Which is the fastest fighter aircraft in the world?

Answer 1

It may appear strange that the fastest fighter was built 40 years ago, but it's not strange, because the philosophy of faster,higher,farther....from this conceptions come from the MiG-25 and the YF-12A experimental fighter (similar to SR-71) for tha planned but never built F-12B interceptor(in the early '60s).....
...around the end of '60s and the early '70s this philosophy ended(SR-71&YF-12A tooling machines destroyed in 1968, XB-70 cancelled in 1967) and then the new fighters were all designed to reach a max speed of about Mach 2, or even less (for example F-18 Hornet), because in air combats it's almost useless(but very expansive!!!) to have the ability to reach speeds bigger than mach 2 - 2.2...and because for air combat a speed around Mach 1.4-1.6 is enough...being faster is useful only to intercept the target in less time, but at the moment noone can afford the high costs for this little advantage of flying at Mach 3.

Answer 2

This is a tricky question. While the MiG-25 is the fastest combat aircraft, it is technically an Interceptor, not a fighter. The role of the interceptor is just to be up there to stop the bomber from delivering and thats why the MiG-25 is so fast.

The fastest FIGHTER would be the F-15 Eagle, but just as the MiG-25, the records set are by a stripped down Eagle.

Eagle a superplane? A magnificent aircraft, but superplane?

Answer 3

.

F15 Eagle.

Unlike the Soviets when the USA lies about performance we undersell. The mig25 legend was a stripped down unarmed, unarmoured, mig that made a single highspeed flight over Isreal to convince the west they had a superplane. The flight destroyed the engines and damaged the airframe. USA took the bait and developed the F15 Eagle. A real superplane. The first fighter that could accelerate vertically.

Let me clarify. Going straight up it can speed up.

Unfortunately The Eagle could outperform it's weakest component. The pilot. Thaey can make a plane that can pull 20 g's but they can't make a pilot that can.

That's why the ensuing trend to make slower but more versatile aircraft. And now the trend towards drones


The MiG-25 rated at Mach 3, and that was 30 years ago. Most of the top of the line military fighters max out around Mach 2.4- 2.5. They include The F-14, F-15, the old F-4 and F-104. Mirage 2000, F-21 Kfir, MiG-29 and now the F-22 Rapier. In sheer velocity nothing touched the MiG-25 Foxbat.








Seems to be the MIG-25

Strange that the fastest plane in the world was built 40 years ago.

* Speed over a 500 km circuit: 1,852.6 mph (2,981.5 km/h) set by Mikhail Komarov 5 October 1967
* Absolute altitude: 123,523 ft (37,650 m) set by Alexandr Fedotov 31 August 1977
* Time to climb to an altitude of 30,000 m: 3 min 10 sec set by Alexandr Fedotov 17 May 1975



.

F15 Eagle.

Unlike the Soviets when the USA lies about performance we undersell. The mig25 legend was a stripped down unarmed, unarmoured, mig that made a single highspeed flight over Isreal to convince the west they had a superplane. The flight destroyed the engines and damaged the airframe. USA took the bait and developed the F15 Eagle. A real superplane. The first fighter that could accelerate vertically.

Let me clarify. Going straight up it can speed up.

Unfortunately The Eagle could outperform it's weakest component. The pilot. Thaey can make a plane that can pull 20 g's but they can't make a pilot that can.

That's why the ensuing trend to make slower but more versatile aircraft. And now the trend towards drones.





It may appear strange that the fastest fighter was built 40 years ago, but it's not strange, because the philosophy of faster,higher,farther....from this conceptions come from the MiG-25 and the YF-12A experimental fighter (similar to SR-71) for tha planned but never built F-12B interceptor(in the early '60s).....
...around the end of '60s and the early '70s this philosophy ended(SR-71&YF-12A tooling machines destroyed in 1968, XB-70 cancelled in 1967) and then the new fighters were all designed to reach a max speed of about Mach 2, or even less (for example F-18 Hornet), because in air combats it's almost useless(but very expansive!!!) to have the ability to reach speeds bigger than mach 2 - 2.2...and because for air combat a speed around Mach 1.4-1.6 is enough...being faster is useful only to intercept the target in less time, but at the moment noone can afford the high costs for this little advantage of flying at Mach 3.

