From a young age, we are taught that the military are here to protect us. Aside from guns, tanks and ships, most militaries make extensive use of aircraft too, where they fill a variety of roles. So what are the different types of military aircraft currently in service around the world?
Much like when we classify most things in life, most modern military aircraft don’t just fit in one category. Rather, they fit into several categories as manufacturers produce new variants of the same aircraft to keep up with the ever-changing nature of aerial warfare.
Fighters
Perhaps the type of aircraft we most associate with the military, the term “fighter” – or more often “fighter jet” – has become somewhat synonymous with military aircraft as a whole, especially in the eyes of the general public.
As their name would imply, fighters were built for one purpose: to fight, and ultimately destroy, other (enemy) aircraft during dogfights.
To fulfil this role, fighters are outfitted with an array of offensive weapons, including missiles, rockets, bombs, machine guns and cannons, which can be tailored to the aircraft’s specific role.
Additionally, most modern fighters are equipped with defensive weapons too, so they minimize their own chances of being shot down.
The most common defensive weapons employed on modern fighters are flares (for heat-seeking missiles as well as emergencies), Beyond-Visual-Range (BVR) radars, self-defense missiles and titanium armor to protect the pilot in the cockpit.
Notable military fighter aircraft include:
- McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Dassault Rafale
- Chengdu J-20
- Sukhoi Su-57
Bombers
Though they are becoming increasingly redundant thanks to the development of more accurate missile systems and drones (more on them later), several militaries – including the USAF and Russian Air Force – still make extensive use of bombers.
Historically, the main job of bombers were to fly from Point A to Point B, drop their payload on their target, and return back to base without being shot down by enemy fighters or air defense systems.
Today, however, the job of bombers are somewhat different. They still fly from Point A to Point B to drop their payload, but their payloads aren’t bombs; they’re naval mines or sometimes even humanitarian relief supplies.
And yes, their job is still to return to base without being shot down.
Other roles filled by modern bombers are as incursion aircraft, whereby the aircraft (typically unarmed) deliberately violates the airspace of another sovereign country with the sole purpose of monitoring that country’s response time.
When they are employed in the more traditional bomber role in the modern world, they usually do so when there is an express need to destroy a large target a missile or drone could not do due to their payload.
Notable bomber aircraft include:
- Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
- Avro Lancaster
- Tupolev Tu-95 Bear
- Junkers Ju-88
- Xian H-6
Multirole
Notable multirole aircraft include:
- Lockheed F-35 Lightning
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- General Dynamics F-16
- Chengdu J-10
- HAL Tejas
Transports
Often mistakenly referred to as cargo aircraft, military transport aircraft are used in a variety of roles, not just moving cargo from one place to another – even if that is the primary job of most military transports.
Notable military transport aircraft include:
- Lockheed C-130 Hercules
- Antonov An-12
- Boeing C-40 Clipper
- Xian Y-20
- Airbus A-400M Atlas
Trainers
Notable military trainers include:
- BAE Systems Hawk
- Pilatus PC-7
- Aero L-39 Albatross
- Northrop T-38 Talon
- Cessna T-41 Mescalero
Reconnaissance & Surveillance
Notable reconnaissance & surveillance aircraft include:
- Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady
- Boeing P-8 Poseidon
- Dassault Falcon 900 MPA
- Raytheon Sentinel
- Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Electronic Warfare
Notable electronic warfare aircraft include:
- Panavia Tornado ECR
- Tupolev Tu-16RM-2
- Boeing EA-18G Growler
- Shaanxi Y-8EW
- General Dynamics–Grumman EF-111A Raven
Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C)
Notable AEW&C aircraft include:
- Grumman E-2 Hawkeye
- Embraer R-99
- Beriev A-50
- KJ-2000
- Boeing E-3 Sentry (AWACS)
Helicopters
Notable military helicopters include:
- Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk
- Boeing CH-47 Chinook
- Mil Mi-8 “Halo”
- Bell UH-1 Huey
- Harbin Z-9
Experimental
Always wanting to keep one foot in the future, militaries the world over are tapping aircraft manufacturers for new aircraft to replace ageing aircraft or fill a brand new one.
Following the concepts round, whereby aircraft manufacturers submit concept designs, including projected specs and cost, a few are chosen to be developed into working prototypes.
Often a two or three way race, each manufacturer tests their aircraft extensively before unveiling them officially to the military, who then begin evaluating them so they can make the bets possible decision.
Notable experimental military aircraft include:
- Lockheed XF-35
- General Dynamics YF-16
- Sukhoi T-4
- De Havilland DH-108 Swallow
- Bell X-2
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
Notable military UAVs include:
- General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
- Dassault Neuron
- Elbit Hermes 900
- TAI Anka
- Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout
What do you think about the types of military aircraft? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Airwolfhound via Flickr.