Generations Of Jets - In 2005, the United States became the first nation on earth to field a 5th generation operational fighter in the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. When you look at the F-22 against its fourth-generation predecessors, the aircraft clearly stands out... but what exactly made it the first of
) comes from within the aviation community itself. Each generation comes with a somewhat subjective list of capabilities that may have existed on any particular aircraft in the past, but become requirements across the board for the next generation fighters.
Generations Of Jets
Fighter generations are pretty subjective, so here's how the Air Force broke down the new capabilities that drove a new generation there:
Jet Fighter Generations
As new fourth-generation fighters continue to be produced, it may be the thinnest of all fighter generations. As a result, fourth generation fighters are more often divided into sub-generations such as 4, 4+ and 4++. These advanced 4th generation platforms are often boasted
In the case of the first fifth-generation fighter, the F-22 Raptor, the most important thing that distinguished it from its fourth-generation counterparts was how stealth was an essential part of the aircraft's design. Instead of designing a fighter for aerodynamics and performance first and then looking for ways to reduce radar signature, the development of the F-22 prioritized stealth from day one.
Two F-22 Raptors fly over the Pacific Ocean during a theater security mission March 9 as part of a deployment to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. (U.S. Air Force photo / Master Sergeant Kevin J. Greenwald)
Of course, that's not all that made the F-22 special, and while it was, in fact, the first truly safe fighter jet on the planet, it also had several other essential fifth-generation features. The F-22 came with specially integrated computer systems capable of communicating with other networked assets. It is a high performance airframe capable of serving in many roles. As a result, it maintains a higher level of situational awareness than can be found on older platforms.
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The F-22 also brought with it super-cruise capabilities - meaning the ability to maintain supersonic speeds without using its afterburner. For an interceptor fighter like the F-22, the ability to super cruise means the ability to close with enemy aircraft at extremely high speeds, while saving enough fuel to fight once they arrive. In contrast, the Air Force's 4th generation multirole fighter, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, will burn all the fuel it has on board in a matter of
Us. An Air Force F-22 Raptor from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and an F-16 Fighting Falcon from Eilson Air Force Base fly in formation over the Joint Alaska Range complex. (US Air Force photo)
As a result, for a while, super cruise abilities were considered part of what made a 5th generation fighter part of the 5th generation... until no other 5th generation fighter took to the skies with this ability. Today,
The F-22 offers super cruise capabilities within its generation, and as such, it has become a valuable feature, but not part of the generation distinction.
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Today, there are four operational fifth-generation fighter platforms in the world: the US F-22 and F-35, China's J-20 and Russia's Su-57, flying alongside more than 25 different generation platforms 4. Here's a look at what exactly sets these four capable fighters apart from even the most modern and advanced fourth-generation platforms like the F-15EX.
While some still debate the finer points of what is required of a 5th generation fighter, these characteristics are accepted. Some of these capabilities were present in 4th generation aircraft, but all must be present on a 5th generation platform. This begs the question then...what would be the criteria for a 6th generation fighter when 5th generation platforms are still so rare?
Alex Hollings is an author, father and Navy veteran specializing in foreign policy and defense technology analysis. He holds a master's degree in communications from Southern New Hampshire University, as well as a bachelor's degree in corporate and organizational communication from Framingham State University.
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Sukhoi Su 57
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The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles for sending advertising, or to track the user on the site or on several sites for similar marketing purposes. The appearance of the new J-20 (unofficially called the "Black Eagle") raised many eyebrows. Questions about the Chinese Stealth Warrior. Some experts believe it will be more capable than the F-22; Others (and I am among them) believe that the real problem of the US with the J-20 is not in the performance, equipment and capabilities of the aircraft (even if the old US fighters were designed 20 years earlier than the current Chinese or Russian ones. ). fighters from the same "class"); The problem is that China may build thousands of them.
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In any case, when comparing the American and Chinese fighter jets, everyone referred to the "fifth generation aircraft" which brings the concept of "fighter generation" back into the limelight.
Generations are a common way to classify fighter aircraft. Often, generations were "divided" into fighters according to the time spans surrounding the peak period of service entry for such aircraft.
The best definition I've found so far for combat generations is in an article published in 2009 by Air Force Magazine, which offers a generational division based on capabilities:
Generation 6 Potential: Top Secret; effective in all flight conditions (subsonic to multimach); Possible "morphing" ability; smart skins; very online; particularly sensitive sensors; Optionally provided; A directed energy weapon.
Top Sixth Generation Fighter Jets
To give readers a rough idea of the type of aircraft that belongs to each generation based on the above layout I made the following table with the help of Tom Cooper/ACIG.org and Ugo Crisponi/Aviatiographic.com who provided the profiles. It is not intended to show all aircraft that theoretically belong to a generation and only includes the profiles available at the time of writing...
As I already said on Twitter, what a table like this should let you understand at a glance is that capabilities and looks are inversely proportional: previous generation planes look much better than more modern fighters....
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the founder and editor of "The Aviationist", one of the most famous and widely read military aviation blogs in the world. Since 1996, he has written for major global magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft and many others, covering aviation, defence, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyber warfare. He has reported from the United States, Europe, Australia and Syria, and has flown several fighter jets with various air forces. He is a former second lieutenant. From the Italian Air Force, private pilot and computer engineering graduate. He wrote five books and contributed to many more.
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Email us at sales@ If you would like to support this site by purchasing the original patch, only available through this site! Aviation History Homepage Here are the criteria that define generations of fighter aircraft (along with several examples from each generation)
Fighter generations are categories created to separate major technological leaps in the historical development of fighter aircraft.
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Fighter generations are categories created to separate major technological leaps in the historical development of fighter aircraft. The term generation first appeared in the 1990s, according to the Royal Australian Air Force's Air Force Development Center bulletin: "To understand the leaps and bounds in combat aircraft performance caused by major advances in aircraft design, avionics, and weapon systems," suggesting that "generational change In fighter planes it happens when technological innovation cannot be incorporated
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