The Best of the Best....Air superiority Fighters

What is the current top 5 of Air superiority fighters currently in service or about to come into service within, say the next 2 years?

1. f/a-22 Raptor
2. Ef-2000 Eurofighter
3. f-35 JSF
4. Grippen
5. Rafale

[edit on 17-12-2004 by roniii259]

Are you sure about the whole F35 thing roniii?
I mean the whole thing seems kinda heavy and not really a fighter.

I agree except teh F35. Thats a roll player, not an air superiority fighter.

The F-35 may not be an 'air-superiority' aircraft in the true sense, say as the F-22 is, but it does maintain and have the capabilities to allow for it to an effective fighter in air-air combat.

Post made by Agent47: Lockheed-Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)




seekerof

[edit on 17-12-2004 by Seekerof]

'secondary' is the key word here. it is very capable but cannot be expected to be the best in that role, for me it is as follows

1; Raptor
2; Typhoon F.2 (Eurofighter is the manufacturer and EF-2000 was the development name - come on guys try to keep up )
3 Sukhoi Su-30
4 Rafale
5 Gripen

with the F-35A and C, F/A-18E and latest F-16 just missing out by a narrow margin.

[edit on 17-12-2004 by waynos]

Sukhoi Su-30?

You sure? Isnt that in the same boat as an F15e? Or even an F/A18? Great plane dont get me wrong, but would you consider it an "elder" technology compared to the others listed?


And which feature is this, or is this an upgrade:

external image

It is an extrmely manouverable and capable air superiority fighter. It isn't really old by aircraft standards, its less than a decade older than the Raptor and Typhoon and thats nothing really. and it should easily beat an F-15E as that is a strike aircraft not a fighter. The F-15C is the A2A version and the Su-30 beats that all ends up, hence the USAF's sense of urgency in acquiring the Raptor.

If I were tempted to change my list I would move the Rafale above the Su-30 BUT as its French I won't bother

[edit on 17-12-2004 by waynos]

This was from a thread with lots of good info about the JSF project. It's seems to be a multi-role fighter similar to the F/A 18, which was also a very capable air to air fighter.


F-35 - Capabilities & Performance Compared to Others in it's Class:

In comparing the F-35 to the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, F-16C/Block 60 and F/A-18E/F, the F-35 has a decisive advantage due to its advanced integrated avionic architecture, which is modelled from the F-22A.

The F-35 is designed to replace aging fighter inventories, including U.S. Air Force A-10s and F-16s, U.S. Navy F/A-18s, U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers and F/A-18s, and United Kingdom Harrier GR.7s and Sea Harriers.


www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 17-12-2004 by Trent]

I can't speak for the others mentioned but both the Rafale and Typhoon also have advanced fully integrated avionics in the same vein as the Raptors, indeed there is no way that it would be worth building either fighter any differently, so that verdict is fundamentally flawed.

Looks good... Place the F-15C with AESA in where the Grippen is. It has no place of more then a quick interceptor/attack fighter for small countries...



Slice the Grippen off. It has absolutely no spot on the list. Also, it's up to you guys on whether you want to add the F-35 to the list or not. None of us know how it will perform in A2A combat and probably wont for some good time. Anyone’s guess is equal.

Here is a more practical list of WIDELY used fighters (been in service for some good time) of today’s forces...

1. F-15C
2. Su-27 (lets not get into models)
3. F-14
4. F-16Blc40+
5. Mig-29K
6 Mirage 2000

A realistic modern-near future force looks like so...

1. F/A-22
2. Typhoon (Debatable)
3. Su-30xxx
4. F-35
5. F-15C AESA
6. Rafael
7. F/A-18E

Yeah i don't entirely trust that statement myself, it's not like they are going to say their shiny new plane is crap I was just making the point that it is designed to go into air to air combat with those aircraft if nessesary and it would probably be very good at it, although i think it's too early for anyone to say it would be better than the Rafale and Typhoon in air to air combat or vice versa.



[edit on 17-12-2004 by Trent]

^^ Nice... The F-35's range will increase with conformal tanks in the future and its speed will increase with increased engine power. Its main drawback is its speed... It has acceptable range and wonderful weapons systems but it's chubby.

In the hands of a good pilot I believe it could be 2nd on the list because after all, it is almost full aspect stealth and what you have a hard(er) time seeing you have a harder time killing. It isn’t pure invincible like the '22 but it is no lager.

The F-35 should be replaced by the F/A-18e/f on my list. The Russain planes dont count because they're no where near operational and i doubt they will be fielded. The J-10 is not 5th generation or even third so its not even present.

Fighter/Attacker generation is irrelevant and debatable...

The J-10 is most likely early 4th gen technoogy but we don’t know.
I couldn’t care less if the fighters in the Russian airforce had rust holes through the wing-roots, the versions sold to other countries operate. Contrary to popular belief so does the Russians. You are clearly underestimating the F-35 but some figures may be overestimating it.

All I, and many that I know, know that the F-35 has weapon systems probably 2nd only to the F/A-22 and since it's almost fully aspect stealth it can get close in and fire at an arms reach...

best air superiority fighter ?

1. F4 phantom (come on has anyone played ace combat 4? it can beat a raptor!)
2. hawker hurracane/spitfire
3. P51

The F-35 is seriously underestimated. The Eurofighter is a good plane, but without stealth its going to have difficult time in a BVR fight with a JSF.

It has a great BVR skills , second only to the raptor.

if i'm not mistaken, isn't the Rafale and the Typhoon basically the same aircraft, because France used to be part of the project, and then they pulled out, and coincidentally, they were to introduce a fighter that had roughly the same specs, and looks in the same year

anyways, current top 10 are that are in operation

1.Su-37
2.Su-35
3.Su-30MKI
4.Su-27SM
5.F-15
6.Su-30MKK
7.MiG-29
8.F-18
9.F-16
10.Mirage 2000

But then again, there's the upgraded Su-35BM coming out soon, its capabilites will be incredible

in the future, it will look something like this(by future, i mean 2010-2012 max)

1.F-22
2.T-50
3.F-35
4.Russian MFI(whichever one they choose)
5.Rafale
6.Typhoon
7.Su-35BM
8.Su-37
9.J-12
10.Su-30MKI

i don't like saying this, i cringw whenever i say it, but i have to give the F-22 first place, because we don't know almost anything about the T-50 or the future russian heavy aircraft other than the T-5 will have aj incredible range, better supercruising capabilities, and by the pictures of it, it will be almost as large as an F-22
i don't know much about other countries aircraft because i mostly search for russian and sometimes american ones, so give me your thoughts, Rafale will be better because, in the past, France has made some incredibly efficient aircraft, and the J-12 will be mostly crap, like the J-10, but it will still pose a threat

Fighter Designs: Operational or Non-operational

1. MiG-35
2. F-22
3. Su-37 ' Super Fulcrum ' or F/A-18E/F