft. The XP-49 was to be a high-altitude performer with the capabilities of a well-designed fig...

Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning
The XP-58 "Chain Lightning" was initially envisioned as a larger version of the successful Lockheed P-38 Lightning twin-boom design capable of downing hordes of enemy bomber formations in single burst shots. The fear covering...

LVG C.II
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Macchi C.202 Folgore (Thunderbolt)
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Macchi MC.200 Saetta (Lightning)
The Macchi M.C.200 Saetta (or "Lightning") was the main production fighter in the Italian military when Italy entered the Second World War. Overall, a most basic of fighter designs, armed with 2 x 12.7mm machine guns and dece...

Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard
The Martinsyde F.4 "Buzzard" was a biplane aircraft appearing in the late stages of World War 1 and saw service most notably with the Royal Air Force. The aircraft proved to be of sound design and was regarded as one of the f...

McDonnell Douglas / Boeing F-15 Eagle
For a time, the F-15 Eagle series was the pinnacle of American air superiority incorporating technolgy and design that produced a highly manuervable and performanced enhanced multi-role fighter platform. The F-15 was designed...

McDonnell Douglas / Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle
The F-15E "Strike Eagle" is a dual-role version of the highly successful base F-15 air superiority fighter. The Strike Eagle is intended to fulfill both roles of air-to-air superiority and ground strike with the capability to...

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
Arguably one of the finest combat fighters of the 20th Century, the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II series was produced in larger numbers since the end of World War 2 than any other Western fighter of the time. The Phantom II grew i...

McDonnell F2H Banshee
The twin-engine, single-seat F2H Banshee was based on the successes that the McDonnell company found with the F1H Phantom series of jet aircraft. Even appearing similar to the aforementioned craft, the F2H Banshee was in fact...

McDonnell F3H Demon
The F3H Demon series of aircraft produced by McDonnell Aircraft was a further development of the company's expertise with carrier-based turbojet-powered aircraft. Ever since the arrival of the Japanese "Zero" to the war front...

McDonnell FH-1 Phantom
The FH-1 Phantom served with the United States Navy as their first jet-powered carrer-based aircraft up until 1950 and was in design as early as 1943. The system featured a straight wing design, twin Westinghouse engines, a c...

McDonnell XF-85 Goblin
The XF-85 Goblin was an attempt by the McDonnell bureau to realize the dream of a "parasite fighter" program that was actually feasible for use in a wartime environment. The basic theory revolving the parasite fighter was not...

McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo
World War 2 proved to American warplanners that the importance of escort fighters for their bombers could not be overstated. The value added by such systems as the P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 Lightning systems was...

McDonnell XP-67 Bat / Moonbat
The XP-67 was the first attempt by the McDonnell corporation to build a fighter for the United States Military. The same corporation would go on to built the superb F-4 Phantom II, F-15 Eagle and F-18 Hornet air superiority a...

Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was the quintessential fighter for the Third Reich throughout the Second World War. Clandestine German involvement in the Spanish Civil War allowed Bf 109 pilots to develop tactics and responses that ...

Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer (Destroyer)
The twin-engine Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer (or "Destroyer" or even "Heavy Fighter" in some sources) was initially designed to meet a German specification for a "high-speed bomber and heavy fighter". The result was the les...

Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (Comet)
The Me 163 Komet was perhaps the most unique aircraft design of the Second World War. German scientists, always on the cutting edge of evolving war technology, developed a rocket-powered aircraft based on testing completed wi...

Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow)
The Me 262 Schwalbe (or "Swallow") is a good case study in the "what if" category centering around poor production design and the bureaucracy inherent in a dictatorship like that of the Third Reich. With the unrealized capabi...

Messerschmitt Me P.1101
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Mikoyan MiG-29 (Fulcrum)
The Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum was and continues to be a highly prized and respected multirole fighter in service with Russia and a plethora of countries worldwide. The system has proven very robust, flexible and highly maneuvera...

Mikoyan MiG-35 (Fulcrum-F)
The Mikoyan MiG-35 is the latest incarnation of the successful light-weight MiG-29 Fulcrum series. With an increase to its MTOW as much as 30 percent, the MiG-35 is now considered in the medum weight class. The aircraft is co...

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 1.44 (Flatpack)
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Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 / MiG-3
Despite being one of the fastest Soviet piston-engine designs in the early years of the war, the MiG-3 was dogged by less-than-stellar handling characteristics and was genuinely still outclassed by German counterparts in the ...

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (Fagot)
The MiG-15 (codenamed "Fagot" by the United Nations in reference to a "hastily bundled pile of sticks") became the Soviet Union's first true turbojet-powered fighter design of consequence and the first swept-wing aircraft of ...

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (Fresco) / Chengdu J-5
As impressive as the later versions of the MiG-15 fighter were (detailed elsewhere on this site), the MiG-17 "Fresco" was a vastly improved development based on lessons learned in the formers design. With the MiG-15 represent...

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (Farmer)
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 "Farmer" was an entirely new aircraft design though it shared many external similarities with the existing MiG-15 and MiG-17 models. Building upon lessons learned on those former designs, the MiG-1...

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (Fishbed)
The MiG-21 was undoubtedly the most successful Cold War fighter in terms of reach, operating in over 50 air forces around the globe and seeing production well past the 10,000 example mark. The aircraft was developed with less...

