Cold war american fighter jet. This list of military aircraft of the united states includes prototype pre production and operational types. Though they were designed and built in the cold war the f 15 and f 16 remain the backbone of the air forces fighter fleet. The lockheed u 2 was at the forefront of some of the most intense moments of the cold war so much so that it remains locked in popular memory. Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order 1 to z.
Interceptor aircraft 1947 1991entries in the military factory. The key performance features of a fighter include not only its firepower but also its high speed and maneuverability relative to the target aircraft. Flag images indicative of country of origin and not necessarily the primary operator. A fighter aircraft often referred to simply as a fighter is a military fixed wing aircraft designed primarily for air to air combat against other aircraft.
While germany may have made the first fighter jet the intense standoff between the ussr and the usa during the cold war led the way for the incredible evolution of fighter jet technology spawning machines that are legendary and still serving to this day. The threat being posed by ever advancing soviet jet bombers forced many an interceptor emerging from the united states to be equally advanced. F 22 raptor and f 35 lightning ii two f 22s and two f 35s. Aircraft 1947 1991 entries in the military factory.
For aircraft in service see the list of active united states military aircraftprototypes are normally prefixed with x and are often unnamed note that these are not the same as the experimental x planes which are not generally expected to go into production while pre production. There are a total of 388 cold war us. The most notable combat action that the plane had seen was during the gulf war of the early 1990s. The fighters main tactical purpose is to establish air superiority over the battlefield.
The north american f 86 sabre sometimes called the sabrejet is a transonic jet fighter aircraftproduced by north american aviation the sabre is best known as the united states first swept wing fighter that could counter the swept wing soviet mig 15 in high speed dogfights in the skies of the korean war 19501953 fighting some of the earliest jet to jet battles in history. Despite the end of world war 2 american air industry continued to produce and procure aircraft of all types to counter the threats emerging from the soviet union. Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order 1 to z. In addition to the us air force the plane is operated by the israeli japanese and saudi arabian air forces.
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