The fixed-wing aircraft, as old as manned-flight itself, has evolved on so many levels to the point that the field will one day be dominated by unmanned aerial vehicles.
There are a total of 940 Fixed-Wing Aircraft in the Military Factory. Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order. Flag images indicative of country of origin.
2001
AAI MQ-19 Aerosonde The AAI Aerosonde is described as a modular, long endurance unmanned aerial system (UAS) which intends to fulfill the primary...
2001
AAI RQ-7 Shadow 200 Tactical The AAI Corporation RQ-7 Shadow is an unarmed tactical reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle currently in active service wit...
1995
Ababil (Swallow) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) were once considered primarily the domains of Israel and the United States Military. Througho...
1916
AEG C.IV The C.IV was a twin-seat biplane aircraft produced by the German firm of Allgemeine Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft (or simply "AE...
1916
AEG G.IV The AEG G.IV was another successful product of the Allgemeine Elektritzitats Gesellschaft aircraft corporation and was an ama...
1962
Aermacchi MB.326 The Aermacchi MB.326 series of aircraft has become one of the most successful blends of operational trainer and light attack ...
1978
Aermacchi MB.339 The Aermacchi MB.339 was the successor to the Aermacchi MB.326 in the advanced trainer and light strike role. This twin-seat ...
1921
Aero A.11 The Aero A.11 was a highly successful, multi-faceted performer for the Czech Army Air Force in the interwar years between Wor...
1923
Aero A.12 The Aero A.12 was designed specifically to succeed the company's previous biplane effort - the A.11. The A.11 appeared in the...
1937
Aero A.304 The Aero A.304 originally began life as the Aero A.204 passenger airliner produced by Aero Vodochody of Czechoslovakia. The p...
1963
Aero L-29 Delfin (Dolphin) / Maya The Czech designed and produced Aero L-29 Delfin (translating to "Dolphin"; NATO designation of "Maya") series was a highly u...
1972
Aero L-39 Albatros (Albatross) The L-39 series of advanced jet trainer and light strike aircraft followed along the same lines as its predecessor - the L-29...
1916
Aeromarine 39 The Aeromarine 39 was a two-seat plane for land-based or seaplane training ordered by the US Navy in 1917. The versatile air...
1918
Aeromarine 40 The Aeromarine Model 40 (or simply "Aeromarine 40") was a two-seat flying boat trainer aircraft serving the United States Nav...
1969
Aerospatiale / British Aerospace Concorde One of the great aviation stories to come out of a post-Cold War world, the British and French-made Concorde stands as the on...
2003
AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven The AeroVinronment RQ-11 "Raven" is classified as a "Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" (SUAV), this attributed directly to its ...
AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma The AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma is one of the many intelligence-gathering unmanned aircraft system (UAS) currently in service wi...
1915
AGO C.II The AGO C.II was the product of the Aerowerke Gustav Otto (abbreviated as "AGO") concern and is considered by some as one of ...
1944
Aichi B7A Ryusei (Grace) The Aichi-produced B7A Ryusei (translated to "Shooting Star" and nicknamed "Grace" by the Allies) was a limited-production to...
1940
Aichi D3A (Val) The D3A series of aircraft (dubbed "Val" by the Allies) were thought to be all but extinct when the war in the Pacific began....
1941
Aichi E13A (Jake) Based on number alone, the Aichi production E13A series of floatplanes (dubbed "Jake" by the Allies) was the most important s...
1944
Aichi E16A Zuiun (Paul) The E16A Zuiun (translated into "Auspicious Cloud" and codenamed "Paul" by the Allies) was a dedicated reconnaissance floatpl...
1945
Aichi M6A Seiran This oft-forgotten Aichi design was classified as an attack floatplane that was designed to be carried aboard the Japanese Na...
1984
AIDC AT-3 Tz-Chiang The AT-3 is in a special class of aircraft that specialize in both advanced pilot training as well as light combat and includ...
1994
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 un...
1972
Airbus A300 The A300-600 and A310 share a high percentage of commonality in terms of airframe design and construction (decreasing mainten...
1983
Airbus A310 The Airbus A310-300 was produced as a budgeted alternative to the based A300-series (detailed elsewhere on this web site) at ...
2003
Airbus A318 The French concern of Airbus unveiled their new A320 commercial aircraft family line in March of 1984 and eventually expanded...
Airbus Military A400M Atlas The Airbus A400M "Atlas" is billed as long-range military transport and represents a multi-national development effort. To da...
1915
Airco DH.2 Geoffrey de Havilland was hired by the Airco firm in June of 1914 as lead designer and quickly lent his design talents to dev...
1917
Airco DH.4 With production numbering over 6,000 total units, the Airco / de Havilland DH.4 was another one of Geoffrey de Havilland's su...
1917
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...
1917
Airco DH.9 The AirCo / de Havilland DH.9 was a further revision of the DH.4 bomber. Design was accomplished by the de Havilland company ...
Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed Oxford was a critical component of the British and Commonwealth forces aerial training program during World War ...
2012
AirTanker Voyager (A330 MRTT) The Royal Air Force had long since relied on a capable, though aging, fleet of Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and Vickers VC10 serie...
1914
Albatros B.II The Albatros B.II was a reconnaissance biplane used in the early years of the First World War, particularly on the German sid...
1915
Albatros C.I The Albatros C.I series of aircraft was the next evolution in the brand's reconnaissance aircraft line. Stemming from the dev...
1915
Albatros C.III Continuing in the long line of short-term reconnaissance biplane designs, the German Air Force fielded the Albatros C.III in ...
1916
Albatros C.V The Albatros C.V can, in some ways, be approached as a step backwards in the progression of the C-series as a whole. Though t...
1917
Albatros C.X The Albatros production of the C.X model continued the firm's commitment to producing capable reconnaissance biplane aircraft...
1916
Albatros D.I The Albatros Flugzeugwerke firm certainly made a name for itself in World War 1. It was responsible for a series of well-resp...
1916
Albatros D.II Albatros produced a variety of capable fighter mounts throughout World War 1 and the original D.I series proved instrumental ...
1917
Albatros D.III While the Albatros D.I proved critical in winning back air superiority for the Germans in early 1917, it was not a perfect al...
1917
Albatros D.V At the time of its inception, the Albatros D-series of fighter aircraft (beginning with the D.I model) was a stellar gunnery ...
1917
Albatros D.Va The Albatros D.I of 1916 proved instrumental in bringing air superiority back into the favor of the German Empire during Worl...
1917
Albatros J.I The Albatros J.I was conceived of as a dedicated ground attack aircraft for use in the "infantry close-support role" during W...
2014
Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master The advanced jet trainer/light strike market has grown considerably over the last several decades. This class of aircraft all...
1984
Alenia Aermacchi S-211 Sensing the growing need for light, jet-powered dual-role aircraft, the Italian concern of SIAI-Marchetti proposed a new airc...
1997
Alenia C-27 Spartan The Alenia C-27 "Spartan" is a medium-lift transport and joint development effort founded by Italy's Alenia and America's Loc...
1978
Alenia-Aeritalia G.222 The Italian Alenia G.222 medium-lift tactical transport was born from a 1962 NATO requirement for a Vertical / Short Take-Off...
1935
Amiot 143 The Amiot 143 of the French Air Force represented an evolution in the Amiot piston-engine bomber series that replaced the Ami...
1940
Amiot 354 The Amiot 354 bomber and reconnaissance platform was a quite capable aircraft when war broke out over France. The system had ...
1990
AMX International AMX (Ghibli) The AMX International AMX is the result of cooperation between two Italian (Aeritalia - now Alenia - and Aermacchi) and one B...
1933
ANF Les Mureaux (Series) The ANF les Mureaux series of light observation aircraft first appeared during the inter-war years between World War 1 and Wo...
1918
Ansaldo A 1 Balilla (Hunter) The Ansaldo A 1 Balilla ("Hunter") was the first aircraft fighter design of Italian origins. Italian forces consistently used...
1957
Antonov An-12 (Cub) The Antonov An-12 "Cub" was a product of requirement by the Soviet Union during the Cold War years. With more land area to de...
1986
Antonov An-124 Ruslan (Condor) The Antonov An-124 (NATO codename of "Condor") was the world's largest aircraft before the Antonov An-225 made its debut. The...
1947
Antonov An-2 (Colt) The Antonov An-2 is a multi-role light utility biplane initially produced under the Soviet flag. Despite its 1940's pedigree,...
1965
Antonov An-22 Antei (Cock) The Antonov An-22 Antei (or "Cock") was another in the long line of Antonov transports designed and produced throughout the C...
1989
Antonov An-225 Mriya (Cossack) The Antonov An-225 "Mriya" (Meaning "Dream") (NATO: "Cossack") is one of the largest and heaviest aircraft ever constructed...
1962
Antonov An-24 (Coke) The An-24 "Coke" was yet another in the long line of military transport aircraft produced during the Cold War by the Antonov ...
1977
Antonov An-32 (Cline) The An-32 "Cline" was offered up by the Antonov bureau as an improved An-26 model. In essence, the system was quite similar t...
2014
Antonov An-70 The Antonov An-70 is a Ukrainian transport aircraft - currently in development as of 2012 - intended to replace the aging fle...
1986
Antonov An-72 (Coaler) The An-72 "Coaler" was another Antonov Design Bureau creation designed to assist the Soviet military in logistical sorties as...
1937
Arado Ar 195 The Arado Ar 195 was prototype design intended for operations from Germany's first aircraft carrier known as the Graf Zeppeli...
1939
Arado Ar 196 The Arado Ar 196 was the principle floatplane of the German Luftwaffe throughout World War 2. The aircraft was showcased in q...
1941
Arado Ar 232 Tausendfussler (Millipede) The Arado aircraft firm produced one of the more identifiable transport aircraft of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War...
1944
Arado Ar 234 (Blitz) As the German Messerschmitt Me 262 "Schwalbe" ("Swallow") holds the distinction of becoming the world's first operational jet...
1940
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 hea...