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (Flogger)
The Mach 2-capable MiG-23 "Flogger" became the first "swing-wing" fighter to enter service with the Soviet Union and went on to become a primary mount of the Soviet air services (replacing the range-limited MiG-21 "Fishbed") ...

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 (Fargo)
The MiG-9 (NATO codename of "Fargo") was only the second attempt by the Soviet Union at designing and producing a viable jet-powered fighter platform. Design was undertaken by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Bureau and - though hardly a...

Mitsubishi A5M (Claude)
The Mitsubishi A5M (code-named "Claude" by the Allies) became the world's first shipborne monoplane fighter aircraft when it was inducted into service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1937. The system served in some capacit...

Mitsubishi A6M Reisen (Zeke / Zero)
With a design history beginning as early as 1937, the A6M series (commonly referred to as the "Zero" or by the Allied codename of "Zeke") became the first carrierborne fighter aircraft to supercede all other land-based counte...

Mitsubishi F-1
The Mitsubishi F-1 fighter aircraft was a milestone design for the small island country as it represented the nations first all-Japanese design and produced fighter since the closing days of World War 2. Based highly on the e...

Mitsubishi F-2
The Mitsubishi F-2 fighter was initially to be a completely indigenous Japanese design, looking to replace their aging fleet of F-1's. With design work already underway, the United States stepped in with a considerable amount...

Mitsubishi Ki-109
The Mitsubishi Ki-109 was a specialized derivative of the Mitsubishi Ki-67 heavy bomber. The Ki-109 was designed specifically to deal with the growing threat posed by the high-attitude American Boeing B-29 Superfortress over ...

Mitsubishi Ki-46-III (Dinah)
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Morane-Saulnier M.S.406
The Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 was a single engine, piston-powered, single-seat fighter appearing just before the outbreak of hostilities between France and Germany. Though a solid design by 1930's standards, the system did not ...

Morane-Saulnier Type N
The Moraine-Saulnier Type N (or simply "Moraine-Saulnier N") was a French fighter aircraft of the First World War. It appeared in limited production numbers (just 49 total aircraft) and was quickly replaced by more advanced p...

Nakajima J1N1-S
The Nakajima J1N1-S series was a dedicated nightfighting aircraft based on the J1N1 Gekko ("moonlight") reconnaissance aircraft platform also of the Nakajima brand. The system found success for a time, particularly against th...

Nakajima Ki-27 (Nate / Abdul)
The Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate" (known early on as "Abdul") was a successful low-monoplane, all-metal with stressed skin fighter design employed by the Empire of Japan throughout the Second World War. Initially conceived of as a pr...

Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Oscar)
The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (meaning "Peregrine Falcon" and codenamed "Oscar" by the Allies) was a mass-produced fighter for the Imperial Japanese Army in World War 2. Next to the Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" types, the Oscar was th...

Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (Tojo)
The Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (meaning "Demon Queller" and codenamed "Tojo" by the Allies) was a single engine monoplane interceptor appearing in production throughout the war years. The system was designed with performance in min...

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Frank)
Out of the many fine fighters available to the Japanese Army in the closing months of World War 2, none were of greater import than the arrival of the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (meaning "gale" and known as "Frank" to the Allies. ...

Nieuport Nie.11 (Bebe)
The Nieuport 11 "Bebe" (or "Baby" - officially as the Nieuport 11 C1) was in some regards the first "true" Allied fighter of the First World War. Developed from the Bebe racer competition monoplane aircraft, the militarized v...

Nieuport Nie.17
The Nieuport 17series of aircraft was the weapon of choice for World War One aces such as Rene Fonck, Albert Ball and Billy Bishop. The XVII was directly developed from the existing and successful 11 "Bebe" platform and would...

Nieuport Nie.27
The Nieuport Nie.27 (or simply Nieuport 27) was designed by Gustave Delage and became an advanced trainer and fighter, serving with units of the Aeronautique Militaire, the Royal Flying Corps and the Corpo Aeronatico Militair...

Nieuport Nie.28
The French-built Nieuport 28 fighter was the third of the successful trilogy of "Nieuport Fighting Scouts" that included the original Nieuport 11 and 17 models. The 28 model would become the aircraft of choice for aces such a...

Nieuport Nighthawk
The Nieuport Nighthawk began as a design showing great promise. Development began in 1918, the final year of World War 1, and was the product of the Nieuport & General Aircraft firm - a British-based company started during th...

North American F-82 / P-82 Twin Mustang
The F-82 Twin Mustang was a purposely-designed aircraft charged with the purpose of providing the United States Air Force with a potent long-range fighter escort while allowing the pilot a much needed break with the addition ...

North American F-86 Sabre
The F-86 Sabre was the product of the North American Aviation Company based in the United States of America. The aircraft served a pivotal role in the Korean War by winning back air superiority for the NATO allies, going toe-...

North American FJ-1 Fury
The North American FJ-1 Fury aircraft system appeared for a limited time with United States Naval air forces but was instrumental in the design of another North American classic warfighter - the F-86 Sabre. The FJ-1 Fury spaw...

North American P-51 / F-51 Mustang
The North American P-51 Mustang proved an invaluable addition to the Allied cause in the latter half of World War 2. The system was designed and flown in a matter of months and made such an impact that it could clearly be con...

North American YF-107 Ultra Sabre
The YF-107 "Ultra Sabre" prototype represented the final foray into military aviation for the North American Aircraft Corporation. The company that was