A fighter aircraft is a fixed wing machine which often decides the course of modern warfare. Its strengths include manoeuvrability, stealth, avionics, multi-role capabilities, and networked data. Some of the world’s best fighter jets include:


​F-22 Raptor

According to its maker Lockheed Martin,the Raptor's unique combination of advanced stealth, super cruise, advanced manoeuvrability and integrated avionics allow it to “kick down the door,” and then follow up with 24-hour stealth operations and freedom of movement for all follow-on forces. Two F119 engines, the world’s most advanced combat aircraft engines, power the F-22. These engines, with their unique thrust-vectoring nozzle and integrated stealth characteristics, give the F-22 the capability to super cruise, or achieve Mach 1.5+ speeds, without the use of afterburners.


Sukhoi Su-57

According to Russian media, the Su-57 is a fifth-generation multi-role fighter. The Su-57 took to the skies for the first time on January 29, 2010. Compared to its predecessors, the Su-57 combines the functions of an attack plane and a fighter jet while the use of composite materials and innovation technologies as well as the fighter’s aerodynamic configuration ensure the low level of radar and infrared signature.

The plane’s armament will include, in particular, hypersonic missiles. The fifth-generation fighter jet has been successfully tested in combat conditions in Syria.


​Chengdu J-20

According to Chinese media, designers of the J-20 claim the fighter represents a “big leap forward in terms of the capabilities of the PLA”. The aircraft has a longer range, more internal fuel capacity and a larger weapons capacity than the US F-22 and F-35 fighters, the designers say.


Dassault Rafale

According to Dassault, when the Rafale program was launched, the French Air Force and French Navy published a joint requirement for an omni-role aircraft that would have to replace the seven types of combat aircraft then in operation. The new aircraft would have to be able to carry out a very wide range of missions: Air-defence / air-superiority, anti-Access/area Denial, reconnaissance, Close air support, Dynamic Targeting, Air-to-ground precision strike, Anti-ship attacks, Nuclear deterrence, and buddy-buddy refuelling.