1934
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 br...
1943
Arado Ar E.340 The Arado-produced Ar E.340 was designed to a German requirement for a twin-engined bomber to replace the aging Junkers Ju 88...
1944
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...
1936
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 a...
1940
Arado Ar E.530 The idea of twin fuselage aircraft was always in the minds of military aircraft engineers throughout the Second World War. Co...
1943
Arado Ar E.555 Arado proposed this E.555 flying wing concept towards the end of 1943 as a high-speed long-range bomber. The flying wing conc...
1945
Arado Ar E.560 The Arado E.560 series of developmental high-speed jet bombers saw a large evolution on paper. Design of the platform centere...
1937
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 d...
1944
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...
1944
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" ...
1943
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. Th...
1944
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 fusel...
1945
Arado Ar Projekt II The Arado Ar Projekt II was a proposed jet-powered fighter of considerable size. It carried a basic classification of nightfi...
1943
Arado Ar TEW 16/43-13 The Arado Ar TEW 16/43-13 was a design concept envisioned as a rocket-propelled interceptor for the German Luftwaffe. The des...
1943
Arado Ar TEW 16/43-15 The Arado Ar TEW 16/43-15 concept was born out of an in-house research project studying the possibilities of jet-powered figh...
1943
Arado Ar TEW 16/43-19 With development of the advanced twin-engine, jet-powered Ar 234 "Blitz" bomber coming along, the Arado firm turned its atten...
1943
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 m...
2009
Arcturus T-20 The Arcturus T-20 was initially developed as a private venture by the Arcturus-UAV LLC concern of California, USA and further...
1941
Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle The Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle became one of those aircraft designs that evolved into a role not initially envisioned. The...
1927
Armstrong Whitworth Atlas The Armstrong Whitworth Atlas was designed to replace the aging de Havilland DH.9A biplane of 1918 as well as the Bristol Fig...
1936
Armstrong Whitworth Ensign The impressive Armstrong Whitworth Ensign AW.27 series was made originally designed to a 1934 British government requirement ...
1917
Armstrong Whitworth FK.8 The Armstrong Whitworth FK.8 model series was an aircraft conceived of by aircraft designer Frederick Koolhoven of Dutch orig...
1924
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 ...
1937
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Continuing in the tradition of ugly yet robust and reliable heavy bombers, the British Armstrong Whitworth Whitley was the he...
1986
Atlas (Denel) Cheetah The Denel (formally Atlas) Cheetah came about from a South African Air Force requirement to update or replace its series of a...
1934
Avia B.534 The Czechoslovakian Avia B.534 series of biplane was a highly regarded though often forgotten product of the European nation....
1914
Aviatik B.I The Aviatik B.I series handled reconnaissance duties for Germany in the early years of the war, serving up to about early 191...
1915
Aviatik C.I Aviatik (Automobil und Aviatikwerke) of Germany was already involved in aircraft designs from the outset of the war, graduati...
1917
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 Wa...
1933
Avions Fairey Fox Avions Fairey was set up in Belgium as an offshoot of the Fairey Aviation Company of Britain. The production facility was ini...
1913
Avro 504 Without knowing it from the outset, the Avro Type 504 series of aircraft would become one of the most produced and influentia...
1916
Avro 523 Pike Avro (A.V. Roe and Company) was founded in 1910 and based out of Manchester. The firm played a large role from World War 1 in...
1917
Avro 529 The Avro 529 followed closely in line with Avro's preceding bomber attempt - the 523. Both were designed as large bomber type...
1933
Avro 621 Tutor The Avro 621 Tutor was a primary component of RAF and RN pilot training in the interwar years. Developed from the World War 1...
1936
Avro Anson The Avro Anson was a militarized version of the commercial passenger transport Avro 652. The Anson itself was produced to ful...
1952
Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck is an often overlooked indigenous Canadian aircraft design that performed admirably well throug...
1958
Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow The Avro CF-105 "Arrow" appeared at a time when the Soviet Union was consistently developing higher-flying and longer range b...
1942
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster went on to become the most important British heavy bomber or World War 2. Interestingly, its success was b...
1945
Avro Lincoln The Avro Lincoln became a late-World War 2, four-engined heavy bomber developed form the hugely successful Avro Lancaster ser...
1940
Avro Manchester The Avro Manchester was a semi-successful attempt by the Avro firm to fulfill Air Ministry Specification P.13/36. The specifi...
1951
Avro Shackleton The Avro Shackleton was derived from the Avro Lincoln bomber (the Lincoln itself designed from the Avro Lancaster), a four-en...
1956
Avro Vulcan The Avro Vulcan formed the second point on the triangle in the British "V-Bombers" collection - a series of three high-altitu...
1967
BAC Strikemaster At its core, the Strikemaster was a jet-powered training platform with inherent light ground attack facilities as secondary. ...
1959
BAC TSR-2 Along the same lines as the prototype North American XB-70 Valkyrie strategic bomber of the United States Air Force, the BAC ...
1945
Bachem Ba 349 Natter (Adder / Viper) The Bachem Ba 349 Natter (translated to "Adder" though also known as the "Viper") was one of the late-war German aircraft ini...
1968
BAe / Hawker Siddeley Nimrod The Nimrod aircraft came about as a replacement for the aging and World War Two-era piston-engine Avro Shackleton. Charged wi...
BAe Systems Taranis The UCAV (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle) is the evolution of the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). The UAV began life as a reconna...
1917
Beardmore WB III / SB 3 The Beardmore WB III was nothing more than a highly-modified, navalized version of the successful land-based Sopwith Pup sing...
Beechcraft C-45 (Expeditor) The Beechcraft C-45 was based on the Beech Aircraft Corporation's civilian-minded Model 18 "Twin Beech" series. First flight ...
Beechcraft T-34 Mentor The T-34 Mentor series served the United States Air Force and United States Navy well in training generations of aviators in ...
Beriev Be-12 Tchaika (Mail) The Beriev Be-12 "Mail" was a successful flying boat aircraft for the Soviet Union during the Cold War, fulfilling the role o...
1935
Beriev Be-2 / MBR-2 The Beriev Be-2 was one of the few flying boats of note fighting for the Soviet Union throughout World War 2 as very little i...
1990
Beriev Be-42 / A-40 Albatross (Mermaid) The Be-42 / A-40 Albatross (designated by NATO as "Mermaid") was asuprise discovery for Western intelligence sources when it...
1934
Blackburn Baffin The Blackburn Baffin was nothing more than a Pegasus-engined evolution of the Blackburn Ripon bomber of the mid-1920s. Both t...
1962
Blackburn Buccaneer The Blackburn Buccaneer was a low-level, high-speed, carrier-borne strike aircraft utilized by the British Royal Air Force an...
1945
Blackburn Firebrand The Blackburn Firebrand was a carried-based strike fighter aircraft developed by Blackburn Aircraft of the United Kingdom. Sh...
1918
Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo The Kangaroo was the product of the Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company, Limited. The design began as a venture in 1916 to ...
1929
Blackburn Ripon The Blackburn concern was founded in 1914 by aviation engineer Robert Blackburn as the "Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company" ...
1909
Bleriot XI The Bleriot XI was one of the first notable monoplanes to achieve any level of fame. Primitive by today's standards, the syst...
1939
Bloch MB.150 (Series) The Bloch MB.150 was a family of modern, all-metal monoplane fighter types developed for the French Air Force prior to World ...
Blohm and Voss Bv 138 The Blohm and Voss (also written as "Blohm und Voss" or "Blohm & Voss") Bv 138 was a German flying boat that saw quantitative...
1938
Blohm and Voss Bv 141 While the Blohm & Voss (or "Blohm und Voss") aircraft firm will forever be linked to their many successful floatplanes and fl...
1941
Blohm and Voss Bv 222 Wiking (Viking) The Blohm & Voss Bv 222 Wiking (translating to "Viking") was a large German flying boat design of World War 2. The behemoth s...
1944
Blohm and Voss Bv 238 The mammoth Blohm & Voss Bv 238 was the next evolution in the Blohm & Voss flying boat series for Germany during World War Tw...
1943
Blohm and Voss P.192 The German concern of Blohm & Voss (also Blohm und Voss) is largely remembered for their commitment to shipbuilding and its l...
Boeing / McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle For a time, the McDonnell Douglas (now under Boeing) F-15 Eagle series was the pinnacle of American air superiority, incorpor...
Boeing 314 Clipper (C-98) The Boeing Model 314 "Clipper" was a flying boat developed by Boeing Aircraft Company to fulfill a Pan American requirement f...
1955
Boeing 707 The 707 model series for The Boeing Company proved to be the catalyst for their commercial market successes to come. The 707 ...
Boeing 777 Throughout the 1970s, the Boeing Company operated the mammoth 747 four-engined, "wide-body" long-range jet airliner. In 1978,...
2012
Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) The 787 "Dreamliner" represents Boeing's latest foray into the world of commercial passenger air travel. To this point, the p...
1937
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Though the Consolidated B-24 Liberator was built in greater numbers, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is often regarded as the...
1943
Boeing B-29 Superfortress B-29 Superfortress status is often associated with the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ...
1951
Boeing B-47 Stratojet The swept-wing B-47 Stratojet produced by Boeing was a milestone in American bomber design in several ways. The system pionee...
1948
Boeing B-50 Superfortress Though looking every bit the identical twin of the World War Two-era B-29 Superfortress (also produced by Boeing), the B-50 i...
1955
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress The B-52 has been the preeminent American heavy bomber of the last 54 years. The massive aircraft served throughout the heigh...
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III The Boeing-produced C-17 Globemaster III represents one of the latest additions to the United States Air Force mobile airlift...
1944
Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter A post-World War 2 design, the C-97 was developed by The Boeing Company from its Model 367 product - a military-minded transp...
Boeing E-6 Mercury The Boeing E-6 Mercury was original developed for the United States Navy as an airborne command and communications relay plat...
2009
Boeing EA-18G Growler The Boeing EA-18G "Growler" was designed and developed to overtake the Electronic Warfare Aircraft (EWA) role from the venera...
