From what I understand, we have the F-15, F-16, F-117, F-22 and F-35.
Why do we need all these different models? I assume each specializes in something…what is it?
In: Engineering
F-15: adopted in 1974, designed to be an air superiority fighter. Take down enemy aircraft.
F-16: adopted in 1979, designed to be a multi-role aircraft that could carry out both air to air and air to ground missions. Being a fighter and capable of striking ground targets.
F-117: adopted in 1982, the “Nighthawk” was a stealth aircraft designed to carry out ground strike missions undetected
F-22: adopted in 1997, the raptor was/is meant to replace the older F-15s as the prime air superiority fighter, taking down enemy aircraft.
F-35: adopted in 2015, the F-35 was meant to be another multi-role aircraft capable of both air to air fights and air to ground strike missions, replacing the F-16. The F-35 has also ended up with multiple variants to achieve different design goals.
The F-117 is technically retired since 2008, but still gets flown sometimes.
F-22s and F-35s are meant to be the USA modern air force, but we still have plenty of perfectly good F-15 and F-16 planes around (hundreds of them). And they still work just fine, especially when you consider that these planes from The 70s could still go toe to toe with that majority of other countries’ air forces.
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