The landscape of the military planet has been dominated by fighter jets since World War II between the United States and Russia regarding aerial combat technology.
The United States has state-of-the-art fighter jets in its F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II, and F-15EX, along with the F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft that gives the fighter a halo status of being stealthy, fast, and non-beatable.
Twenty years after it entered into service, the F-22 Raptor is the world’s top air superiority fighter. The F-22 meets all three conditions: It is supermaneuverable; its radar cross-section is small; and it is designed to take advantage of its supercruise capability.
Its small radar cross-section coupled with twin thrust-vectoring engines makes it nearly invisible to enemy radar.
The new U.S.-designed fifth-generation jet, F-35 Lightning II, has gained acclamation for versatility, surpassing any other platform in the performance of intelligence, surveillance, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance missions.
There are more than 900 units sold across the world, and it is the most used fifth-generation jet in the world today.
The F-15EX is indeed an expensive supplement to the American fighter jets, costing about $94 million a pop, but it offsets this with its capability to carry and launch up to 12 air-to-air missiles and carry up to 13.6 tons of ordnance.
The F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet of the U.S. Navy staple had transformed into a specialized upgrade through additional capacities for ordnance, stealth features, and a 10 x 19-inch customizable touchscreen pilots can use.
The major fighter planes in Russia are the Su-57 Felon, Su-35, MiG-29, and MiG-35. The Su-57 is the sole fifth-generation aircraft of Russia and can reach Mach 2.0 speed.
It does not possess stealth capability like its American counterpart. Su-35 is a super-fighter from the Cold War, having the ability to reach a speed higher than Mach 2.25 and possesses air-to-ground capabilities to a phenomenal extent.
A multirole fighter is said to boast nearly 9,000 pounds of munitions. The MiG-35, or “4+++ generation,” platform brings an Active Electronically Scanned Array radar and an assortment of missiles, rockets, and bombs.
Geopolitically, it can sell its access to advanced fighter jets, but not share the remarkable F-22. It had an operational deployment by the Israeli Air Force and U.S. Marines proving its effectiveness in a variety of theatres. Su-57 has been little used in Syria and Ukraine, with no evidence to suggest its involvement in any combat engagements.
The J-20 rolled out in 2017, but its specifications and stealth capabilities remain shrouded in speculation. Indeed, some question whether such a plane can be realistically given supercruise status; after all, it is said to “easily reach supercruise.” Foreign sales of the aircraft have not yet been finalized, while more than 10 countries-from South Korea to Japan to Australia-have accepted the F-35.
Those modernized F-16 AM/BM models donated from Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium way back in 2024 have been successfully accepted by Ukraine. In this present year, with the existing conflict, aerial power is one of the main amplifications of Ukraihasgot.
As there is emerging competition in the skies, technological supremacy along with the strategic employment of fighter jets will give more twists to global military power play.