2012
Boeing F-15SE (Silent Eagle) The Boeing F-15SE "Silent Eagle" is a "stealthified" version of the successful two-seat F-15E "Strike Eagle" debuted in 1988....
1929
Boeing F4B The Boeing-produced F4B series of aircraft was produced in large quantities for the United States Army and the United States ...
2013
Boeing Insitu RQ-21 Integrator The Boeing Insitu RQ-21 "Integrator" is an in-development Unmanned Air System (UAS) intended to supplant the Boeing Scan Eagl...
1956
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker The KC-135 Stratotanker proved to be a monumental product for the Boeing corporation in more ways than one, firstly solidifyi...
2017
Boeing KC-46 The Boeing KC-46 was selected to replace the aging line of Boeing KC-135 "Stratotankers" through the KC-X program - a competi...
1947
Boeing L-15 Scout The L-15 Scout was a light and small observation liaison aircraft produced in limited numbers by the Boeing Aircraft Company ...
1932
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 ...
2013
Boeing P-8 Poseidon The Boeing P-8 Poseidon Multimission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) is currently in development and on order for the United States N...
2015
Boeing Phantom Eye The Boeing Phantom Eye is a next generation UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). The most unique facet of the Phantom Eye is its us...
1924
Boeing PW-9 (Model 15) The Boeing PW-9 series was based on the company's "Model 15" aircraft which, in turn, held origins based in the then-excellen...
2005
Boeing ScanEagle The ScanEagle is a joint production UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) by The Boeing Company and The Insitu Group. As a whole, the...
1983
Boeing Skyfox The Boeing Skyfox was a modification program intended to modernized the large fleet of existing Lockheed T-33 "Shooting Star"...
1973
Boeing T-43 (Gator) In the early 1970s, the United States Air Force commissioned the Boeing concern to develop and deliver an airborne navigation...
Boeing VC-25 (Air Force One) The VC-25 is used to usher the President of the United States and his staff on various journeys around the globe. The VC-25 i...
2000
Boeing X-32 JSF (Joint Stike Fighter) The Boeing X-32 was a prototype aircraft developed for the US military's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The Boeing submi...
2010
Boeing X-51 (Waverider) The Boeing X-51 "Waverider" is an unmanned technology demonstrator designed to further develop the concept of shockwave-assis...
1941
Boeing-Stearman Kaydet When The Boeing Company acquired the Stearman company in 1939, it also acquired the design and production rights to the promi...
2008
Bombardier Raytheon Sentinel The Bombardier Raytheon Sentinel currently (2013) serves the Royal Air Force (RAF) as its primary Airborne Battlefield and G...
1937
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 ...
1937
Breda Ba.64 The Breda Ba.64 was a short-lived ground attack platform fielded primarily by the Regia Aeronautica of Italy prior to and dur...
1936
Breda Ba.65 The Breda Ba.65 was a ground attack aircraft serving primarily with the Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) in the years le...
1959
Breguet Br.1050 Alize (Tradewind) The Breguet Br.1050 "Alize" (meaning "tradewind") was a French production aircraft suitable for carrier-based anti-submarine ...
Britten-Norman Defender The Britten-Norman Defender is a militarized version of the successful Britten-Norman Islander twin turboprop-powered aircraf...
1942
CAC Boomerang The Commonwealth Boomerang (also known as the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation - or "CAC" - Boomerang) was of completely Aus...
1941
CAC Wackett The CAC Wackett was an indigenously designed and developed dedicated basic trainer for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) ...
CAC Wirraway The CAC Wirraway ("Challenge" in the Woiwurrung native tongue) became one of Australia's primary trainer aircraft from 1939 o...
1941
CAC Woomera (A23) The CAC A23 "Woomera" was a short-lived dive bomber/torpedo bomber of Australian design during World War 2. The push of Japan...
1951
Canadair CT-133 Silver Star America's first operational jet-powered fighter became the P-80 Shooting Star of World War 2. The type was a single-engine, s...
CANT Z.501 Gabbiano (Gull) The CANT Z.501 Gabbiano (meaning "Gull") was a flying boat aircraft developed in Italy and shared a resemblance to the succes...
1936
CANT Z.506 Airone (Heron) Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico ("CANT") was responsible for the excellent Italian floatplane design that was the CANT Z.506 ...
1936
Caproni AP.1 A pair of Ca.301 prototypes served as the basis for a new Italian attack aircraft. The original design sported a low-set mono...
1915
Caproni Ca.1 While the British Handley Page and German Gotha bombers receive their fair share of notoriety in World War 1 text, both Italy...
1917
Caproni Ca.3 The Caproni Ca.36 represented the definitive model in the C-bomber series debuted in 1914 as the C.31. The Ca.36 was a tremen...
Caproni-Campini N1 (CC.2) With the introduction of the N1 (may also be known as the CC.2), Italy became only the second nation in the world to achieve ...
Chengdu J-20 (Black Eagle) The Chinese Chengdu J-20 "Black Eagle" is a 5th Generation fighter design exhibiting stealth characteristics not unlike the A...
1980
Chengdu J-7 / F-7 After World War 2 (1939-1945), China and the Soviet Union were cooperating political powers. This naturally led to China bein...
2010
Chengdu JF-17 Thunder (FC-1 Xiaolong) The FC-1/JF-17 lightweight multirole combat fighter platform was developed jointly by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporati...
Coanda 1910 This invention by Romanian inventor Henri Coanda amazingly appeared in 1910 as the world's first jet-propelled aircraft - jus...
1941
Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator became a major player for Allied forces during World War 2. Its exploits ranged the world ove...
1945
Consolidated B-32 Dominator The Consolidated B-32 Dominator was a limited production four-engine heavy bomber requested by the United States Air Force as...
1940
Consolidated PB2Y Coronado By the middle of the 1930's America was no longer blind to the real possibility that the war would sooner or later be waged a...
1943
Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer was a further development of the United States Navy's PB4Y-1 anti-submarine warfare aircraf...
1936
Consolidated PBY Catalina Maritime aircraft play an understated role, especially in that of war time. Fly boats came to pass, first in peace-time devel...
1924
Consolidated PT-1 Trusty The "Trusty" was a product of the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation (though designed under the brand of the Dayton-Wright Com...
1947
Convair B-36 Peacemaker If developed a few years sooner, the B-36 could have very well taken part in the Second World War. The initial designed was p...
1960
Convair B-58 Hustler The delta-wing Convair B-58 Hustler was the first United States Air Force supersonic operational bomber. The system was desig...
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 "Delta Dagger" was a product of the ensuing Cold War years following the close of World War 2 in which jet ...
1959
Convair F-106 Delta Dart The F-106 "Delta Dart" holds origins in the original United States Air Force requirement that produced the capable F-102 "Del...
1933
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 fir...
1924
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 fo...
Curtiss H-16 In 1911, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company unveiled their Model D, a biplane aircraft powered by a single Curtiss E-4 e...
1915
Curtiss JN-4 (Jenny) The much-loved Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" two-seat trainer aircraft was utilized in a myriad of ways throughout her operational car...
1918
Curtiss NC (Navy Curtiss / Nancy Boat) World War 1 in Europe prompted all military industries to develop and produce various solutions to ongoing (and some new) pro...
1938
Curtiss P-36 Hawk (Hawk 75 / Mohawk) The Curtiss P-36 Hawk aircraft saw considerable operational service in the years leading up to, and during, World War 2. Its ...
1941
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 el...
1929
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 Unite...
1943
Curtiss SB2C Helldiver The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a rather unassuming dive bomber / reconnaissance aircraft serving throughout World War 2 begin...
1938
Curtiss SBC Helldiver In 1932, the United States Navy contracted the Curtiss-Wright Corporation to produce a modern, two-seat fighter design for us...
Curtiss XF14C Curtiss Aircraft enjoyed success with its inline piston-engined P-40 "Warhawk" series of fighters which went on to serve in m...
1939
Curtiss XP-42 The Curtiss XP-42 was a further development of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk model though it would share some initial outward similar...
1941
Curtiss XP-46 The smallish XP-46 was to be the answer for the deficiencies encountered in the P-40 Warhawk platform. Unfortunately for Curt...
1942
Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando The United States Air Force utilized the C-46 Commando series as their primary transport workhorse in the Pacific Theater of ...
1943
Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender The XP-55 Ascender was an unorthodox attempt by the Curtiss-Wright company that produced just three prototype models. Answeri...
1948
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 t...
2010
DARPA Falcon HTV-2 Billed as the "World's Fastest Airplane", the Falcon HTV-2 ("Hypersonic Technology Vehicle") is a long-duration, hypersonic t...
2012
DARPA KQ-X (Global Hawk) KQ-X is a program designation commissioned by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) of the United States to modif...
1958
Dassault Etendard The base Dassault-produced Etendard (meaning "Standard") was a private venture that was initially greeted without much fervor...
Dassault MD.450 Ouragan (Hurricane) The Dassault MD.450 "Ouragan" (meaning "Hurricane") became France's first home-grown operational, jet-powered, military comba...
1979
Dassault Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 formed a potent interceptor and strike component of the French Air Force for the last three decades....
1973
Dassault Mirage F1 The Dassault Mirage F1 was designed to replace the successful Dassault Mirage III series. With a host of new features added t...
1956
Dassault Mirage III Though now outclassed by the latest in Next Generation aircraft, the Mirage III - for a time - was the best European fighter ...
1965
Dassault Mirage IIIV The Mirage IIIV was designed to a NATO requirement for a supersonic VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) fighter aircraft. Th...
1963
Dassault Mirage IV The Dassault Mirage IV series was designed to a French requirement for a supersonic aircraft platform capable of delivering a...
1967
Dassault Mirage V (5) / Mirage 50 The Dassault Mirage V / Mirage 50 series of French-built multi-role aircraft stands as the last further development of the su...
1955
Dassault Mystere / Super Mystere The Dassault-produced Mystere series of turbojet aircraft appeared just when the French nation was in the rebuilding stages f...
