In twenty first century the art of war is well evolved then previous centuries , the Air force has become the backbone of any country’s defense line and is integral part of any countries security .It’s been said that if you have air dominance no one can dare to strike at you and gives you an overall strategic advantage .In previous two decades there has been significant and ground breaking advancements in flying sciences as well as in fighter jets , now jets have more advance radars , communication , electronic warfare (EW) , better thrust , BVR (beyond visual range) missiles and much more . this evolution in fighter jets is an ongoing process and scientists are now a days working on jets that are soundless and not just stealthy but invisible .We have compiled a list of top ten fighter jets serving the armies around the globe, the list is based on evaluation of the fighter jets, its performance in actual warfare and on advancement of the fighter jets.
10. CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder
On the number tenth we have a new edition , much newer to the skies is JF-17thunder/ CAC FC-1 Xiaolong is also known as fierce dragon .It is a joint venture between Pakistan Air Force and Chengdu Aircraft Industries Corporation .This aircraft is a fourth generation fighter , it’s a single engine fighter that runs on WS-10 turbo fan engine for now .The aircraft is a multi-role day and night mission capability fighter .JF-17 can carry variety of missiles both air to air missiles and air to ground as well . It operates with WMD-7 targeting pod better than lightening III targeting pod of US. The aircraft is to be improved in capability as its block-2 in prototype phase , will two seated variant being developed .China and Pakistan also signed a MOU for the production of a stealthy variant by 2105. The per unit cost of JF-17 is estimated to be 15-20 million$ and is healthy export prospect for less developed nations with security problems.
9. Chengdu J-10
Chengdu J-10 or Jian-10 is pride of People Republic of China and is a 4th generation fighter .It has tremendous thrust to weight ration capability and is a multi role all weather day and night mission capable fighter .It is equipped with IRST and much more advance EW suits , the jet is capable of taking all sot of ammunitions from small diameter bombs to targeting pods , air to air missiles , air to ground missiles , anti radiation missiles and is also capable of air-refueling . New versions of it with much more advance capabilities and lesser radar cross section is under development known as J-10B.
8. Mikoyan MiG-35
The eighth place goes to ” Mikoyan MiG-35″ its NATO reporting name is Fulcrum-F. It is marvel of Russian engineering and is much more advanced version of MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-29K/KUB in technology. Its a twin engine jet with thrust vector capability . It is deemed as 4++ Gen fighter and is equipped with AESA radar and OLS (optical locator system).The jet is a combination of amazing avionics and electronics , it also has LED (laser emission detector ) the super jet was introduced in 2007 in aero India show.
7. F-16 Fighting Falcon
On number seven we have one the most performed fighter in the history so far ” F-16 Fighting Falcon “.The F-16 Fighting Falcon is reckon to be the most advanced fighter jet period. The jet incorporates Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, advanced electronic warfare suites, and an infrared search and track (IRST) system. It is been operated by many air forces around the globe and variety of variants are available in the market with the most advanced being F-16 SV is consider to be 4++ generation fighter .
6. Dassault Rafale
On sixth place we have the revolution of French avionics and probably one of the most attractive fighter of them all ” Dassault Rafael” .Rafael is 4++ generation fighter with a twin engines and is equipped with the most advance radars , tracking systems and as well as EW suites . It has been sold to Indian air force only export order so far for this machines , the estimated cost of per unit is 124 million$ depending on the variant.
5. Saab JAS 39 Gripen
On fifth place we have a Swedish creation ” The Saab JAS 39 Gripen “. Gripen is basically a lightweight single-engine multirole fighter aircraft with all weather combat capability both at day and night. It is primarily used by the Swedish Air Force and incorporates fly by wire capability for stability and is a delta wind jet. Swedish government have been successful to promote their aircraft and to get export orders from Central Europe, South African and Southeast Asia, per unit cost of the aircraft is between $40 million to $60 million.
4. Eurofighter Typhoon
We have ” Eurofighter Typhoon” on fourth place on this list , it is one of the most advance 4.5 generation fighter jet operational at the moment .Eurofighter is assembled, designed and built by a syndicate of four different companies from UK, Italy, Spain and Germany. It’s a multirole fighter and is powered by twin engines and operates with NATO and Saudi Arabia at the moment. Its designed for complete air superiority and can act as an air aggressor.
3. Sukhoi Su-27
This aircraft is marvel of Russian engineering and is one of the most maneuverable aircraft at present known to perform extreme maneuvers. The Russian monster Sukhoi Su-27 is a twin-engine super maneuverable fighter aircraft, which is mostly used for air superiority missions and can also perform all kinds of combat operations both at day and night in all weather conditions. Su-27 is consider to be at same power to the United States’ F-15 Eagle. Sukhoi is manufacturing this aircraft with many variants, Its NATO reporting name is Flanker and it is also known as the Russian Flying Monster.
2. Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
It is the pride of the most advanced air force in the world ( USAF) . It is the greatest of all the fourth and 4.5 generation super jets of the world . The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is basically a twin-engine aircraft carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft that numerous has other variants as well. It has advance weapon systems , it operates with an internal 20 mm gun and is fully capable of carrying air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons also , operates in all weather conditions both at day and night. The jet has high angle of attack capability and can be refueled in mid air. Per unit of it costs $66.9 million.
1. Boeing F-22 Raptor
On the top we have the most advanced and sophisticated aircraft ever known to man so far ” Boeing F-22 Raptor” . American company Lockheed Martin is known to produce weapons of the future as it proudly produced F-16 some decades ago , F-22 is nightmare of any army its the only air craft with the radar cross section of 0.01 which makes it invisible to the most advanced X-band radars in service today. The air craft’s radar is the longest range radar ever to be used in a fighter jet , it is powered by two engines that produces the maximum thrust so far recorded by an engine . It is completely computerized and has 2 super computers to perform all necessary functions . This super stealth jet deserves to be on the top of our list as its currently the only fighter stealth jet in service of any air force.
