Sukhoi-30 MKI is one of the most advanced air superiority fighters. Shown here is a Su-30 MKI in service with the Indian Air Force.

An air superiority fighter is a type of fighter aircraft intended to enter and seize control of enemy airspace. Air superiority fighters are usually expensive aircraft, and procured in lesser numbers compared to smaller and generally more limited aircraft. The term was first used in 1966^{[citation needed]} to describe the VFAX/VFX F-14 Tomcat^[1] and later the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 574 pixelsFull resolution (1025 × 736 pixel, file size: 40 KiB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Taken during aero-India bangalore I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 574 pixelsFull resolution (1025 × 736 pixel, file size: 40 KiB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Taken during aero-India bangalore I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Sukhoi Su-30 MKI, (Russian: Modernizirovannyi Kommercheskiy Indiski; Modernized Commercial India), is the variant of the Sukhoi Su-30. ... The Indian Air Force (भारतीय वायु सेना : Bharatiya Vayu Sena) is the air-arm of the Armed Forces of India and has the prime responsibility of conducting aerial warfare and securing the Indian airspace. ... An A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-86 Sabre, P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang fly in formation during an air show at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable geometry wing aircraft. ... DC-10, retired from American Airlines fleet at gate McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661 ) is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded by William Boeing. ... The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle is an all-weather tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. ...

Evolution of the term

During World War II and through the Korean War, fighters were classified by their role: heavy fighter, interceptor, escort fighter, day fighter and so forth. Towards the end of the war, these types began to coalesce, as individual airframes became more capable and took on more roles. With the development of missiles in the 1950s that could destroy targets beyond visual range, design diverged between fighters optimized to fight in the Beyond Visual Range (BVR) regime, and fighters optimized to fight in the Within Visual Range (WVR) regime. In the United States, the proponents of BVR thought this regime would supersede WVR, with corresponding compromises in maneuverability and other performance characteristics in fighter aircraft which were necessary qualities for dogfighting, or WVR close-range combat. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Combatants United Nations:  Republic of Korea,  Australia,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Canada,  Colombia,  Ethiopia,  France,  Greece,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  New Zealand,  Philippines,  South Africa,  Thailand,  Turkey,  United Kingdom,  United States Medical staff:  Denmark,  Australia,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden Communist states:  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,  Peoples Republic of China,  Soviet Union Commanders... A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to be used in the long-range role, or while carrying heavier weapons loads. ... The MiG-25 is a Russian interceptor that was the mainstay of the Soviet air defence. ... The P-51 Mustang is one of the best-known escort fighters of World War II. The escort fighter was a World War II concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort a bomber formation to and from its target. ... A day fighter is a fighter aircraft equipped only to fight during the day. ... A dogfight or dog fight is a common term used to describe close-range aerial combat between military aircraft. ...

Lessons in combat

However, combat experience in Vietnam proved the BVR proponents wrong. Owing to restrictive rules of engagement and the failings of 1960s missile and radar technology, combat often devolved into a close-range dog-fight, one for which American fighters and pilots were unprepared. Such thinking even influenced the development of aircraft, such as the F-4 Phantom, which initially had no internal gun. The lessons from this conflict spurred a rethinking of design priorities for fighter aircraft, in which TOPGUN, a school developed specifically to teach pilots the lessons of dogfight, was created. This article describes the military term of the rules of engagement. ... The F-4 Phantom II (simply F-4 Phantom after 1990) is a two-place (tandem), supersonic, long-range, all-weather fighter-bomber built by McDonnell Douglas Corporation. ... TOPGUN is the code name and common name of the U.S. Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor (SFTI) course. ... A dogfight or dog fight is a common term used to describe close-range aerial combat between military aircraft. ...

Air superiority fighters

F-15 Eagle, an example of a US air superiority fighters.