2018
Dassault nEUROn The Dassault nEUROn is an Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) technology demonstrator intended to provide participating Europe...
1998
Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale, when released into operational service in the late 1990's, was the pinnacle of French aircraft engineeri...
1978
Dassault Super Etendard (Standard) The Dassault Super Etendard ("Standard") was a further development of the base Etendard platform that performed well in servi...
1978
Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet The Alpha Jet series of aircraft was a joint Franco-German initiative to produce a highly-advanced tactical trainer with clos...
de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou The Caribou series proved to be such an effective battlefield transport aircraft that more than a few were pressed into servi...
1946
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire The de Havilland DH.100 Vampire held two key distinctions concerning aviation history - she was the first jet-powered aircraf...
1946
de Havilland DH.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-...
1958
de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen In the 1950's, the de Havilland production of the Sea Vixen became the Royal Navy's first swept wing fighter design and Brita...
1931
de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth The Tiger Moth series produced by the UK firm of de Havilland went on to become one of the more beloved trainers of all time,...
1942
de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito Discussions of war-winning World War 2 aircraft regularly seem to leave out one of the most famous and successful of the conf...
2015
Denel Dynamics Bateleur The Denel Dynamics Bateleur is categorized as a "Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)" and is...
1936
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...
1939
Dewoitine D.520 The Dewoitine D.520 was a single seat piston-engine fighter designed and built for the French Air Force. Developed from lesso...
1916
DFW C.V The DFW C.V series of biplane aircraft was of German design in World War 1. The system was particularly noted for its good ha...
1917
Dorand AR The Dorand AR series was developed for the French air service to replace the outmoded, two-seat Farman F.40 observation aircr...
1937
Dornier Do 17 (Flying Pencil) The Dornier Do 17 was a medium-class bomber fielded primarily by the German Luftwaffe in the years leading up to World War 2....
1938
Dornier Do 18 Though a serviceable flying boat with a successful pedigree, the Dornier Do 18 was highly outclassed and outdated at the star...
1939
Dornier Do 215 The Dornier Do 215 was originally intended for export, beginning life as a redesignated version of the Dornier Do 17 light/me...
1942
Dornier Do 217 The Dornier Do 217 was a multi-faceted performer for the German Luftwaffe that ended up fulfilling various roles from bomber ...
1938
Dornier Do 22 The Dornier Do 22 was a German-designed and produced three-man floatplane. It was produced in Germany and Switzerland for the...
1981
Dornier Do 228 The Dornier Do 228 appeared in the early 1980's and served as a utility transport and maritime patrol aircraft for several gl...
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 pa...
1946
Douglas A-1 Skyraider The Douglas A-1 Skyraider series would have become a major contributor to warplans concerning American involvement in World W...
1941
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. Th...
1941
Douglas A-24 Banshee The Douglas A-24 "Banshee" dive bomber fit the requirement of the United States Army for a capable dive bomber-type aircraft....
1944
Douglas A-26 / B-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader was a distinguished twin-engine light bomber whose origins were well-placed in the Second World War....
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 corporat...
1936
Douglas B-18 Bolo In 1934, the American Douglas aircraft concern developed the DB-1 (also known as the "Douglas Bomber 1") to fulfill a United ...
1961
Douglas B-26K/A-26B Counter Invader The B-26K/A-26B "Counter Invader" was based on a highly modified airframe of the World War 2-era Douglas A-26 Invader attack ...
1956
Douglas B-66 Destroyer The Douglas-produced B-66 Destroyer was a light bomber designed by Ed Heinemann to replace the aging A-26 Invader in service ...
Douglas C-124 Globemaster II With the close of World War 2 and the accompanying Berlin Airlift, the United States military saw a need to replace its aged ...
Douglas C-47 Skytrain / Dakota The C-47 Skytrain was a product of the Douglas Aircraft Company and is regarded as the best transport of World War 2. Interes...
1942
Douglas C-54 Skymaster (DC-4) Derived from the commercial DC-4 airliner, the C-54 Skymaster was a workhorse transport aircraft for both the United States A...
1934
Douglas DC-2 Before the DC-3 became a marketing success for the Douglas Aircraft Company - produced in some 16,000 total examples - the co...
Douglas F3D / F-10 Skyknight The Douglas Skyknight was a dedicated carrier-based night fighter serving with the United States Navy (USN) and Marine Corps ...
1956
Douglas F4D Skyray / F-6 Skyray The F4D Skyray (affectionately nicknamed the "Ford" for its "F", "Four" and "D" used in the designation) stemmed from a 1947 ...
Douglas TBD Devastator The Douglas TBD Devastator was classified as a torpedo bomber and served in the early half of World War 2 with the United Sta...
EADS KC-45 (KC-30) The KC-45 is/was a joint proposal from primary contractor Northrop Grumman of the United States and subcontractor EADS (Europ...
2003
Elbit Hermes 450 The Hermes 450 is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) of Israeli origination, part of the growing family of Hermes "Unmanned Air...
2006
Elbit Skylark Elbit Systems of Israel produces their Skylark series of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) as a portable surveillance and reconna...
2016
Embraer C-390 To head off the sudden global military need for a modern medium-lift transport system estimated to come within the next ten y...
2003
Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano / A-29 The EMB 314 "Super Tucano" (also "A-29") represents a locally-produced Brazilian aircraft product falling under the then-gove...
2000
EMT Luna X-2000 The EMT Luna series of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Luna X-2000) is billed as a short-range, all-weather airborne reconnaissance...
1960
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...
1951
English Electric Canberra / Martin B-57 The British-produced Canberra was originally conceived of as a high-altitude, high-level nuclear-capable medium bomber. The f...
2005
Eurocopter EC 725 Caracal (Super Cougar) The Eurocopter EC725 helicopter series was designed to a French Air Force requirement for a military-grade long-range Search ...
2003
Eurocopter Tiger (EC 665) The Eurocopter Tiger (EC 665) is a relatively new attack helicopter initially designed and developed through a joint venture ...
2003
Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon represents much of what is both good and bad in multi-national joint ventures. While itself appearing...
1945
Fairchild AC-119 Shadow / Stinger The AC-119 series was a modified "G" model of the successful C-119 "Flying Boxcar" transport aircraft. The AC-119's would see...
1947
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar Fairchild Corporation produced a winner in the post-war world with the introduction of the C-119 "Flying Boxcar". The Boxcar ...
1952
Fairchild C-123 Provider The C-123 Provider was a twin engine military transport aircraft utilized to good effect in the Vietnam War. Design of the ai...
Farman MF.11 Shorthorn The Farman MF.11 "Shorthorn" was a development of French aeronautical engineering and was essentially an early-war biplane de...
Felixstowe F.5 The Felixstowe F.5 series originated in the United Kingdom as a militarized flying boat in the last year of World War 1 (1918...
1958
Fiat Aeritalia G.91 (Gina) The Fiat Aeritalia G.91 was an Italian Cold War-era, single-seat, jet-powered fighter design that saw an extended period of s...
1936
Fiat BR.20 Cicogna (Stork) The Fiat BR.20 Cicogna (translated to "Stork") was a medium bomber in service with the Italian Air Force in the late inter-wa...
1938
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 ex...
1939
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 ...
1938
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 ...
1943
Fiat G.55 Centauro (Centaur) Undoubtedly, the Fiat G.55 Centauro (Centaur) served as Italy's best fighter design of World War 2. The type made use of a li...
1944
Fieseler Fi 103R (Reichenberg) The Fiseler Fi 103R was, in essence, the piloted form of the successful V-1 rocket that terrorized London citizens throughout...
1937
Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) The seemingly fragile Fieseler Fi 156 Storch(or "Stork") does not seem to have a home in a global conflict as World War 2 was...
1943
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...
1975
FMA IA-58 Pucara (Fortress) The impressive-looking, two-seat IA-58 Pucara (meaning "Fortress") was produced by the Fabrica Militar de Aviones of Argentin...
Focke-Wulf Fw 187 Falke (Falcon) Despite demonstrating some impressive performance statistics from underpowered engines, the Focke-Wulf product Fw 187 Falke (...
1940
Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu (Owl) The Focke-Wulf brand Fw 189 Uhu (translated to "Owl") was of the most peculiar aircraft design for the German Luftwaffe in th...
1939
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 ...
1942
Focke-Wulf Fw 191 The Fw 191 was the Focke-Wulf submission to the German Air Ministry's "Bomber B" program of 1939. Authorities were sold on th...
1938
Focke-Wulf Fw 200 (Condor) The German Fw 200 Condor was initially a trans-Atlantic passenger and cargo (mail) aircraft developed by Focke-Wulf and legen...
1945
Focke-Wulf Ta 152 The Focke-Wulf Ta 152 was a short-lived, high-level interceptor fielded by the German Luftwaffe in the latter part of World W...
1944
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...
1945
Focke-Wulf Ta 183 (Huckebein) By late in World War 2, German authorities had already made a stout commitment to the production of fighters over bombers. Se...
1918
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 ...
1918
Fokker D.VIII The Fokker D.VIII was a rare monoplane design of World War 1 and regarded as one of the best fighters of the German Empire in...
1938
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 fi...
1917
Fokker Dr.I (Dreidecker) Triplane The Fokker Dr.I ("Dr" for "Dreidecker" meaning "triplane") series is most closely associated with Manfred von Richthofen (aka...
1915
Fokker E (Eindecker) Monoplane As with most aircraft developed during World War 1, the Eindecker series enjoyed a relatively short period of time at the fro...
1938
Fokker G.I (Reaper) The Fokker G.I "Reaper" began as a private venture in 1936 under the leadership of Dr. Erich Schatzki, head engineer at Fokke...
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 ...
1956
Fouga CM.170 Magister It becomes much too easy to lose track of French military prowess following World War 2 but the Fouga Magister was a product ...
1917
Friedrichshafen G.III The Friedrichshafen G.III was a medium bi-plane class bomber utilized by the German Empire in World War 1 and designed by the...
