Evolution of Fighter Jets | Koala Explains: Fighter Generations and their Differences

hi tripps koala here since world war ii fighter jets have seen development and advancement on an enormous scale from straight-wing turbojet cannon fighters to after-burning delta form interceptors with early generation air-to-air missiles and now multi-role stealth aircraft equipped with phased array radars digital controls thrust vectoring turbofans and deadly missiles with ranges of over 100 kilometers with such radical differences between a jet from the 40s compared to one from the 60s or 80s it is necessary to break them up into generational categories defining errors capabilities and designs as with all history each generation inspired its successor with different priorities based on the requirements of the time in general though what one generation brings in terms of new technology the following generation will expand upon along with its own new directions for example while aircraft radar had existed long before the first operational jet fighters the ideology of a search and track radar that could be used to direct weapons was only first implemented on the second generation of fighters before being heavily improved with the third and mastered with the fourth in today's world fifth generation fighter jets have brought technologies like radar stealth to the table while the consequent sixth generation will increase the wide availability and popularity of such factors and their affordability as well as improving on the initial stealth designs seen today these generational differences and definitions however are not universally agreed upon with some arguing as to what classifies a fighter as a certain generation and where the splits should be as well as older designations becoming outdated when newer fighters and technologies come into being in this video we're going through all six generations of fighters according to the designations of the air power development center and aerospace web which are the generally accepted and most common definitions looking at their differences and what makes an aircraft belong to a particular generation according to the scheme as well as how different aircraft from each generation made advancements in technology which shaped the course of their history video is brought to you by supporters like you thanks for letting me keep doing this the oldest generation of fighter jets and the first on our list today began with nazi germany's messerschmitt 262 which first flew in 1942 along with the gloucester meteor from britain these aircraft entered service while propeller driven fighters were still all the rage and they honestly weren't much faster in fact some of them were slower than some of the piston engine fighters they were being built alongside these aircraft didn't yet have technologies such as air-to-air missiles radars for the most part or much in the way of avionics they often had straight rather than swept wings and an average speed in the 800 to 1000 kilometers per hour range the first generation includes the f-80 shooting star the javelin vampire and venom the soviet mig-9 right the way up to the korean war-era f-86 sabre and f9f panther mig-15 and mig-17 and hawker hunter the late aircraft from this generation all had swept wings and did begin to dabble in the use of guided air-to-air munitions such as the aim-4 falcon de havilland fire streak and the earliest variants of the aim-7 sparrow and aim-9 sidewinder although the primary use case of such early missiles was for intercepting large unmaneuverable bombers aircraft like the f-89d scorpion also saw the use of trays filled with large numbers of unguided rockets for this purpose rather than two or four guided missiles and the first carrier-borne jets belong in this series too the second generation of jet fighter aircraft began with the mikoyan mig-19 and f-100 super saber in the early 1950s and brought jet fighters up above supersonic speeds featuring predominantly aircraft with afterburning engines allowing for much better high altitude performance the second generation of fighters incorporated the use of search and track radars and saw missile technologies drastically improve although retained a primary focus on gun armament with the us navy's f8 crusader of this generation receiving the nickname of the last gunfighter the second generation of fighters saw speed increases from barely supersonic to mach 2 and beyond and featured predominantly types meant for interception missions such as the convair f-102 delta dagger lockheed's f-104 starfighter the english electric lightning sukhoi's su-9 and the very famous mig-21 fishbed the standard design of this time focused on a high climb rate and service ceilings at the cost of long range and versatility popularizing the use of externally mounted fuel tanks carried like bombs that had begun to see use on the first gen aircraft and even some older piston fighters also included in this generation were fighter bombers such as the f-105 thunder chief and su-7 and the delta wing mirage 3 from france and j-35 draken from sweden the latter two along with the crusader being some of the only second generation fighters to actually prioritize dog fighting capability over high speed and high altitude intercept missions aircraft from this generation saw use right the way through to the end of the century with the french variant of the f8 crusader an italian variant of the f-104 being finally retired in 1999 and 2004 respectively what about the mig-21 well we'll revisit that halfway through the pack we step into the third generation of fighter jets beginning with the very american mcdonnell f4 phantom 2 which although entered service in 1960 before the mirage is considered belonging to gen 3 given its design influence and capabilities also including the mequon mig-23 and mig-27 mirage f1 series saab vegan cepcat jaguar and harrier family these aircraft generally prioritized multi-role capability carrying substantial ground attack weaponry while still being capable of air-to-air missions a balance which the previous generation lacked seeing huge upgrades to radar and missile technology including more beyond visual range missiles guns were replaced as the primary weapon of choice for air combat and air-to-ground missiles such as the hm65 maverick and its contemporaries became widespread for use in the anti-armor role countermeasures such as flair and chaff began to see common use as well as radar warning receivers letting pilots know if another aircraft was detecting or locking them on their own radar range and endurance were improved with increased numbers of hardpoints for missiles conventional bombs or fuel pods generally speaking the 3rd gen aircraft were