What are fighter jets like?

A fighter jet is built around three requirements: speed, agility and the ability to see the opponent first. Hence its characteristic silhouette: narrow fuselage, small wings with a sharp sweep or delta shape, small tail surfaces and a bubble canopy offering all-around visibility. The thrust-to-weight ratio, close to 1 or higher with low fuel, allows it to accelerate vertically and turn under loads of up to 9 g, for which the pilot wears an anti-g suit.

Most use one or two low-bypass turbofans with afterburners, which multiply thrust by burning fuel in the exhaust at the cost of enormous fuel consumption. Some, like the F-22 or the Eurofighter Typhoon, sustain supersonic flight without afterburner. The nose houses a radar, today typically an active electronically scanned array, capable of tracking dozens of targets beyond 150 km; it is complemented by infrared sensors, radar warning receivers and data links that share the tactical picture with other aircraft. The armament combines a 20 to 30 mm cannon with short-range infrared-guided and medium-range radar-guided air-to-air missiles, plus guided bombs on multirole fighters.

People speak of generations: the fourth (F-16, F/A-18, Su-27, Mirage 2000) introduced fly-by-wire controls and multimode radars; the fifth (F-22, F-35, Su-57, J-20) adds low observability, internal weapons bays and sensor fusion. In the cockpit the pilot sits in an ejection seat, with HOTAS controls that concentrate functions on the stick and throttle, multifunction displays and a helmet-mounted sight. All of this makes the fighter one of the most expensive aircraft to operate: each flight hour costs several tens of thousands of euros in fuel, spare parts and maintenance.