General Atomics Avenger (Predator C) The General Atomics Avenger (formerly marked as the "Predator C") is one of the newer UAV systems to come online with the Uni...
1995
General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (Predator A) At a cost of about $40 million dollars per system, the RQ-1/MQ-1 Predator is a pricey yet integral part of US Air Force opera...
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B) The MQ-9 "Reaper" ("M" = multirole; "Q" = Unmanned Aerial Vehicle; "9" = series designation) offers the United States Air For...
1981
General Dynamics / Grumman EF-111 Raven The EF-111 Raven was developed from a United States Air Force need for an Electronic Warfare Aircraft (EWA) to replace its ag...
1967
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark The General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" was purposely-designed as a variable geometry "swing wing" platform from the outset. Th...
1982
General Dynamics F-16XL Though appearing very much like the F-16 Fighting Falcon base model, the F-16XL was designed as a very different aircraft. Th...
1944
Gloster / Armstrong Whitworth Meteor The Gloster Meteor became Britain's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. It reached operational status in the latt...
1935
Gloster Gauntlet Gloster Gauntlet origins lay in a Gloster design appearing in the late 1920's for the Royal Air Force and served throughout t...
1937
Gloster Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator was a product of the Gloster Aircraft Company and a design of one Henry Phillip Folland. Achieving firs...
1956
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 sy...
Gotha G.V With the Germans having gained critical territory up to the Belgian coast in 1914, thoughts to the bombing of targets within ...
1945
Gotha Go P.60A/B The Gotha P.60 was a highly-modified version of the famous Horten Ho 229 "flying wing" appearing in the latter stages of Worl...
1945
Gotha Go P.60C The Gotha Project 60C nightfighter was another late-war "paper airplane" design attempt intended to defend the Reich from the...
1931
Granville Gee Bee (Series) The Gee Bee (deriving its name from a shortened form of "Granville Brothers") racers became the unofficial symbol of the "Gol...
1967
Grumman / Northrop Grumman C-2 Greyhound The Grumman C-2 Greyhound was developed from the successful Grumman E-2 Hawkeye. Whereas the latter was a dedicated carrier-b...
1968
Grumman A-6 Intruder The Grumman A-6 Intruder series of strike aircraft was designed to a United States Navy specification drawn up covering an at...
1952
Grumman C-1A / TF-1 Trader The C-1 Trader was a carrier-based transport (Carrier-Onboard-Delivery - COD) aircraft utilized by the United States Navy fro...
1964
Grumman E-2 Hawkeye The E-2 Hawkeye series serves carrier battle groups (principally in the United States Navy) and is called upon as an all-weat...
1957
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 progra...
1974
Grumman F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat-series of variable-geometry wing carrier-capable interceptors is one of the true living success stori...
1935
Grumman F2F Leroy Grumman designed this portly biplane fighter for the United States Navy. Grumman had already made a steady image for hi...
1940
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 o...
1943
Grumman F6F Hellcat The F6F Hellcat was the successor to - and a logical evolution of - the capable F4F Wildcat series of carrier-borne aircraft ...
1944
Grumman F7F Tigercat The F7F Tigercat was another carrier-borne aircraft development in Grumman's long line of "cat" named fighters. The system wa...
1945
Grumman F8F Bearcat In many ways, the Grumman F8F Bearcat was the pinnacle of United States piston-engine fighter design. The aircraft arrived wi...
1952
Grumman F9F Cougar The F9F Cougar was a direct and further development of the F9F Panther (detailed elsewhere on this site. The similarities bet...
1950
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 ...
1937
Grumman Goose (G-21) While most every aircraft venture usually began with a military requirement or private venture undertaken by a manufacturer f...
1949
Grumman HU-16 Albatross The Grumman HU-16 Albatross platform made appearances all across the globe with United States military forces, rescuing downe...
Grumman OV-1 Mohawk Development of the OV-1 Mohawk platform stemmed from a joint requirement fielded by both the United States Army and the Unite...
1954
Grumman S-2 Tracker (S2F) The Grumman S-2 Tracker was designed, developed and produced for the United States Navy at a time when carriers had taken the...
1942
Grumman TBF Avenger Destined never to win beauty contests, the Grumman TBF Avenger series of aircraft would go down as one of the most potent tor...
Grumman X-29 The Grumman X-29 aircraft was a developmental technology demonstrator appearing in the latter years of the Cold War. The desi...
1941
Grumman XP-50 Skyrocket Firmly entrenched as an aircraft supplier to the United States Navy, the Grumman aircraft company set about to supply an equa...
Guizhou Soar Eagle / Soar Dragon Like other military powers of the world, China has whole-heartedly embraced the concept of the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) ...
HAL Sukhoi PMF/FGFA In December of 2010, it was announced that a partnership deal had been reached between the governments of India and Russia on...
2013
HAL Tejas The HAL Tejas is India's newest and latest fighter platform and represents an indigenous design effort culminating from decad...
1918
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...
1918
Handley Page H.P. O/400 The O/400 model series by Handley Page aircraft firm was the principle heavy bomber of the RAF by the end of the First World ...
1940
Handley Page Halifax While the Lancaster Heavy Bomber will always be more identifiable in terms of the British night bombing campaigns of World Wa...
Handley Page Victor The Handley Page Victor formed the last part of the RAF's "V-Bomber" triangle also consisting of the Vickers Valliant and the...
1916
Hanriot HD.1 Despite its French origins, the Hanriot HD.1 biplane fighter saw extensive service with the Belgian and Italian air services ...
1914
Hansa-Brandenburg B.I (Type D/FD) Ernst Heinkel - whose German firm Heinkel would gain some level of notoriety in World War 2 - designed a series of reconnaiss...
1916
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 ...
1916
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 Brandenbu...
1917
Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 The Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 was a two-seat floatplane fighter seaplane design serving the German Empire through the final year...
1953
Hawker (Armstrong Whitworth) Sea Hawk The Hawker Sea Hawk (also Armstrong Whitworth Sea Hawk) was a no-nonsense navy fighter aircraft designed in the latter years ...
1931
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....
1956
Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter was the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy jet fighter of choice for decades since its inception, becoming the ...
1937
Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane was indeed the true star of Britain's march against the Third Reich. Often overshadowed by the sleeker a...
1945
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. T...
1941
Hawker Sea Hurricane The Hawker Sea Hurricane appeared in 1941 in an effort to protect British merchant ships from German naval attacks. Basically...
1969
Hawker Siddeley Harrier / AV-8A The subsonic British Harrier "jump jet" became the world's first practical VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft afte...
1944
Hawker Tempest The Hawker Tempest originally appeared as an improved Hawker Typhoon, the war-winning aircraft that effectively failed in its...
1939
Hawker Tornado The Hawker Tornado was born of the same initiative that brought forth the Hawker Typhoon of World War 2. The initiative itsel...
1941
Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon (affectionate known as the "Tiffie") was initially intended as a dedicated interceptor and set to succeed ...
1936
Heinkel He 111 Though the base He 111 was arguably the most important bomber of the Third Reich during the Second World War, the idea of bom...
1942
Heinkel He 111 Z (Zwilling) The He 111 Z (or "Zwilling") was an interesting, albeit bizarre, joining of two He 111 medium bombers (detailed elsewhere on ...
1935
Heinkel He 112 The Heinkel He 112 was the only serious threat (next to the Messerschmitt Bf 109) to becoming Germany's first modern monoplan...
1939
Heinkel He 115 By all accounts, the He 115 series of floatplane aircraft was regarded as the finest such aircraft in all of World War 2. She...
1945
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 advance...
1939
Heinkel He 176 In the late 1930s, the Heinkel concern of Germany began work on the world's first all-liquid fueled rocket-propelled aircraft...
1942
Heinkel He 177 Greif (Griffin) The Heinkel He 177 Greif (or "Griffin") was a bomber produced in limited numbers for the German Luftwaffe. By any standard, t...
1939
Heinkel He 178 The Heinkel-produced He 178 has the distinct honor of becoming the world's first aircraft to fly solely with a turbojet engin...
1943
Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Eagle-Owl) The advanced Heinkel He 219 "Uhu" (meaning "Eagle-Owl") was an impressive dedicated night-fighter platform serving the intere...
1941
Heinkel He 280 Though never produced in any operational format, the Heinkel He 280 series was the world's first turbojet fighter aircraft de...
1944
Heinkel He 343 (Strahlbomber / Strabo 16) Towards the end of World War 2, there was a definitive shift in German thinking from piston-powered aircraft types to jet-pow...
1935
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...
Heinkel He 70 (Blitz) The Heinkel 70 (Blitz) was originally born out of a need for a speedy aeroplane charged with "fast" mail delivery for the Deu...
1945
Heinkel He P.1077 (Julia) 1944 proved a critical year for Germany and its fabled Luftwaffe. Once a master of the skies, advanced products fielded by th...
1945
Heinkel He P.1078C Germany's Emergency Fighter Program was enacted in the middle of July in 1944 in response to the Allied bombing offensive tak...
HESA Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) The Islamic Republic of Iran has benefited greatly from their associations with both the United States (pre-1979 revolution) ...
2014
HESA Shafaq (Before the Dawn) The Shafaq (formally known as the "Integral" and translating to "Before the Dawn") is a two-seat, lightweight-class multi-rol...
2008
Honeywell RQ-16 T-Hawk (Tarantula Hawk) The Honeywell RQ-16 T-Hawk is a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) currently in limited service wit...
1994
Hongdu JL-8 / K-8 Karakorum The Hongdu JL-8 / K-8 is a series of indigenous Chinese lightweight jet-powered aircraft. The JL-8 is a dual-role platform th...
1945
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 celebrit...
1944
Horton Ho X (10) The Horten Ho X (10) continued the Horten Brother's love affair with the flying wing concept. The concept was notably solidif...
Hughes H-1 (Hughes 1B) The H-1 (also known as the "Hughes 1B") model was the first product of the Hughes Aircraft firm and was intended as a world r...
