Fighter jets are probably the most iconic,
and bad ass, weapon in any nation's military. They patrol the skies like giant predatory
birds, screaming down onto their targets from out of the blue, or lurking unseen miles away
like a deadly assassin. They are loud, powerful, and some are on the
bleeding edge of technology itself- so its no surprise that their history and development
is filled with amazing facts you probably never heard of. Hello, and welcome to another episode of The
Infographics Show- today we're taking a look at 50 surprising facts you didn't know about
fighter jets. 50. The F4 Phantom, developed by the United States,
was nicknamed the “World's Leading Distributor of MiG Parts” because it destroyed so many
MiG fighters in combat around the world. 49. After the terror attacks of 9/11, the US Air
Force dispatched combat air patrols to guard from further attacks. Yet before the Air Force could spin up combat-ready
jets, Air National Guard fighters had already taken to the skies- without any missiles or
live ammunition. These brave pilots knew that further attacks
could be imminent and people needed protection right now- so they committed to crashing their
fighters into any hijacked planes as the only means of taking them down. 48. Though not technically using a fighter jet,
this one's still too cool to leave out. During WWII Russian fighter pilot and “Hero
of the Soviet Union” T. Kuznetsov was shot down in enemy territory. When the German pilot landed, possibly to
look for survivors or souvenirs from Kuznetsov's wreck, Kuznetsov stole the German plane and
flew it home, narrowly avoiding being shot down by his own countrymen! 47. In 1989 a Soviet pilot ejected from a perfectly
working MIG 23 thinking the plane's engine had failed. The unpiloted plane instead flew over 560
miles on its own, crossing Germany and eventually running out of fuel and crashing into a house
in Belgium where it killed one teenager. 46. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was so fast the
designers told its pilots to not even worry about evasive maneuvers- they simply told
them to put the pedal to the metal and accelerate and out-fly any threat to include missiles. 45. The SR-71's designers were probably so confident
in their plane's abilities because although its true top speed is still classified, one
of its pilots wrote in his book 'The Untouchables' that he once evaded an anti-air missile by
flying at an astonishing Mach 3.5. 44. Moving at three times the speed of sound and
flying at 85,000 feet, the SR-71 existed before GPS and thus used an onboard camera that looked
into space and used the position of the stars above to navigate accurately. Because it sat behind the pilot, its navigation
system was officially designated R2-D2. 43. The SR-71 is still the fastest plane ever
created, and first took flight for the US Air Force in 1964. NASA retired its last model in 1999. 42. Over 4,000 missiles were fired at the SR-71
during its lifetime, and not a single one ever hit- the plane was just too fast. 41. The plane required a large amount of titanium
to construct, so the CIA created fake companies around the world and bought the metal from
the USSR which was the biggest supplier at the time- and both the US's enemy and the
number 1 target of SR-71 missions! 40. The Lockheed U-2, another of its famed spy
planes and progenitor to the SR-71, first took flight in 1955 and flew at 70,000 feet-
out of reach of both missiles and radar in use by the Soviet Union at the time. 39. The plane was rejected by the US Air Force
because of its non-traditional landing gear which made the plane difficult to land. The CIA saw the potential for this untouchable
aircraft though and immediately moved forward with the project. 38. U2 pilots flew so high that they had to wear
space suits which limited their vision and made the plane difficult to land. A chase car was used instead to call out altitudes
and help the pilots land. 37. On May 1, 1960, it was revealed that the Soviet
Union had indeed been able to track U2 planes- but their missiles weren't good enough to
hit them for years. On that day pilot Gary Powers was shot down
over the Soviet Union, and the US government immediately contracted Lockheed to build a
better spy plane- the SR-71. 36. Every retired F-14 Tomcat that the United
States has in inventory is being shredded to prevent spare parts reaching Iran, who
still fly F-14s sold to them by the US before the revolution in the 70s. 35. The US-made F-15 Eagle has, across all air
