Pictures: The 5 Best Fighter Jets of All Time

5 Best Fighter Jets of All Time, Ranked – So then, which warbirds should be ranked as The 5 Best Jet Fighters of All Time? Granted, it is a barely much less daunting job than my earlier task of figuring out the title of singular Best Fighter Plane Ever, however nonetheless, a extremely subjective matter that’s going to stir to take a seat up some controversy it doesn’t matter what solutions I give.

That stated, some type of goal measuring stick must be used to slim down the listing and make a well-reasoned argument alongside the best way, so listed here are my two primary standards for making my Top 5 List: (1) total kill tally and (2) air-to-air kill ratio.  A

After all, the acid check of any fighter aircraft is to have the ability to reliably have interaction & destroy the enemy and convey its pilot (and navigator) again house.

With that in thoughts, let’s get on with my listing of The 5 Best Fighters of All Time (drum roll):

5 Best Fighter Jets – The F-15 Eagle: Okay, this choice shouldn’t fire up an excessive amount of controversy, proper?

After all, nothing, and I imply nothing else on the market can maintain a candle to the completely mind-boggling 104:0 air-to-air kill ratio of the F-15 Eagle.

Yes, three F-15E Strike Eagles have been misplaced to enemy floor fireplace, however in opposition to enemy warbirds, the Eagle jet’s losses quantity to an enormous fats goose egg (avian pun supposed). This report turns into much more superb while you keep in mind that the F-15 has been in service, in a single variant of one other, since 1976.

The very first Eagle driver to attain an aerial victory was Israeli Air Force (IAF) pilot Moshe Malink, who achieved this milestone again in 1979.

From there, the legend grew and grew, and can in all probability proceed to develop because of the newest variant, the F-15EX.

F-15EX. Image Credit: Boeing.

5 Best Fighter Jets – The F-14 Tomcat:

All righty then, all you Naval Aviator/Naval Flight Officer (NFO) sorts and Top Gun followers on the market, right here’s your second within the solar.

Though not in a position to declare the undefeated standing that the Eagle can boast about, the F-14 Tomcat can nonetheless lay declare to a really respectable 135:4 kill ratio.

As I beforehand famous in my standalone article on the F-14, “Perhaps the greatest irony of the Tomcat’s kill tally is that the majority of its scores were achieved not by American pilots, nor even the pilots of a U.S. ally, but rather by the pilots of an adversary nation,” that adversary nation being Iran.

While there’s some controversy in regards to the reliability of the Iranian Air Force pilots’ claims, there’s little to no in regards to the 5:0 kill scoreboard attained by U.S. Navy Tomcat drivers.

Right rear overhead view of an F-14AB Tomcat plane of Fighter Squadron 143 (VF-143), the Pukin’ Dogs, in flight over desert terrain.

Images of two F-14 Tomcats. Image Credit: US Navy.

F-14 Tomcat touchdown. Image Credit: US Navy.

5 Best Fighter Jets – The F-16 Fighting Falcon:

The “Viper” as its aircrews affectionately favor to name it, boasts a 76:1 kill ratio.

Moreover, it may be disputed whether or not or not even one measly loss might be counted as a real air-to-air kill for the Falcon/Viper, because it was truly a mid-air collision, and in any occasion, it mockingly occurred by the hands of one other F-16, in the course of the Aegean dispute. On 23 May 2006. Two Turkish F-16s and one reconnaissance F-4 had been flying within the worldwide airspace over the southern Aegean at 27,000 ft (8,200 m) with out having submitted flight plans to the Greek FIR authorities. They had been intercepted by two Greek F-16s off the coast of the Greek island of Karpathos. During the following mock canine struggle, a Turkish F-16 and a Greek F-16 collided midair and subsequently crashed. The pilot of the Turkish aircraft survived the crash, however the Greek pilot misplaced his life.

Image: Creative Commons.

A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon with the 79th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, flies over the Gulf of Mexico, Nov. 8, 2021. Personnel and plane from the 79th FS traveled to Florida to take part in Checkered Flag 22-1, a large-force aerial train held at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, which fosters readiness and interoperability by way of the incorporation of fourth- and fifth-generation plane throughout air-to-air fight coaching. The 22-1 iteration of the train was held November 8-19, 2021. (U.S. Air Force photograph by Staff Sgt. Betty R. Chevalier)

Image: Creative Commons.

5 Best Fighter Jets – The F-86 Sabre:

 This was the game-changer for U.S. Air Force pilots in the course of the Korean War.

Embodying by the proverbs of “Desperate times call for desperate measures” and “Necessity is the mother of invention,” after being initially taken unexpectedly by the Soviet-designed MiG-15s that ravaged the USAF’s F-80 Shooting Stars and F-84 Thunderjets, U.S. R&D designed and deployed the F-86 in report time.

The Sabre jet couldn’t fly as excessive, climb as quick or maneuver as agilely as its Communist-made opponent, however it may dive sooner, was extra aerodynamically steady, and had a radar gunsight that got here in helpful throughout high-speed jet dogfights.

Admittedly, the long-accepted 10:1 kill ratio of the F-86 has had doubt forged upon it in newer years.

But even when these raised figures as factored in, that also leaves us with 566 MiG-15s had been destroyed by Sabres vs. roughly 100 F-86s shot down, which might put the U.S. kill ratio at about 5.6 to 1.

F-86. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

5 Best Fighter Jets – The Sea Harrier:

 Whoa Nellie, this one’s positive to ruffle some feathers (sure, one other avian pun), particularly since I’m selecting the Harrier over the likes of the F-4 Phantom.

But as a former Air Force officer in my very own proper (albeit a Security Forces troop, not an aviator) and a former Federal agent, I used to be repeatedly inspired by my instructors and mentors to “think outside the box,” so please hear me out right here (one more unhealthy pun, sure I do know, although at the very least this time it’s not bird-related).

The Sea Harrier is one of solely three jet fighter plane that’s unbeaten in air-to-air fight, the opposite being the aforementioned Eagle together with the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker, and in my skilled opinion, the Flanker’s 6:0 rating isn’t a large enough statistical pattern to benefit a Top 5 rating.

Image: Creative Commons.

An AV-8B Harrier from Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 214 performs a vertical take off from the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). Boxer is underway conducting coaching off the coast of Southern California.

The Harrier, then again, is credited with 20 confirmed kills for no losses and thus performed a key position in Britain’s victory over Argentina within the 1982 Falkland Islands War. And the Phantom, for all of its proud and very respectable fight historical past, can’t make a boast of that magnitude.

Agree or Disagree?

Okay, pricey readers, your ideas on my choices?  Agree or disagree, and why or not why not?  Let the robust feedback start.

Christian D. Orr is a former Air Force officer, Federal regulation enforcement officer, and personal navy contractor (with assignments labored in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon).  Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (focus in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).  He has additionally been revealed in The Daily Torch and The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security.