The postwar era saw technological advances that made warplanes exponentially more powerful than before. Jet engines, radar, and guided missiles made individual planes faster, more capable, and more lethal than a squadron or more of their wartime counterparts. These “Jet Age” advances led to some record-making—and record-breaking—advances.
Listed below are five military aircraft that reached latest heights within the fields of air combat, engine power, payload, endurance, and sheer numbers built.
Air-to-Air Combat Champion
Just 20 years after the top of World War II, the Vietnam War produced many surprises for the US. The lackluster performance of third-generation fighters equivalent to the F-4 Phantom II and the F-105 Thunderchief in air-to-air combat, against a minor military power equipped with inferior aircraft, prompted engineers designing fourth-generation fighters to reemphasize maneuverability over speed.
The F-15 Eagle was designed purely as an air superiority fighter, with the design team operating under the principle of “not a pound for air to ground.” In consequence, the F-15 has an incredible 104-0 record in air combat, with 104 enemy aircraft shot down and 0 Eagle losses. (F-15s have been lost to surface-to-air missile fire, though, including a 2018 incident over Yemen.)
This is probably going the standing record for a fighter plane anywhere, at any time within the history, for air-to-air combat. The alleged shoot-down on October 20 of a Houthi cruise missile by a Saudi fighter jet, likely carried out by a F-15, would arguably count as yet one more kill.
Time to Climb
Other than maneuverability, some of the useful attributes of a fighter jet is engine power. A quick jet with high acceleration capability can close with the enemy faster, maneuver to an advantageous position faster, and escape faster if mandatory. Above all, it may gain altitude faster, which supplies a fighter pilot not only a positional advantage but energy to spend on maneuvering.
Within the Nineteen Seventies, an F-15 Eagle nicknamed “Streak Eagle” reached a time to altitude record of 98,425 feet just 3 minutes and 27.8 seconds from brake release at takeoff. Even then, it had enough momentum to proceed upward to almost 103,000 feet before descending. Streak Eagle also set a record of climbing 15,000 meters (49,212 feet) in 77.02 seconds.
Within the Nineteen Eighties, a Sukhoi Su-27 “Flanker” fighter jet, the Soviet Union’s answer to the F-15, handily broke the 15,000 meter record, reaching the identical altitude in 70.33 seconds.
Biggest Bomber Payload
After World War II, the jet engine rapidly replaced piston engines. Jet engines could deliver vastly more thrust, enabling heavier, faster aircraft and heavier payloads. Bombers particularly saw the quantity of bombs they might carry skyrocket. The B-52, first flown in 1952, smashed records, with a single bomber able to carrying the identical payload as two squadrons of B-17 bombers.
The B-52 is the all-time champion for bomb payloads, with manufacturer Boeing reporting it may carry a whopping 70,000 kilos. Of the 76 B-52s in service, 36 are able to carrying as much as 36 AGM-86B nuclear-tipped cruise missiles each.
All B-52s can carry GPS-guided JDAM bombs, laser-guided Paveway bombs, JASSM-ER conventionally armed cruise missiles, LRASM anti-ship missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Quickstrike naval mines, and unusual, unguided “dumb” bombs.
Longest Non-Refueled Flight
All aircraft are restricted by distance and altitude. Aspects equivalent to payloads, weather, and crew endurance may also impact how long a plane can stay within the air. Aircraft without pilots and the mandatory life support equipment to maintain a pilot alive can devote that payload or range, giving unmanned aircraft a variety advantage over manned aircraft. So it’s no surprise that the military plane with the world record for non-stop flight doesn’t also have a pilot.
In 2013, a U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance reconnaissance drone took off from Grand Forks Air Force Base and stayed aloft for a record 34.3 hours. The aircraft, often called “Lady Hawk,” also set a record for an aircraft with an all-female flight and support crew.
Most Produced Fighter Jet
If you must search for probably the most produced fighter jet of all time, there are only two candidate countries: the US and the previous Soviet Union. The 2 countries were superpowers leading opposing blocs through the Cold War, and armed and equipped not only their allies in NATO and the Warsaw Pact but in addition friendly non-allied states. Although countries like France and Sweden built excellent fighters, that they had nowhere near the ready client base of a superpower.
Essentially the most produced fighter jet is the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21. Referred to as “Fishbed” to NATO, the MiG-21 was a fighter optimized for air-to-air combat but was also able to limited air-to-ground missions. The jet was sleek and dart-like, with short, stubby wings and an engine air intake within the nose. The fighter could reach a top speed of Mach 2 and carry as much as 4 short-range, infrared homing air-to-air missiles.
In accordance with probably the most detailed count available, the USSR built no less than 10,158 MiG-21s, making it probably the most quite a few fighter of the postwar era. The MiG-21 can also be officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records under the category of highest production of military jet aircraft.