1945
Hughes H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose) The famed Hercules aircraft produced and flown only one time by Howard Hughes himself. It was commonly known as the 'Spruce G...
1946
Hughes XR-11 / XF-11 Though only achieving prototype form, the XF-11 was one of the darling designs of famed American aviator Howard Hughes. Looki...
2005
IAI Heron / Machatz-1 The IAI Heron (also known as the "Machatz-1") is a modern Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) currently in service with several mil...
1975
IAI Kfir / F-21A The Kfir (translated to "Lion Cub") was a semi-indigenous Israeli fighter development designed to fulfill an IAF (Israeli Air...
1986
IAI RQ-2 Pioneer The RQ-2 Pioneer series of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) was one of the first operational UAVs utilized by the United States...
IAR 80 / IAR 81 When first unveiled in 1938, the Romanian-produced I.A.R. 80 (IAR = Industria Aeronautica Romana) piston engine, single-seat ...
1985
IAR 99 Soim (Hawk) Romania went the indigenous route in developing its advanced jet trainer with light strike capability when producing its IAR ...
1944
Ilyushin IL-10 (Beast) The Ilyushin IL-10 was a follow-up design to the classic IL-2 "Shturmovik", an armored ground attack aircraft that won the ai...
1941
Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik The Il-2 Sturmovik (or "Shturmovik") was designed as a low-level close-support aircraft capable of defeating enemy armor and ...
1949
Ilyushin IL-28 (Beagle) The Ilyushin IL-28 (codenamed "Beagle" by NATO) holds many distinctions in the annals of aviation history - some combat relat...
1968
Ilyushin IL-38 (May) The Ilyushin IL-38 (NATO codename of "May") is a maritime patrol and anti-submarine platform utilized solely by the navies of...
1937
Ilyushin IL-4 In many ways the Ilyushin-brand IL-4 was a "forgotten" bomber of the Second World War - at least in the West - though it form...
Ilyushin IL-76 (Candid) The Ilyushin IL-76 heavy transport was debuted in the early 1970s, entered service in the mid-1970s and is still operating to...
Jordan Falcon The Jordan Falcon in a light-class unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) currently in development and headed by the concerns of King ...
1918
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 s...
1943
Junkers Ju 187 Throughout the latter half of the 1930s and into the early 1940s, the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber asserted itself as on...
1943
Junkers Ju 188 Rache (Avenger) When the new Junkers Ju 288 - a design meant to replace the Junkers Ju 88 series of bombers - ran into developmental issues w...
1944
Junkers Ju 287 The Junkers Ju 287 was arguably the most unique design of all of the German jet-powered projects in development during and up...
1943
Junkers Ju 390 (New York Bomber) The German Junkers Ju 390 long range heavy bomber aircraft design was intended to be able to strike at locations along the ea...
Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) Before the Allies would gain air superiority over the skies of France and Germany, the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber woul...
1939
Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 represented one of the better and more successful bomber designs attributed to the German Luftwaffe. The sy...
2005
KAI / Lockheed Martin T-50 Golden Eagle The T-50 / A-50 "Golden Eagle" is an advanced supersonic trainer and light strike-capable aircraft platform produced jointly ...
1991
KAI KF-16 Fighting Falcon South Korea's close political ties with the United States allows for access to American military products such as the Lockhee...
2020
KAI KF-X The "5th Generation Fighter" - along with the "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" - is the current buzzword in the aviation defense ind...
Kawanishi H6K (Mavis) Though looking very much the part of a German-produced Dornier series flying boat, the Kawanishi brand H6K series (codenamed ...
1942
Kawanishi H8K (Emily) The Empire of Japan seemed to be producing its best aircraft designs of the war towards the end of the conflict. The Kawanish...
1943
Kawanishi N1K-J Shiden (George) Despite some early setbacks in design, the Kawanishi N1K1-J "Shiden" (or "violet lightning" - codenamed "George" by the Allie...
1945
Kawasaki Ki-100 Despite being produced in severely limited numbers (thanks in large part to the Allied bombing campaigns in the Pacific), the...
1944
Kawasaki Ki-102 (Randy) The two-seat, twin-engine Ki-102 was classified as a close-support/heavy fighter aircraft and developed by the Kawasaki conce...
1944
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 nig...
1942
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 fo...
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 impressiv...
1943
Kawasaki Ki-64 (Rob) During the height of World War 2 (1939-1945), all major participants undertook various programs to further evolve existing we...
Kyushu J7W Shinden (Magnificent Lightning)
The unorthodox Kyushu J7W Shinden ("Magnificent Lightning") was a "wonder-weapon" of the Empire of Japan in the closing mon...
1942
Kyushu K11W Shiragiku (White Chrysanthemum) Oft-forgotten, but no less important to the Japanese war effort of World War 2, was the Kyushu K11W Shiragiku ("White Chrysan...
1945
Kyushu Q1W Tokai (Eastern Sea) / (Lorna) The Kyushu Q1W "Tokai" (translating to "Eastern Sea" and codenamed "Lorna" by the Allies) was an anti-submarine bomber utiliz...
Lavochkin La-11 (Fang) The Lavochkin La-11 was designed from the successful Lavochkin La-9 series of piston engine fighters with the difference bein...
1940
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 matc...
1946
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, ...
1940
Lavochkin LaGG-3 The LaGG-3 piston-engine pursuit fighter (the LaGG in the designation coming from "Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov") was one of th...
1915
Lebed Type XII The Russian Empire did not field many indigenous aircraft designs during World War 1, instead relying on purchase or local pr...
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 b...
1974
Lockheed / Vought S-3 Viking The S-3 Viking series of carrier-borne aircraft was a joint production effort from the Lockheed and Vought aircraft firms. Se...
1972
Lockheed AC-130H Spectre / AC-130U Spooky Since the advent of the airplane as an instrument of war, warplanners have relied on the power of mobile aerial attacks to ke...
1956
Lockheed C-130 Hercules The arrival of the Lockheed-produced C-130 Hercules series of transport lay down the foundation of transport design for decad...
1965
Lockheed C-141 Starlifter The C-141 Starlifter appeared in 1965 - interestingly enough without a prototype preceding its inception - and became the wor...
1970
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy At one time the Lockheed-built C-5 Galaxy was the largest aircraft ever produced, being able to field a compliment of 350 tro...
1945
Lockheed C-69 Constellation The Lockheed Constellation series of aircraft was a successful design that initially began as a militarized transport, appear...
1982
Lockheed EC-130H Compass Call The EC-130H "Compass Call" is a dedicated Electronic Warfare Aircraft (EWA) platform based on the hugely successful Lockheed ...
1958
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...
1982
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk (Stealth Fighter) The F-117 Nighthawk achieved global fame in the 1991 air war against Iraq. The aircraft was the world's first operational ste...
2014
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 learn...
1950
Lockheed F-94 Starfire The F-94 (nicknamed "Starfire" in the "C" model only) was developed from the successful twin-seat Lockheed trainer aircraft k...
Lockheed Martin / Boeing F-22 Raptor The Lockheed F-22 "Raptor" represents a culmination of decades-worth of data collection, testing and evaluation for the Unite...
Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion The P-3 Orion aircraft is a product of Lockheed Martin, designed and accepted at a time when Lockheed could do little wrong i...
2007
Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel The Lockheed Martin RQ-170 "Sentinel" is a relatively new stealth Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and is categorized officially...
1955
Lockheed Martin U-2 Dragon Lady The U-2 spyplane was a pivotal player during the peak years of the Cold War between the United States of America and the Sovi...
1986
Lockheed MC-130 Combat Shadow The MC-130 platform has served special forces operations since the Vietnam War and is based on the successful Lockheed C-130 ...
1966
Lockheed MC-130 Combat Talon I / II The MC-130 series is represented by the MC-130E Combat Talon I and the MC-130H Combat Talon II systems. Both utilize the huge...
1982
Lockheed MQM-105 Aquila TADAR The MGM-105 Aquila (Eagle) TADAR (Target Acquisition, Designation and Aerial Reconnaissance) was the first United States Army...
1947
Lockheed P2V Neptune The P2V Neptune series of aircraft was one of the more successful post-war designs for America, with service that spanned dec...
1939
Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, nicknamed the "Fork-Tailed Devil" - Der Gabelschwanz Teufel - by the Germans, was the brainchild...
1945
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. Appeari...
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird The sleek SR-71 Blackbird spyplane reached an all new plateau in supersonic high-level flight for the Lockheed Corporation. D...
Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star During World War 2, all major participants were evolving their jet programs to gain an advantage in the ongoing effort. The m...
1942
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 ...
1944
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 ...
1915
Lohner B.VII The Lohner B.VII was a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft produced by and for the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War 1. W...
1916
Lohner C.I The Lohner C.I was nothing more than the armed version of the two-seat Lohner B.VII reconnaissance aircraft fielded by the Au...
1939
Loire-Nieuport LN.401/LN.411 (LN.40) The Loire-Nieuport LN.40/LN.401 series of aircraft was a carrier-based dive bomber developed for the French Navy prior to Wor...
Lun Ekranoplan The Lun-class Ekranoplan flying boat was one of the most distinct designs to emerge from the Cold War. The aircraft was desig...
1915
LVG B (Series) Prior to production of military aircraft, the LVG concern ("Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft") was focused on manufacture of dirigi...
1915
LVG C.II The LVG C.II was a limited-production reconnaissance scout plane utilized by the German Empire during World War 1. She hersel...
1917
LVG C.V The LVG C.V was a general-purpose, two-seat reconnaissance aircraft utilized by the German air service in World War 1. Despit...
1918
LVG C.VI The LVG C.VI became one of the final German two-seat aircraft to see quantitative production in World War 1 and appeared as a...
1938
Macchi C.200 Saetta (Lightning) The Macchi M.C.200 Saetta (or "Lightning") was the main production fighter in the Italian military when Italy entered the Sec...
1941
Macchi C.202 Folgore (Thunderbolt) The Macchi C.202 Folgore ("Thunderbolt") served as one of the top Italian-designed fighters during the critical middle years ...