This rethinking drove the Navy's VFAX/VFX of the 1960s and Air Force's FX (Fighter Experimental) concept of the 1970's, which resulted in the F-14, and later F-15. The VFX would not compromise interception for the air superiority role, a feat accomplished by Grumman grafting the AWG-9/Phoenix onto an agile airframe. The FX was to be a specialized air superiority fighter, one that sacrificed the ability to carry the Phoenix missile and the associated radar system which was able destroy up to six targets simultaneously at ranges of up to 100 miles in order to excel at only medium beyond visual and short visual range air superiority. It should be noted the F-14/Phoenix combination was directed at stopping Soviet bombers from entering within cruise missile range of a carrier group, and not as a dogfighting weapon. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x662, 714 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Fighter aircraft Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x662, 714 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Fighter aircraft Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle is an all-weather tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

The desirable features of an air superiority fighter, most of which were pioneered first by the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, are excellent maneuverability, high thrust-to-weight ratio, high performance radar with the ability to track multiple targets simultaneously, modern digital glass cockpits to reduce pilot workload, good visibility from the cockpit, armament consisting of fire-and-forget beyond visual range (BVR) and medium and short range agile, all-aspect air-to-air missiles, such as the AMRAAM and ASRAAM respectively. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable geometry wing aircraft. ... This long range radar antenna, known as ALTAIR, is used to detect and track space objects in conjunction with ABM testing at the Ronald Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein atoll. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... VC-10 (1960s) Airliner Cockpit. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... An all-aspect missile is one which is able to track a target no matter which way the target faces relative to the missile. ... A US Navy VF-103 Jolly Rogers F-14 Tomcat fighter launchers an AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missile. ... The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range, Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced am-ram), commonly known to air crews as the Slammer, is a new generation air-to-air missile, developed as the result of an agreement between the United States and other NATO countries (see below). ... The AIM-132 Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile is a British air-to-air missile with infra-red guidance. ...

In order to maximize their combat effectiveness, and stragitic air superiority fighters will usually operate under the control/co-ordination of an Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) or Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft. The Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) is an aircraft system designed to carry out surveillance, and C2BM (command and control, battle management) functions. ... United States Air Force E-3 Sentry An Airborne Early Warning (AEW) system is a radar system carried by an aircraft which is designed to detect other aircraft. ...

Current fighters

The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor will be the USAF's next generation air superiority fighter. It incorporates many advanced technologies like stealth, supersonic cruise without afterburner (supercruise), high maneuverability and thrust vectoring of its engines. Some early advertising material for the F-22 billed it as an "air dominance fighter." It will be one of the most expensive tactical combat aircraft ever produced. Lockheed/BAE/Northrop F-35 Lockheed Trident missile C-130 Hercules; in production since the 1950s, now as the C-130J Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is an aerospace manufacturer formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. ... The F-22 Raptor is a fifth generation fighter aircraft which utilizes fourth generation Stealth technology. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The current yardstick by which other air superiority fighters are judged is the Boeing F-15 Eagle^{[citation needed]}. It has been the USAF's premier fighter aircraft for nearly 30 years. The F-15 is in service with the USAF (F-15C), the Japanese Air Self Defence Force JASDF (F-15J), the Israeli Air Force (F-15I) and the Royal Saudi Air Force (F-15S). South Korea has recently selected the F-15K as its future air superiority fighter and the Republic of Singapore Air Force selected the F-15ST in 2006 as its future air superiority fighter. The U.S. Air Force will keep 178 F-15C and 224 F-15E fighters in service past 2025 which will serve along side the F-22 Raptor.[1] The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661 ) is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded by William Boeing. ... The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an all-weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical fighter designed to permit the U.S. Air Force to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. ... Seal of the Air Force. ... The Japanese Self-Defense Forces (Japanese: 自衛隊, Jieitai) or JSDF, are the military forces in Japan that were established after the end of World War II. The force has been engaged in no real combat but has been engaged in some international peacekeeping operations. ... The Israeli Air Force (IAF; Hebrew: זרוע האויר והחלל, Zroa HaAvir VeHaḤalal, Air and Space Division, commonly known as חיל האוויר Hel HaAvir) is the air force of the Israel Defense Forces. ... The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF, Chinese: 新加坡空军部队; Malay Angkatan Udara Republik Singapura) was established in 1968. ...