still quite sluggish especially in the case of the mig-23 as well as the mig-25 fox-bat long-range interceptor which sits among the fastest fighters ever built with speeds of up to mach 3. most aircraft of this generation weren't so fast and while many pushed past mach 2 with the f4 and mig-23 both reaching over mach 2.3 at high altitudes just as many never hit these types of speeds at all with the jaguar northrop's f5 and mitsubishi's f1 reaching around mach 1.7 and the harriers topping out at a pedestrian 1100 kilometers per hour the predominant feature of gen 3 fighters is that they can be self-sufficient with their highly capable search and track radars including the use of pulse doppler radar which is able to filter out ground clutter as well as a wide variety of weapons these factors coupled with its multi-mission capability is what makes the f4 a third generation and not a second generation fighter despite being produced before some gen ii aircraft the previously mentioned aircraft the jaguar and harrier however do lack radar completely at least on the first generation of harriers often leading to them being left out of the third generation of fighters or included with asterisks as their primary role was ground attack not air combat it's here that we should mention how generations can not only be difficult to find a definitive line between but sometimes have no line at all with later variants of the mig-21 actually surpassing aircraft like the mig-23 and mirage f1 in capability and therefore being included in the third generation as well as the second updates to weapons over time such as high off-bar sight dogfight missiles and more capable bvr missiles rendered aircraft that could be upgraded with the new weapons much more capable than those that could not even if their routes lay in the previous generation the third generation of fighters sees various models still being used to this day such as the f4 and latest variants of the mig-21 and mig-23 as well as the jaguar and the harry r2 family with the mirage f1 only being fully retired in the last half decade or so the fourth generation brought back a heavy focus on dogfighting and maneuverability while also upgrading avionics including heads-up displays missile approach warning systems and data linking beginning in the mid-1970s with the adoption of the us navy's f-14 tomcat the 4th gen fighters also see the use of active radar homing missiles such as the m54 phoenix and later aim 120 amram and r-77 after lessons learned during vietnam called for less multi-role capability which had come at the expense of air combat effectiveness a heavy focus was placed on so-called energy maneuverability theory leading to even some of the heavier gen 4 aircraft outmaneuvering the more nimble examples of gen 3. the soviet union took this to a whole new level with the mikkoyan mig-29 fulcrum and sukhoi su-27 flanker series displaying super maneuverability that is maneuvering capability that can't be achieved with regular controls allowing for excellent nose authority during stalling maneuvers this maneuverability did not come at the expense of endurance range or carrying capacity however with the extremely nimble fi-18 hornet entering servers in the mid-1980s also carrying an enormous arsenal of ground attack weapon this generation is by far the most numerous today including aircraft like the f-16 mirage 2000 and jf-17 thunder along with some more specialized ground attack or interceptor types like the panavia tornado or mig-31 respectively most fourth generation fighters feature fly-by-wire controls making it much easier for the pilot to control the aircraft while some level of artificial force feedback gives the pilot more of a sense of actually feeling the air and thrust-to-weight ratios around or exceeding one-to-one are common although not a definitive trade of the generation 4th generation fighters are capable of rapid deployment and have advanced radars capable of easily distinguishing targets even against the ground with variants of the f-15 eagle showing off the first active electronically scanned array or aesa radars although returning to more dedicated aerial superiority type designs capable of turn fighting much more effectively than the previous generation fighters the phenomenal capabilities of long-range missiles especially in the post-gulf war period makes the prospect of a dogfight between such aircraft extremely rare while guns are still included on such aircraft their primary use is for air-to-ground strafing runs in support of ground troops and later fourth generation examples that did step back into multi-role functionality include missiles that are able to be launched by the aircraft but then guided by troops on the ground or other forces in the area it has been rare that the fourth generation fighters have gone up against each other at all with most air-to-air engagements seeing use against older gen 3 or even gen 2 fighters leading to these types of aircraft generally having high kill to loss ratios although in the case of the russian mig-29 its widespread sail to nations with small untrained air forces has led to a relatively poor combat history for this aircraft within the fourth generation there's also what many call the four and a half generation of four point fifth generation fighters sometimes referred to as generation four plus this will include aircraft like the f-15e strike eagle f a-18e and f-a-18f super hornet variants as well as the european brothers the eurofighter typhoon dassault rafale and saab 39 gripen later variants of the su-30 the su-33 and su-35 are also considered 4.5th gen fighters upgrades to these aircraft include phased array radars helmet-mounted sights for high-off bosslight missile launches full multi-role capability with advanced and precise outer surface ordnance and highly advanced navigational and data linking systems with more of a digital age influence the su-34 is also an example of a dedicated ground attack platform from the generation four and a half although these are quite rare in many ways what defines a fourth and especially 4.5th gen fighter particularly in u.s service with a strike eagle and super hornet is the ability to be loaded up with ground ordnance without stepping away from air-to-air capability something even the multi-role gen 3s could not do these aircraft are expected to serve with their own nations for at least another decade and given their versatility and commonality will likely be sold on to more and more export customers after that predicted to see service until somewhere around 2050 and even then what kills them will be a lack of spare parts for maintaining these jets rather than a lack of employability the fifth generation of fighters