A night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night, or in other times of bad visibility. They are sometimes referred to as night/all weather fighters for this reason. A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... Melbourne skyline at night Night is the time when a location is facing away from the Sun, and thus dark. ...

This role typically requires the use of radar, landing lights, direction finders to find the airbase at night, and various communications equipment and lighting inside the cockpit. This much gear normally required a twin-engine aircraft to lift it, notably because this left the nose area of the plane clear for the radar installation, where the engine would be in a single-engine design. The U.S. Navy, however, fitted radar sets to its single-engined F6F Hellcat fighters by the close of the war, operating them successfully in the Pacific. This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ... A radio direction finder, or RDF, is a device for finding the direction to a radio source. ... An Airbase, sometimes referred to as a military airport or airfield, provides basing and support of military aircraft. ... The term communications is used in a number of disciplines: Communications, also known as communication studies is the academic discipline which studies communication, generally seen as a mixture between media studies and linguistics. ... Cockpit of a light aircraft, showing instrumentation dials and dual control yokes. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... The Grumman F6F Hellcat started development as an improved F4F Wildcat, but turned into a completely new design sharing a family resemblance to the Wildcat but with no shared parts. ... The Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) is the term used in the United States for all military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, during World War II. Pacific War is a more common name, around the world, for the broader conflict between the Allies and Japan...

Many night fighters were converted from earlier heavy fighter designs, and some from bombers; examples include the Bristol Beaufighter and the de Havilland Mosquito. Some, however, are designed from the base up as a nightfighter, with superior speed and agility, as in the P-61 Black Widow. A heavy fighter is a fighter aircraft designed to be used in the long-range role, or while carrying heavier weapons loads. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... A Hercules-powered Bristol Beaufighter Mk. ... The correct title of this article is de Havilland Mosquito. ... Northrop P-61 Black Widow in flight The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom, monoplane night fighter and night intruder aircraft flown by the United States Army Air Force during World War II. It was the first American aircraft designed specifically as a...

During World War II the Luftwaffe also experimented with single-engine planes in this role, which they referred to as Wilde Sau (wild boar). In this case the fighters, typically Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, were equipped only with a direction finder and landing lights. In order to find their targets other aircraft, guided from the ground, would drop strings of flares in front of the bombers, or simply wait for them to fly over the burning cities below. Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII or World War Two), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the... The ▶ (help· info) (German: air arm, IPA: [luftvafə]) is the commonly used term for the German air force. ... Binomial name Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758 The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) is the wild ancestor of the domesticated pig. ... Focke-Wulf Fw 190A in flight. ... Flare Magazine Flare. ...

Night fighters existed as a separate class into the 1960s. As the aircraft grew in capability, the role interceptor was often one and the same as night fighter, due to the same plane having both the speed and radar needed to fill both roles. Examples of these interceptor/night-fighters include the Avro Arrow, Convair F-106 Delta Dart, and the English Electric Lightning. The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The MiG-25 is a Russian interceptor that was the mainstay of the Soviet air defence. ... Avro Arrow The Avro CF-105 Arrow was a delta-wing interceptor aircraft, designed and built in Ontario, Canada by Avro Canada during a short period of time in the 1950s. ... The Convair F-106A Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the US Air Force from the 1960s through the late 1970s. ... The English Electric Lightning (later the BAC Lightning) was a supersonic British fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, particularly remembered for its great speed, and its natural metal exterior that was used throughout much of its service life with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Saudi Air Force. ...

Continued aircraft development has blurred this line even further, to today where there are no longer designs dedicated to this role because "normal" designs have all the capability needed. The only designs remaining in service in this niche are the US Navy's F-14 Tomcat and the Russian MiG-31. In both cases they have needs to support operations at very long ranges – out of missile range for the Navy, and across Siberia for the Russians – which cannot be filled by smaller aircraft. The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Sailors prepare an F-14 Tomcat for flight on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003). ... Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound The Mikoyan MiG-31 (NATO reporting name Foxhound) is a high-speed interceptor developed to replace the MiG-25. ... A missile (CE pronunciation: ; AmE: ) is, in general, a projectile—that is, something thrown or otherwise propelled. ... Siberia Siberia (Russian: , common English transliterations: Sibir’, Sibir; from the Tatar for “sleeping land”) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ...

World war II

Germany

• Dornier Do 217J, 217N
• Focke-Wulf Ta 154
• Heinkel He 219
• Junkers Ju 88C
• Messerschmitt Bf 110F-4, 110G-4
• Messerschmitt Me 262

The Dornier Do 217 was a World War II medium bomber designed from scratch as a replacement for the venerable Dornier Do 17. ... Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Focke-Wuld TA 154 V1-1 The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito was a fast night fighter designed by Kurt Tank and produced by Focke-Wulf late in World War II. Only a few were produced and proved to have less impressive performance than the prototypes. ... The Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Owl) was a famous night fighter used late in World War II by the Luftwaffe. ... The Junkers Ju 88 was a WW2 Luftwaffe twin-engine multi-role aircraft. ... The Messerschmitt Bf 110 (later Me 110) was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Later in the war it was changed to fighter-bomber and night fighter operations, and it became the major night fighter type of the Luftwaffe. ... The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe or swallow was the first operational jet powered fighter. ...

United Kingdom

Pre-radar:

• Boulton Paul Defiant

AI radar: A pair of 264 Squadron Defiants. ...

• Bristol Blenheim
• Bristol Beaufighter (1940)
• de Havilland Mosquito (1942)

The Bristol Type 142M Blenheim was a high-speed light bomber used extensively in the early days of World War II, built by Bristol Aeroplane Company. ... A Hercules-powered Bristol Beaufighter Mk. ... The correct title of this article is de Havilland Mosquito. ...

United States

• Grumman F7F-2N, F7F-3N
• P-61 Black Widow

The Grumman F7F Tigercat was the first twin-engined fighter aircraft design to enter service with the United States Navy. ... Northrop P-61 Black Widow in flight The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom, monoplane night fighter and night intruder aircraft flown by the United States Army Air Force during World War II. It was the first American aircraft designed specifically as a...

See also

• To Fly and Wage War—In The Dark
• day fighter
• heavy fighter
• interceptor aircraft

Northrop P-61 Black Widow in flight The Northrop P-61 Black Widow was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom, monoplane night fighter and night intruder aircraft flown by the United States Army Air Force during World War II. It was the first American aircraft designed specifically as a... A day fighter is a fighter aircraft equipped only to fight during the day. ... 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. ...

Further reading

• C.F. Rawnsley and Robert Wright, Night Fighter. Ballantine Books, 1957.