The F-14 was the Navy's primary air superiority fighter during its service life. The F-14 finally retired from frontline US Navy service in the second half of 2006. It was replaced by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, an aircraft which was not originally intended to be the Navy's primary air superiority fighter because of its lack of the F-14's long range simultaneous target engagement capabilities which had been a requirement filled by Navy designs since the 1960s.^{[citation needed]} New variants of the AIM-120 AMRAAM are being developed which extend its range out to the 100+ mile ranges of the AIM-54 Phoenix. Sailors prepare an F-14 Tomcat for flight on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003). ... The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a carrier-based fighter/attack aircraft that entered service in 1999 with the United States Navy. ... The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced am-ram), commonly known to air crews as the Slammer, is a modern Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile (AAM) capable of all weather day and night performance. ... Full load of Phoenix missiles, 1989 The AIM-54 Phoenix is a radar-guided, long-range air-to-air missile, carried in clusters of up to six missiles; formerly on the U.S. Navys and currently on the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Forces F-14 Tomcat fighters...

The French Air Force fields the Mirage 2000-5 as its air-superiority fighter. The new generation of European fighters currently entering service are all capable of the air superiority mission, as only one of many roles. They are the swedish Saab Gripen, the french Dassault Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon, built by the british, germans, italians and spanish together. The French Air Force is the air force branch of the French Armed Forces. ... A Mirage 2000 of the Indian Air Force The Mirage 2000 is a French-built multi-role fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. ... The Saab JAS 39 Gripen (Griffin or Gryphon) is a fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. ... The Rafale is a French twin-engine delta-wing multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. ... “EF2000” redirects here. ...

Russia's main air-superiority fighters are the Sukhoi Su-27 and Sukhoi Su-30, but now the Sukhoi Su-35 has also enter production. They also have the Mig-29 wich is a multi-rol fighter exported to many countries. Sukhoi-30 MKIs are the main air superiority fighters of the Indian Air Force. These are imported from Russia and re-fitted with advanced avionics from Israel/France/DRDO. Another version of the Su-30 is the main air superiority fighter of China, along with the J-11. The Sukhoi Su-27 (Су-27 in the Cyrillic alphabet) (NATO reporting name Flanker) is originally a Soviet fighter aircraft designed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau (SDB). ... The Sukhoi Su-30 (NATO reporting name Flanker-C) is an agile military aircraft developed by Russias Sukhoi Aviation Corporation and introduced into operational service in 1996. ... Su-35 cockpit This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... The Mikoyan MiG-29 (NATO reporting name Fulcrum) is a Russian fighter aircraft used in the air superiority role. ... Sukhoi Su-30 MKI, (Russian: Modernizirovannyi Kommercheskiy Indiski; Modernized Commercial India), is the variant of the Sukhoi Su-30. ... The Indian Air Force (भारतीय वायु सेना : Bharatiya Vayu Sena) is the air-arm of the Armed Forces of India and has the prime responsibility of conducting aerial warfare and securing the Indian airspace. ... The Shenyang J-11 is an advanced fighter in the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force. ...

Notes

1. ^ Aviation Week, 1974. Grumman advertisement, "F-14 Tomcat, World's most capable air superiority fighter... eliminates harmful objects with its multiple track-while-scan weapons system, extreme-range simultaneous multiple-missile launch, and variable-sweep-wing versatility" (Unverified)

See also

• Air supremacy
• Interceptor aircraft

Air supremacy is the most favorable state of control of the air. ... The MiG-25 is a Russian interceptor that was the mainstay of the Soviet air defence. ...

External links

• Glossary of Nato Definitions
• Rand: Revival of the Air-Superiority Fighter