1917
Macchi M.5 The Italian concern of Macchi was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi out of Varese, Italy. Despite Italy being a member of the ...
Martin AM Mauler The Martin AM Mauler was designed to a US Navy requirement during the height of World War 2. It appeared in competition with ...
1932
Martin B-10 The Martin B-10 medium bomber was a breakthrough design for American military aviation when it appeared on the scene in 1932....
1941
Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder overcame a rocky start to become one of the finest medium bombers of World War 2. The aircraft was d...
1941
Martin Baltimore (A-30) The Martin-produced Baltimore was a light-to-medium class bomber whose design was based highly on the Martin "Maryland" A-22 ...
1940
Martin Maryland (A-22) The Martin-produced Maryland series was classified as a light bomber and saw action as a photographic reconnaissance plane th...
1918
Martin MB-1 / Glenn Martin Bomber The Martin MB-1 (also known as the "Glenn Martin Bomber") became the first American-designed heavy bomber type to be purchase...
1920
Martin MB-2 / NBS-1 The Martin MB-2 series of twin-engine bombers holds a distinct footnote in the history of United States bomber production as ...
1941
Martin PBM-3 / PBM-5 Mariner The Martin PBM-3 / PBM-5 Mariner was a World War 2-era flying boat used in the maritime reconnaissance role. Martin designed ...
Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard The Martinsyde F.4 "Buzzard" was a British-designed, single-seat fighting biplane appearing in the latter months of World War...
1997
McDonnell / BAE QF-4 (Phantom II) The QF-4 represents a full-size unmanned target drone version of the successful Cold War-era F-4 Phantom II aircraft. QF-4's ...
McDonnell Douglas / Boeing KC-10 Extender The KC-10 Extender airframe is based on a modified Boeing DC-10 (more precisely the "DC-10-30CF" model) and retains some 88 p...
McDonnell Douglas / Boeing T-45 Goshawk The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing T-45 Goshawk is a navalized version of the land-based British Aerospace (now BAe Systems) Hawk -...
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 nu...
1963
McDonnell Douglas F-4G Wild Weasel The F-4G represented the "Wild Weasel" off-shoot of the successful F-4 Phantom II line. Wild Weasel aircraft represented (and...
McDonnell F-101 Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was affectionately called the "One-oh-Wonder" and known moreso early on for its many record-setti...
1947
McDonnell F2H Banshee The twin-engine, single-seat F2H Banshee was based on the successes that the McDonnell company found with the F1H Phantom ser...
1953
McDonnell F3H Demon The F3H Demon series of aircraft produced by McDonnell Aircraft was a further development of the company's expertise with car...
1947
McDonnell FH Phantom (FD 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...
1948
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 actuall...
1948
McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo World War 2 proved to American warplanners that the importance of escort fighters for their bombers could not be overstated. ...
1943
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 corp...
1934
Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun (Typhoon) The high performance, record-setting Messerschmitt Bf 108 "Taifun" ("Typhoon") was born as a racing aircraft under the protot...
1937
Messerschmitt Bf 109 In the years leading up to and during World War 2, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was the principle fighter of the German Luftwaffe...
1939
Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer (Destroyer) The twin-engine Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer (or "Destroyer" or even "Heavy Fighter" in some sources) was initially designe...
1944
Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (Comet) The German Messerschmitt Me 163 "Komet" was perhaps the most unique frontline, operational-level fighter design of World War ...
1943
Messerschmitt Me 209-II The Messerschmitt Me 209-II was a proposed successor to the far-reaching Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter. The Bf 109 was the sta...
1944
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...
1942
Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerika (America) The Messerschmitt Me 264 was intended as a long-range aircraft and reconnaissance platform that was to supply the German Luft...
1942
Messerschmitt Me 309 The Messerschmitt Me 309 was one of two fighters (joining the later Me 209-II) developed by the German concern during World W...
1941
Messerschmitt Me 321 Gigant (Giant) The Messerschmitt Me 321 "Gigant" ("Giant") was developed as a large cargo hauler to help supplement German airborne troop ac...
1943
Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant (Giant) No sooner had the Messerschmitt Me 321 unpowered glider entered service that a powered version was being requested by the Ger...
1944
Messerschmitt Me 328 The "parasite" fighter had long held an interest within the minds of aircraft engineers, particularly as new methods of propu...
1943
Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse (Hornet) The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse ("Hornet") was, in effect, a further development of the unstable Me 210 system. Though impr...
1944
Messerschmitt Me P.1101 The Messerschmitt Me P.1101 was a swept-wing, single-seat, single-engine jet-powered fighter aircraft under development for t...
1944
Messerschmitt Me P.1101/92 In 1944, Messerschmitt (among other German aircraft firms) was hard at work penciling out design concepts for the German Air ...
1999
Mikoyan MiG 1.42 / 1.44 / MFI Mikoyan designed the MiG 1.42 in response to a Soviet requirement for a multi-role frontline fighter through the "Multifuncti...
1975
Mikoyan MiG-27 (Flogger) The Mikoyan MiG-27 "Flogger" was derived from the successful MiG-23 "Flogger" interceptor and made into a dedicated ground at...
1984
Mikoyan MiG-29 (Fulcrum) The Mikoyan MiG-29 "Fulcrum" did much to further Soviet/Russian aviation technology and, along with the Sukhoi Su-27 "Flanker...
2009
Mikoyan MiG-29K (Fulcrum-D) The Mikoyan MiG-29K (NATO = "Fulcrum-D") is a navalized variant of the successful Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum family of fighters. ...
1979
Mikoyan MiG-31 (Foxhound) The MiG-31 "Foxhound" was developed as an off-shoot of the record-setting MiG-25 "Foxbat". The Foxbat was of a fast breed of ...
2007
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 MT...
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-tha...
1949
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 Uni...
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...
1959
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...
1970
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 ...
1972
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (Foxbat) Like the Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 "Fishbed", the MiG-25 (NATO reporting name of "Foxbat") became ...
1946
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-...
Mitsubishi A5M (Claude) The Mitsubishi A5M (code-named "Claude" by the Allies) became the world's first shipborne monoplane fighter aircraft when it ...
1942
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 codenam...
1945
Mitsubishi A7M Reppu (Sam) Japanese engineers developed many fine fighter designs during the height of World War 2 including the famous "Zero" carrier-b...
1977
Mitsubishi F-1 The Mitsubishi F-1 fighter aircraft was a milestone design for the small island country as it represented the nations first a...
2000
Mitsubishi F-2 The Mitsubishi F-2 fighter was initially to be a completely indigenous Japanese design, looking to replace their aging fleet ...
1936
Mitsubishi G3M Rikko (Nell) The Mitsubishi G3M "Rikko" (codenamed "Nell" by the Allies) was a frontline, twin-engine medium bomber utilized primarily by ...
1941
Mitsubishi G4M (Betty) Like most of Imperial Japan's aircraft in the early stages of World War 2, the Mitsubishi G4M (codenamed "Betty" by the Allie...
1942
Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (Jack) The J2M Raiden (meaning "Thunderbolt" and codenamed "Jack" by the Allies) was primarily used as a local defense fighter by th...
1945
Mitsubishi J8M (Shusui) The Empire of Japan and the nation of Germany had maintained a relationship since Prussian authorities made diplomatic contac...
1944
Mitsubishi Ki-109 The Mitsubishi Ki-109 was a specialized derivative of the Mitsubishi Ki-67 heavy bomber. The Ki-109 was designed specifically...
Mitsubishi Ki-21 (Sally) The Mitsubishi Ki-21 (codenamed "Sally" by the Allies) was a successful medium bomber in service with the Japanese Air Force ...
Mitsubishi Ki-46 (Dinah) Since May of 1937, the Empire of Japan - both the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force and the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service...
Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryu (Peggy) The Mitsubishi-designed Ki-67 Hiryu (translated to "flying dragon" and dubbed "Peggy" by the Allies) is oft-regarded as the b...
Morane-Saulnier MS 405 / 406 The Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 was a single engine, piston-powered, single-seat fighter appearing just before the outbreak of ho...
1915
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 appeare...
1955
Myahsischev M-4 / 3M (Bison) The Myasishchev M-4 (NATO codename of "Bison") was developed to a Soviet Navy requirement for a jet-powered, long-range marit...
1959
Myasishchev M-50 / M-52 (Bounder) The M-50 and M-52 bombers were two prototype intercontinental supersonic strategic bombers proposed by the Soviet firm of Mya...
1941
Nakajima B5N (Kate) By 1941, the B5N series of torpedo bombers were considered the best of their type anywhere in the world. The system was initi...
1942
Nakajima B6N Tenzan (Jill) The Nakajima B6N Tenzan (translating to "heavenly mountain") series was a capable torpedo bomber fielded by the Imperial Japa...
1945
Nakajima G8N Renzan (Rita) The Nakajima G8N Renzan (or "Mountain Range" - codenamed "Rita" by the Allies) was a heavy bomber design put forth by the Nak...
1942
Nakajima J1N Gekkou (Irving) The Nakajima J1N1-S series was a dedicated nightfighting aircraft based on the J1N1 Gekko ("moonlight") reconnaissance aircra...
1945
Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi The Nakajima Ki-115 Tsuguri ("Sword") was a simplistic single-seat, single-engine suicide fighter aircraft development undert...
1937
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 de...
1942
Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Oscar) By 1937, it became apparent to the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) that a more modern replacement for the Nakajima Ki-27 was nee...
1941
Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (Tojo) The Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (meaning "Demon Queller" and codenamed "Tojo" by the Allies) was a single engine monoplane intercept...
1941
Nakajima Ki-49 Donryu (Helen) The Nakajima Ki-49 Donryu (meaning "storm dragon" and codenamed "Helen" by the Allies) heavy bomber was intended as a replace...
1944
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 impor...
1970
Nanchang Q-5 (Fantan) As a long time Soviet equipment user, the Chinese were already building the twin-engine Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 "Farmer" jet ...