forces it serves in, a air-to-air combat record of 104 kills and 0 losses. No air superiority versions of the F-15 have
ever been shot down by enemy forces. 34. In 1983 an Israeli pilot successfully landed
his F-15 with only one wing intact, not realizing the extent of the damage his plane had suffered. After he stated that if he had known he would
have ejected from the aircraft. 33. The F-15 can also add the only satellite kill
in history to its impressive record. During an anti-satellite weapon test, USAF
pilot Major Wilbert D. Pearson fired an anti-satellite missile at a retired solar observatory satellite
in orbit 345 miles above, destroying it. 32. Breaking the sound barrier was thought impossible
by many, who stated that doing so was not just physically impossible but would destroy
any aircraft attempting to fly so fast- yet on October 14th, 1947 US pilot Chuck Yeager
did exactly that, flying at Mach 1.07 in the experimental X-1 jet. 31. Nobody expected Chuck Yeager or his aircraft
to survive the attempt to break the sound barrier, and the answer to many of the technical
challenges that plagued the X-1 program was simply “Yeager better have paid up his insurance”. 30. Two days before his test flight, Yeager fell
off a horse and broke two of his ribs. Afraid he would be grounded and unable to
fly, Yeager went to a civilian doctor who simply taped up his ribs and kept the injury
secret. He was in so much pain on the day of his flight
that he couldn't seal the X-1s hatch by himself and had to be helped by a fellow pilot who
knew of the injury. 29. In June 1974, while President Nixon was on
his way to a scheduled stop in Syria, Syrian fighter jets intercepted Air Force One to
act as escorts. Air Force One's crew however had not been
informed and the plane took evasive actions to include a steep dive. 28. The F-22 is the world's first Fifth Generation
Aircraft, and as such was prone to many bugs when first taking to the skies. Taking off from Hawaii, the first time an
F-22 crossed the international date line it had a massive computer failure and had to
turn back and land. 27. Though it first became operational in the
early 2000s, F-22s didn't see combat until 2014 when in response to the deployment of
anti-air missile systems and fighter jets in the region by Russia, F-22s began to escort
coalition aircraft. Ensuring the safety of other aircraft, the
high-tech Raptors also used their electronic warfare suites to gather data on Russian anti-air
systems. 26. The F-22 has a range of 2,000 miles (3,219
kilometers), and can cruise at 1,500 miles (2414 kilometers) an hour without afterburners. 25. The F-22 has a radar cross-section the size
of a bumblebee while in flight and its weapons bay doors are closed, while its powerful onboard
sensors allow the aircraft to target and destroy enemies from Beyond Visual Range well before
it is detected. 24. In exercises against friendly nations such
as Britain and France, F-22s overwhelmingly decimated Rafael and Typhoon fighter jets
by striking at them from Beyond Visual Range and before they could be detected. 23. When the parameters of those exercises were
redrawn however and F-22s were forced to fight at close quarters, French Rafael and British
Typhoon jets broke even or even outgunned their F-22 counterparts. This is because the F-22 is designed to be
an assassin, not a traditional fighter, and would rely on its stealth, speed and high-tech
sensors to strike before being seen. 22. During testing an F-22 dropped a GBU-32 Joint
Direct Attack Munition from 50,000 feet and while cruising at Mach 1.5- the bomb hit a
moving target 24 miles away. 21. The US Air Force typically tests the quality
of its new aircraft by pitting them against current aircraft. In 2006 the F-22 was pitted against the F-15
and maintained a kill ratio of 108:0- highest kill ratio of a new aircraft versus current
aircraft ever achieved. 20. The F-22 is the only aircraft in the world
able to supercruise at supersonic speeds with full weapons loadout and without using fuel-inefficient
afterburners. 19. The F-22 inspired the development of China's
Chengdu-20 and Russia's Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA as a countermeasure. Of the two, defense analysts around the world
only ever considered the Sukhoi T-50 as serious competition, but with the recent announcement
that Russia was indefinitely postponing its 5th generation aircraft program there seems
to be no real competitor in the immediate future for the Raptor. 18. In 1956 due to its high speed, an F11 shot
