American Fighter Aircraft

     In 1954 a paper by Russian mathematician Pyotr Ufimtsev explained how radar returns from an object is related to its angle from a surface. From this information and due to increasingly more advanced radar-guided missiles during the Vietnam war, the United States Government contracted Lockheed to build prototypes using these principles.        Computers were still not as advanced as they are now and may have contributed to the fact that it was too complicated to develop a smoother curved airframe and so that is why it retains a very sharp and boxy look as compared to stealth aircraft of today. It also used lots of parts from other aircraft such as control systems, landing gear, and avionics to keep costs low and maintain secrecy. It also incorporated cold air routing around the engine and towards the exhaust to further lower the heat signature produced. It also used radar absorbing materials and special materials in the glass cockpit that would tra...

 The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom was first developed for the Navy in 1961 but was soon adopted by both the Airforce and Marine Corps. The Phantom rose to prominence during the Vietnam war for its advanced capabilities with a much more powerful radar that was to be used by its second passaged in this air dominance fighter. The F-4 Phantom boasted a very fast top speed of Mach 2.5. The F-4 played a critical role in defending and depressing enemy air defenses in Vietnam and the Gulf War. The F-4 gave a lucky handful of pilots the ability to become aces during Vietnam (shooting down 5 enemy aircraft). Most famously the F-4 Phantom was an extremely popular export for the United States to countries such as Australia, Israel, Iran, Japan, and South Korea to name a few. The F-4 was even still in operation with Turkey until 2015. The Phantom also proved itself extremely effective against enemy MiGs during the Vietnam War. Frequently the Phantom could outclass the enemy Mig-21s with i...

The F-35 in the past decade had been written off that it was another military procurement failure for its expensive cost overruns, but I would argue that the 1.7 trillion dollars estimated life cycle cost is a great deal for what the future of warfare holds. The F-35 has achieved this goal through the use of integrated software, advanced avionics, improved sensors, as well as stealth capabilities. There is no other jet that can do what the F-35 does. This fighter aircraft achieves all of this while being able to carry more fuel, maintain stealth with interior weapon bays, and give the pilots ease of use to employ themselves effectively in the future of warfare. The F-35 program accomplished this by building one airframe for 3 different jets for the Marine Corps, the Navy, and the Airforce. The F-35 also implements an extensive use of advanced radar and sensing to maintain stealth and accurately relay information to deliver its own weapons systems effectively.    The F-35 ...