Specifically US based fighter aircraft; why do we skip numbers? I mean we went from the F-14 , F-16, (no F-17?) F-18, then jumped from that to the F-22 and the YF-23 and now the F-35. I assumed it was a generational thing at first then I thought, “What about the F-117 Nighthawk and the SR 71 Blackbird…?”
Edit: Thank you all for your quick replies, it was a conversation topic that popped up at my job and figured I’d ask the fine folks here who are more versed in this sort of thing.
Also…I know the SR-71 isn’t a fighter and was used for recon missions. -_-
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You mean you haven’t heard of the F-15 Eagle, or the YF-17 (which lost out to the F-18) or the YF-23 (lost out to the F-22.). You’re only seeing the numbers of the planes which were accepted into service so there will be gaps in the model numbers of in-service aircraft.
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