itself because it was faster than its own bullets. 17. The F-35 is the US's second Fifth Generation
Aircraft, and the total cost of development is so far 7 times greater than that of the
International Space Station. 16. The Russian-built Su-35 is the pinnacle of
Russian Fourth Generation Fighter jets, and also the most maneuverable aircraft in the
world. It uses thrust vectoring engines much like
the F-22, but with a greater range and the ability to vector the nozzles of its twin
engines in different directions. Its capable of acrobatic maneuvers the F-22
can't match. 15. The Su-35's incredible thrust-vectoring capabilities
are not just for impressing audiences at airshows- they also allow the Su-35 to achieve very
high angles of attack, moving in one direction while pointing its nose in another which lets
it more easily track and target evading targets. This makes the Su-35 one of the most deadly
dogfighters ever created. 14. An Su-35's thrust vectoring may make it lethal
when targeting an enemy plane, but leaves it in a very low speed and low energy state
that makes it easy prey for other enemy fighters if not protected by its wingman. 13. Though not a stealth aircraft, the Su-35's
radar-absorbent materials give it a radar cross section between one and three meters,
reducing the range it can be detected and targeted. 12. Su-35 pilots use advanced flight helmets that
can automatically target and launch an R-74 infrared-guided missile by the pilot simply
looking through a helm-mounted optical sight at an enemy plane up to sixty degrees away
from where the plane is pointed. 11. Utilizing the IRBIS-E passive electronically
scanned array radar, an Su-35 can track up to thirty targets with a radar cross section
of three meters up to 250 miles away, and targets with cross-sections as small as .1
meters from fifty miles away. This radar however is easier to detect and
jam than the AESA radars used by the West. 10. The German-made Me 262 was the world's first
operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, and its pilots scored 542 kills on allied
aircraft. 9. During operational trials, Me 262s scored
19 kills against allied aircraft versus the loss of 6 Me 262s- immediately making it Germany's
top fighter. 8. Despite its effectiveness though, the Me 262
was plagued by too much bureaucratic oversight which postponed its development and manufacture
until late in the war when materials were short and Germany's manufacturing base was
under constant attack by the allies. Had the jet been cleared for development earlier,
the outcome of the war may have been much different. 7. The F-35 is not only the most expensive fighter
ever built, it is also made up of 300,000 separate parts made by 1,500 suppliers from
all over the world. 6. Despite being the most high-tech aircraft
in the world, during development the F-35 had serious issues with its oxygen generation
and delivery systems, potentially putting the pilot's life at risk. 5. The F-35's flight systems are the most advanced
in the world, and all together its Electronic Warfare, Radar, Communication, Navigation
and Identification, Electro-Optical Targeting, and Distributed Aperture System all use over
8 million lines of code- more than any other plane in the air. 4. Developed specifically for the F-35, its Pratt
& Whitney F135 engine is an afterburning turbofan capable of generating 41,000 pounds of thrust. 3. With the addition of a lift fan to the front
of the aircraft and a vectoring duct to the engine, the F-35 is the only fifth-generation
aircraft ever designed that can land vertically. 2. Despite its own impressive capabilities, the
F-35 is even more impressive in its ability to support other aircraft. Its powerful sensor fusion and information
distribution capabilities makes each F-35 a miniature AWACS, pumping out targeting information
to all friendly aircraft within range. The F-35 is even able to guide in missiles
fired by other, non-stealth aircraft to their targets! 1. During World War II, in order to hide the
development of their radar and explain their ability to detect and target German planes
from such long distances, British pilots started a rumor that carrots give great night vision. German pilots immediately started eating large
amounts of carrots. What other incredible or amazing facts about
fighter jets do you know of? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
called 50 Surprising Facts About Cold War! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!”