is rather easy to define only consisting of half a dozen models the f-22 raptor and f-35 lightning from the us the russian sukhoi su-57 and china's chengdu j-20 and xinyang j-31 there is also the prototype x2 shin chin from japan and some other studies into development of fifth generation fighters by nations like india and turkey the latter of which developing the tfx which is expected to make its first flight in the next couple of years kicking off with the f-22 which entered service in 2005 these aircraft prioritize low radar observability or stealth featuring internal weapons bays radar absorbent coating highly digitized controls and systems and sleek angular designs that prevent radar waves from bouncing back to their origin masking the radar signature of the aircraft another feature of such aircraft is thrust vectoring making them some of the most maneuverable fighters ever built turning tighter than their older generation contemporaries and maintaining nose authority almost perfectly in a stall although not necessarily unique to this generation of aircraft in fact the f-35 lightning does not have thrust vectoring in regular flight the only 5th gen aircraft to lack the technology only the su-35 and prototype models of older aircraft such as the f-15 active and f-16 vista featured thrust vectoring before the fifth generation with the f-35 lightning seeing enormous popularity among export customers gen 5 may lack a variety of models but certainly does not lack for production numbers with the us alone expected to operate well over 2 000 f-35s with production only scheduled to end in 2044 and a service life projected to extend into the 2070s the next generation of fighters is currently in development with little concrete data although known designs such as the american faxx british tempest and the future combat air system or fcas being joint developed by germany france and spain all seem to be incremental improvements of the general design pioneered by the 5th gen fighters with extremely low radar observability virtual reality visor systems which actually allow the pilot to see through the aircraft itself below or behind them highly capable networking and data linking and possibly higher speeds and service ceilings than any fighters preceding them the sixth generation of fighter aircraft is expected to truly unveil itself in the latter half of the 2020s beginning in earnest the following decade this generation would likely be more universally approached or in other words more nations will take part in design and manufacture of domestically developed sixth generation fighters than that of gen 5. while many nations elected to simply purchase the us-designed f-35 china's j-31 promising to become available to customers denied the american fighter the sixth generation will likely be quite different with each nation tailoring their 6th gen aircraft to fit specific needs rather than the one-size-fits-all design of the f-35 this new generation also promises to be less homogenized than the current with designs like the mig-41 varying significantly from the faxx in turn quite different from the f cast of tempest and more unique designs such as japan's fx concept will likely unveil themselves this decade sixth generation fighter jets will also likely be proponents of directed energy or in other words laser weaponry in mainly active defense and even potentially offensive roles as well as allowing modularity with unmanned variants of such aircraft being readily available and not just weapon hardpoints but primary aircraft components being easily swappable depending on mission requirements laser weaponry on fighter aircraft is probably worth a whole video of its own or maybe three but the basic requirement will place a focus on aircraft being able to generate the electrical power to run something like lockheed's helios laser which is currently being fitted to us navy destroyers for testing and supposedly will see use on sex gen fighters although possibly not the first models whatever other technologies the sixth generation may delve into you can bet that they'll pave the way for improved examples on the seventh generation of fighter aircraft and given that service lies are getting longer and longer these futuristic fighters will likely be serving for more than a hundred years well that's that is it for this video i hope you have enjoyed and perhaps learned something please leave a like which really helps me out subscribe for more military content every single week and make sure to leave a comment below i find it incredibly interesting personally how fighters from one generation really changed what would be prioritized in the next like how the presence of the mig-21 in vietnam and aircraft in turn partly inspired by us multi-roles in generation one really spoiled the us to create more nimble dog fighting aircraft in the fourth generations which could counter and actually outmaneuver the highly successful fishbeds they've been fighting you know in the future who knows with sixth generation aircraft looking like they will at some point if not straight away bring laser-based active missile defense systems to the table we may see seventh generation aircraft starting to delve into lasers as an offensive weapon i know that's something that people have fantasized about as if it's science fiction but it may only be just on the horizon when the sixth generation begins to bring us into this type of technology and the seventh generation takes off from where they left off speaking of the fishbed if you hadn't seen our many documentary on the mig-21 then go check it out in the cards and the video description below and let me know what other aircraft or ground vehicles you'd like to see covered next time if you wish to support this channel then i would hugely appreciate you checking out our patreon whether our unique tiers and rewards and until next time thank you for watching and i'll catch you lads in the skies there's his fox one i heard that one come right past me and there's the marge unfortunately i couldn't launch a second one there we're gonna switch sidewinders

Channel: Armor Cast

Views: 1,209,258

Keywords: fighter jet generations, fighter generations explained, f-22 raptor, generations of jet fighters, jet fighter generations, 6th generation fighter, 5th generation fighter jets, 6th generation fighter jets, next generation fighter, 3rd generation fighter jets, 4th generation fighter jets, fighter aircraft generations, generations of fighter jets, different generations of fighter jets, 1st generation fighter jets, 2nd generation fighter jets, mig-41, fcas fighter, bae tempest

Id: B__4xSGTvHc

Length: 19min 9sec (1149 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 26 2021