1915
Nieuport 11 (Bebe) The Nieuport 11 "Bebe" (or "Baby" - known officially as the "Nieuport 11 C1") was one of the first true Allied fighters of Wo...
1916
Nieuport 17 Fresh off of the heels of the success that was the Nieuport 11, the Nieuport 17 was a direct development intended to improve ...
1917
Nieuport 27 The Nieuport Nie.27 (or simply Nieuport 27) was designed by Gustave Delage and became an advanced trainer and frontline fight...
1917
Nieuport 28 The French-built Nieuport 28 fighter was the third of the successful trilogy of "Nieuport Fighting Scouts" that included the ...
1923
Nieuport Nighthawk The Nieuport Nighthawk began as a design showing great promise. Development began in 1918, the final year of World War 1, and...
1922
Nieuport-Delage NiD 29 World War 1 had been raging in Europe since 1914 and aircraft technology had advanced ten-fold by 1918. The French firm of Ni...
North American / Boeing T-2 Buckeye The North American (now Boeing) T-2 Buckeye was responsible for the training of thousands of American naval aviators from 195...
1942
North American A-36 Apache (Invader) The A-36 Apache was a United States Army version of the successful North American P-51 Mustang piston-engine fighter. The ori...
1961
North American A-5 Vigilante The A-5 Vigilante bomber actually began as a private venture by the North American Aviation Company as early as 1953. This de...
1949
North American AJ (A-2) Savage The AJ Savage series of aircraft was a product of the North American Aviation Company for the United States Navy following th...
1940
North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell series of medium bombers went on to become one of the classic American aircraft designs to e...
1948
North American B-45 Tornado Development of the XB-45 began in 1944 and continued into 1945, representing the later years of the Second World War. With re...
1954
North American F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre was developed as the successor to the F-86 Sabre, another North American product. The F-...
1946
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 wit...
1949
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 ser...
1947
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 instrume...
1940
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 syst...
1966
North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco The North American/Rockwell OV-10 Bronco was developed through the United States Marine Corps Light Armed Reconnaissance Airc...
North American T-6 Texan The T-6 Texan was and is a world famous single-engine aircraft primarily known for its use as a trainer. A product of the Nor...
North American XB-70 Valkyrie The XB-70 Valkyrie was intended to be the USAF 'super bomber' for decades to come and was tabbed as the eventual successor to...
1957
North American YF-107 Ultra Sabre The YF-107 "Ultra Sabre" prototype represented the final foray into military aviation for the North American Aircraft Corpora...
1982
Northrop F-20 Tigershark The F-20 Tigershark appeared on August 30th, 1982, as an "improved" version of the F-5E model in the Tiger II series. Visuall...
Northrop F-89 Scorpion The Northrop F-89 Scorpion delivered a decade of service to the United States Air Force, charged with the critical defense of...
2014
Northrop Grumman / Bell Fire-X (MQ-8C) The Fire-X is being jointly developed as a full-size Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) by Northrop Grumman and Bell Helicopter. T...
Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS (JSTARS) A product of the Northrop Grumman Corporation, the E-8 "Joint Stars" series of aircraft provides the United States Air Force ...
1963
Northrop Grumman EA-6 Prowler The Prowler series of carrierbased aircraft are dedicated electronic warfare systems based on the Vietnam-era A-6 Intruder st...
2015
Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton The MQ-4C "Triton" unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) represents a "navalized" form of the original Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global H...
2001
Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk The Northrop Grumman "Global Hawk" is a large-scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) utilized by the United States Air Force and...
2012
Northrop Grumman Sandstorm Northrop Grumman heads the "Sandstorm/Longshot" unmanned aerial system (UAS) program developed by Unmanned Systems, Incorpora...
Northrop Grumman X-47B Following the proof-of-concept demonstrator X-47A "Pegasus", the X-47B was born as a full-sized technology demonstrating Unma...
1990
Northrop Grumman YF-23 Black Widow II The YF-23 Black Widow II was Northrop Grumman's (along with McDonnell Douglas Corporation) answer to the American ATF (Advanc...
Northrop P-61 / F-61 Black Widow The Northrop P-61 Black Widow became the United States' first aircraft specifically designed from the outset as a platform de...
Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet The XP-56 "Black Bullet" was designed by the Northrop company to an Army Air Corps proposal known as the R-40C. The XP-56 sto...
1945
Northrop XP-79 The concept of the flying wing had been around since the dawn of flight and made more so intriguing throughout the 1920s and ...
Northrop YF-17 (Cobra) The YF-17 Cobra was a Northrop Aviation creation through NASA to support further testing and research of aircraft at transoni...
1992
Novi Avion The Novi Avion ("New Aircraft") was a Yugoslavian effort to produce a home-grown supersonic multi-role aircraft on par with t...
1985
Panavia Tornado ADV (Air Defense Variant) The Panavia Tornado ADV (Air Defense Variant) was developed for the Royal Air Force (RAF) to fulfill the role of long-range, ...
1979
Panavia Tornado IDS / ECR The Panavia Tornado was produced from a consortium of companies in the UK, Germany and Italy. The weapon system was designed ...
1979
Panavia Tornado IDS GR1 The Tornado GR1 represents a subvariant of the Tornado IDS (InterDictor / Strike) family, one of three primary variants that ...
Pfalz D.III The Pfalz D.III was an exceptional aircraft produced in large numbers by Bavaria for Bavarian forces and; later, Imperial Ger...
1917
Phonix C.I The Phonix C.I was a rather simplistic two-seat armed reconnaissance fighter utilized by the Austro-Hungarian Empire during W...
1917
Phonix D (Series) The Phonix D.I was a single-seat fighter platform developed and produced by the Phonix Flugzeug-Werke firm in Germany. The ai...
1942
Piaggio P.108 The Piaggio P.108 was a multi-faceted airframe developed to fulfill a variety of roles for the Italians during World War 2. S...
2015
Piaggio P.1HH Hammerhead In a field primarily dominated by the United States and Israel - though now introducing more concepts from Europe and elsewhe...
1941
Piper L-4 Grasshopper The Piper L-4 Grasshopper evolved from the successful Piper Cub series that took to the air as early as 1930. By 1941, the US...
1934
Polikarpov I-15 (Chaika) The Polikarpov I-15 was a biplane fighter aircraft designed and produced by the Soviet Union during the inter-war years. She ...
1935
Polikarpov I-16 The Polikarpov I-16 fighter proved to be quite the little aggressor before and throughout the Second World War. Initially see...
PZL.23 Karas The PZL.23 "Karas" (meaning "the crucian carp") series of aircraft was a conventional - yet outdated - monoplane light bomber...
2000
Raytheon T-6 Texan II Based on the Pilatus PC-9 aircraft, the Raytheon-built T-6 Texan II series was the product of a Department of Defense initiat...
1943
Reggiane Re.2000 Sagittaro (Archer) The Reggiane 2000 series of aircraft was very reminiscent of American interwar designs appearing between 1930 and 1940. The R...
Republic F-105 Thunderchief The F-105 Thunderchief was a Cold War product of the Republic Aviation Corporation and became the company's last production a...
Republic P-47 / F-47 Thunderbolt While much of the romance of World War 2 dogfighting often heads in the direction of the USAAF's North American P-51 Mustang ...
1946
Republic XF-12 Rainbow During World War 2, the Republic Aviation name was primarily tied to the excellent P-47 "Thunderbolt" fighter-bomber which pr...
1955
Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech The Republic XF-84H was an experimental airframe based on the jet-powered, single-seat Republic F-84F Thunderstreak fighter. ...
1944
Republic XP-72 Super Thunderbolt The XP-72 Wasp Major Thunderbolt was intended to be an "ultimate" design of the highly successful P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bo...
1985
Rockwell / Boeing B-1 Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer series was a variable sweep wing low-altitude penetration aircraft capable of delivering nuclear free...
1977
Rockwell XFV-12 The XFV-12 aircraft was a proposed Rockwell International design to a United States Navy requirement for a VTOL (Vertical Tak...
1940
Rogozarski IK-3 When covering the range of topics concerning aviation in World War 2, it becomes accepted practice to overlook the developmen...
1915
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 The F.E.2 series of aircraft were produced by the Royal Aircraft Factory and had their origins in the F.E.1, a 1910 design by...
1916
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 The Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 ("F.E." for "Fighter Experimental") was developed in 1915 and released as an operational air...
1917
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 ("S.E." for "Scout Experimental") was designed from the outset as an aircraft with a "green"...
1916
Rumpler 6B The Rumpler concern has become a largely forgotten aviation manufacturer when pitted alongside the likes of Albatros and Fokk...
Ryan FR Fireball
The Ryan FR Fireball fighter was something of a unique creation in the annals of US Navy aviation. The fighter fielded two ...
1953
Ryan X-13 Vertijet The Ryan X-13 "Vertijet" was an experimental program of the 1950s funded by the United States Air Force to help test the vali...
1946
Ryan XF2R Dark Shark The Ryan "Dark Shark" was an impressive developmental hybrid fighter design considered for service with both the United State...
1955
Saab 32 Lansen (Lance) By the late 1940s, the Swedish Air Force (or "Flygvapnet") was reviewing options in an effort to replace its aging series of ...
1945
Saab J 21 The Saab 21 series of fighter aircraft was of a most unique design - in more ways then one. The system was drawn up to a 1941...
1949
Saab J 29 Tunnan (Barrel) The Saab-produced J 29 Tunnan (meaning "barrel" due to its stubby-like barrel appearance) was the second jet-fighter design p...
1960
Saab J 35 Draken (Dragon / Kite) The Saab J 35 Draken (translated in English to "Dragon" but carrying the meaning of "Kite" based on the aircraft's angular re...
1968
Saab JA 37 Viggen (Thunderbolt) The Saab Viggen proved to be yet another milestone in the indigenous design theories put forth by the nation of Sweden. The s...
1997
Saab JAS 39 Gripen (Griffin) The Saab JAS 39 "Gripen" ("Griffin") forms the primary fighter wing of the Swedish Air Force (among others). The type is a hi...