Air superiority fighter
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An air superiority fighter is a type of fighter aircraft intended to enter and seize control of enemy airspace. Air superiority fighters are usually expensive aircraft, and procured in lesser numbers compared to smaller and generally more limited aircraft. The term was first used in 1966[citation needed] to describe the VFAX/VFX F-14 Tomcat[1] and later the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle.[citation needed]
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[edit] Evolution of the term
During World War II and through the Korean War, fighters were classified by their role: heavy fighter, interceptor, escort fighter, day fighter and so forth. Towards the end of the war, these types began to coalesce, as individual airframes became more capable and took on more roles. With the development of missiles in the 1950s that could destroy targets beyond visual range, design diverged between fighters optimized to fight in the Beyond Visual Range (BVR) regime (interceptors), and fighters optimized to fight in the Within Visual Range (WVR) regime (air superiority fighters). In the United States, the proponents of BVR thought this regime would supersede WVR, with corresponding compromises in maneuverability and other performance characteristics in fighter aircraft which were necessary qualities for dogfighting, or WVR close-range combat. Such thinking even influenced the development of aircraft, such as the F-4 Phantom, which initially had no internal gun.
[edit] Lessons in combat
However, combat experience in Vietnam proved the BVR proponents wrong. Owing to restrictive rules of engagement and the failings of 1960s missile and radar technology, combat often devolved into a close-range dog-fight, one for which American fighters and pilots were unprepared. The lessons from this conflict spurred a rethinking of design priorities for fighter aircraft, in which the Navy's TOPGUN and the Air Force's RED FLAG programs, developed specifically to teach pilots the lessons of dogfighting, were created.
[edit] Air superiority fighters
This rethinking drove the Navy's VFAX/VFX of the 1960s and Air Force's FX (Fighter Experimental) concept of the 1970s, which resulted in the F-14, and later F-15. The VFX would not compromise interception for the air superiority role, a feat accomplished by Grumman grafting the AWG-9/Phoenix onto an agile airframe. The FX was to be a specialized air superiority fighter, one that sacrificed the ability to carry the Phoenix missile and the associated radar system, which was able destroy up to six targets simultaneously at ranges of up to 100 miles, in order to excel at only medium beyond visual and short visual range air superiority. It should be noted the F-14/Phoenix combination was directed more toward stopping Soviet bombers from entering within cruise missile range of a carrier group, than as a dogfighting weapon.
[edit] Current fighters
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor will be the USAF's next generation air superiority fighter. It incorporates many advanced technologies like stealth, supersonic cruise without afterburner (supercruise), high maneuverability and thrust vectoring of its engines. Some early advertising material for the F-22 billed it as an "air dominance fighter." It will be one of the most expensive tactical combat aircraft ever produced, with a current "flyaway" cost per jet of US$137 million.
The Sukhoi-30 MKI is the main air superiority fighter of the Indian Air Force. The Sukhoi-30 MKI is a successful outcome of collaboration between Sukhoi, HAL, French and Israeli avionics firms and DRDO to produce a customized Su-30 for the Indian Air Force. It is believed that this version of Su-30 is the most advanced of all Su-30 and Su-27 versions available to nations around the world. The Indian Air Force has about 80 of these aircraft in service and is to procure a total of 230.
The Boeing F-15 Eagle has been the USAF's premier air superiority fighter aircraft for nearly 30 years. The F-15 is in service with the USAF (F-15C), the Japanese Air Self Defence Force JASDF (F-15J), the Israeli Air Force (F-15I) and the Royal Saudi Air Force (F-15S). South Korea has recently selected the F-15K as its future air superiority fighter and the Republic of Singapore Air Force selected the F-15T in 2006 as its future air superiority fighter. The U.S. Air Force will keep 178 F-15C and 224 F-15E fighters in service past 2025 which will serve alongside the F-22 Raptor.[1]
The F-14 was the US Navy's primary air superiority fighter during its service life. The F-14 finally retired from frontline US Navy service in the second half of 2006. It was replaced by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, an aircraft which was not originally intended to be the Navy's primary air superiority fighter because of its lack of the F-14's long range simultaneous target engagement capabilities which had been a requirement filled by Navy designs since the 1960s.[citation needed] However, new variants of the "fire-and-forget" AIM-120 AMRAAM are being developed which extend its range out to the 100+ mile ranges of the AIM-54 Phoenix, which will largely regain this capability without the APG-9's ability to lock on to multiple targets.
The General Dynamics F-16 was one of the first of a series of "multirole" fighters designed to excel at both air superiority and ground strikes, and is one of the most numerous fighters currently in service. Smaller than the older F-15, it was one of the first jets designed to be inherently unstable; kept in check by a "fly-by-wire" computer-aided flight control system, this instability makes the F-16 one of the most maneuverable air-superiority fighters in the world, though since its introduction its capabilities have been met or exceeded by later-generation fighters such as the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and F-22, all of which use similar "fly-by-wire" systems that control the inherently unstable design. The new F-35 Lightning II will also carry on the F-16s legacy being the second best air superiority fighter behind the F-22 Raptor.
The Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E is Russia's newest fighter aircraft. It is a modern ugrade to the Su-27 Flanker family and shares a lot of similarities to the Su-30MKI. The Su-35 is intended to be the last of the famous Flanker family. Although the last of the Flankers, it was upgraded even further in 2008 with the introduction of the Su-35BM. Only a small number of Su-35 has been fielded by the Russian Air Force with about 5 in active service.
The French Air Force fields the Mirage 2000-5 as its air-superiority fighter. The new generation of European fighters currently entering service are all capable of the air superiority mission, as only one of many roles. They are the Saab Gripen, Dassault Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The desirable features of an air superiority fighter, most of which were pioneered first by the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, are excellent maneuverability, high thrust-to-weight ratio, high performance radar with the ability to track multiple targets simultaneously, modern digital glass cockpits to reduce pilot workload, good visibility from the cockpit, armament consisting of fire-and-forget beyond visual range (BVR) and medium and short range agile, all-aspect air-to-air missiles, such as the AMRAAM and ASRAAM respectively.
In order to maximize their combat effectiveness and strategic usefulness, air superiority fighters will usually operate under the control/co-ordination of an Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS) or Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Aviation Week, 1974. Grumman advertisement, "F-14 Tomcat, World's most capable air superiority fighter... eliminates harmful objects with its multiple track-while-scan weapons system, extreme-range simultaneous multiple-missile launch, and variable-sweep-wing versatility" (Unverified)
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