FIGHTER AIRCRAFT

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. Fighters are comparatively small, fast, and maneuverable. Fighter aircraft are the primary means by which armed forces gain air superiority। At least since World War II, air superiority has been a crucial component of victory in most modern warfare, particularly "conventional" warfare between regular armies, and their acquisition and maintenance represent a very substantial proportion of military budgets in militaries that maintain modern fighter forces.

An A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-86 Sabre, P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang fly in formation during an air show at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. The formation displays two generations of Air Force fighter aircraft, and an attack aircraft (the A-10).