Fighter plane is a fast-flying airplane with weapons. Fighter planes can shoot down enemy planes. They can also attack targets on the ground and at sea. Armed forces often use fighter planes to gain dominance in the skies above an area, a concept called air superiority.
The United States Air Force and Navy maintain the most advanced fighter planes. Fighters form an essential part of other countries’ air forces as well.
Fighter plane weapons include machine guns, rockets, and guided missiles . Some fighters also function as short-range bombers. Fighter planes with advanced jet engines can fly fast—typically faster than the speed of sound. Stealth technology enables some fighter planes to remain nearly invisible to enemy radar.
The first fighter planes gathered information on enemy positions and attacked other planes, balloons, and ground targets during World War I (1914-1918). After the war, countries continued to develop fighter planes.
By World War II (1939-1945), fighter planes had become important in warfare. British fighter planes worked with radar systems to ward off attacking German planes over the skies of the United Kingdom. The United States used fast-moving fighter planes to protect its bombers in flight over Europe. In the Pacific Ocean, American and Japanese fighter planes took off from land and from aircraft carriers on the sea. They battled for air superiority over islands in the Pacific. After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union developed highly advanced fighter planes.
