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In current military parlance, a strike fighter is a multirole combat aircraft designed to operate primarily in the air-to-surface attack role while also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers. It is a closely related concept to interdictor aircraft, but it puts more emphasis on air-to-air combat capabilities as a multirole combat aircraft. Examples of contemporary American strike fighters are the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
Beginning in the 1940s, the term "strike fighter" was occasionally used in navies to refer to fighter aircraft capable of performing air-to-surface strikes, such as the Westland Wyvern[1] and Blackburn Firebrand.[2] It entered normal use in the United States Navy[3] by the end of the 1970s, becoming the official[4] description of the new McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. In 1983, the U.S. Navy even renamed each existing Fighter Attack Squadron to Strike Fighter Squadron to emphasize[5] the air-to-surface mission (as the "Fighter Attack" designation was confused with the "Fighter" designation, which flew pure air-to-air missions).
This name quickly spread to non-maritime use. When the F-15E Strike Eagle came into service, it was originally called a "dual role fighter",[6] but it instead quickly became known as a "strike fighter".
In 1995, the U.S. military's Joint Advanced Strike Technology program changed its name to the Joint Strike Fighter program.[7] The project consequently resulted in the development of the F-35 Lightning II family of fifth generation multirole fighters to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability.
United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Military aircraft, China
United States, Russia, China, India, United Kingdom
World War II, Military aircraft, United States Army, Close air support, United States Navy
United States Air Force, American Civil War, World War I, World War II, Military transport aircraft
Bombardier Aerospace, Bombardier Challenger 600 series, Cargo aircraft, Canada, Montreal
Blackburn Aircraft, Blackburn B-54, Blackburn Firebrand, Fleet Air Arm, United Kingdom