This is a tricky question. While the MiG-25 is the fastest combat aircraft, it is technically an Interceptor, not a fighter. The role of the interceptor is just to be up there to stop the bomber from delivering and thats why the MiG-25 is so fast.

The fastest FIGHTER would be the F-15 Eagle, but just as the MiG-25, the records set are by a stripped down Eagle.





Actually speed is useful, in beyond visual range engagements your missiles maximum range is determined not only by the mass and engine specs of the missile but also by the altitude and velocity of the launch platform. But in general specific excess energy, visibility and manoeuverability are much more important than top speed.

Interesting answers. The MiG 25 is a piece of junk. The only real service it ever saw was in the recon role, and it apparently wasn't very good at that, since they never really used it much. To get that much-advertised speed it had to destroy its engines. It was just a show piece. Operational aircraft that could exceed mach 2.5 any time of the day and twice on Sunday were the F-15 and before that the F-111. Even the F-106 was no slouch. Having done a little combat flying I have to differ with those who seem to indicate high speeds are pretty much useless. When someone on the ground or in another plane is in trouble, it helps to be able to get to them quickly. When you've expended all your ordinance and it's time to get out of Dodge, it most certainly helps to be able to outrun the bad guys.

The Russians have always built their aircraft on one principle, to be faster or bigger than that of the Western Powers.

Yes, the Mig25 was fast, but at great expense. It also featured antiquated avionics and hydraulic systems.

Speed won't do you a bit of good if you don't have sophisticated systems to go with it.




The fastest advertised is definitly the MiG-25, In reality I wouldnt count out the F-22 so easily. The military loves to throw out the lovley + sign after its propsed max airspeed

Answer 4

The MiG-25 rated at Mach 3, and that was 30 years ago. Most of the top of the line military fighters max out around Mach 2.4- 2.5. They include The F-14, F-15, the old F-4 and F-104. Mirage 2000, F-21 Kfir, MiG-29 and now the F-22 Rapier. In sheer velocity nothing touched the MiG-25 Foxbat.

Answer 5

Interesting answers. The MiG 25 is a piece of junk. The only real service it ever saw was in the recon role, and it apparently wasn't very good at that, since they never really used it much. To get that much-advertised speed it had to destroy its engines. It was just a show piece. Operational aircraft that could exceed mach 2.5 any time of the day and twice on Sunday were the F-15 and before that the F-111. Even the F-106 was no slouch. Having done a little combat flying I have to differ with those who seem to indicate high speeds are pretty much useless. When someone on the ground or in another plane is in trouble, it helps to be able to get to them quickly. When you've expended all your ordinance and it's time to get out of Dodge, it most certainly helps to be able to outrun the bad guys.

Answer 6

Don't kid yourself.

F15 Eagle.

Unlike the Soviets when the USA lies about performance we undersell. The mig25 legend was a stripped down unarmed, unarmoured, mig that made a single highspeed flight over Isreal to convince the west they had a superplane. The flight destroyed the engines and damaged the airframe. USA took the bait and developed the F15 Eagle. A real superplane. The first fighter that could accelerate vertically.

Let me clarify. Going straight up it can speed up.

Unfortunately The Eagle could outperform it's weakest component. The pilot. Thaey can make a plane that can pull 20 g's but they can't make a pilot that can.

That's why the ensuing trend to make slower but more versatile aircraft. And now the trend towards drones.

Answer 7

Seems to be the MIG-25

Strange that the fastest plane in the world was built 40 years ago.

* Speed over a 500 km circuit: 1,852.6 mph (2,981.5 km/h) set by Mikhail Komarov 5 October 1967
* Absolute altitude: 123,523 ft (37,650 m) set by Alexandr Fedotov 31 August 1977
* Time to climb to an altitude of 30,000 m: 3 min 10 sec set by Alexandr Fedotov 17 May 1975

Answer 8

The fastest advertised is definitly the MiG-25, In reality I wouldnt count out the F-22 so easily. The military loves to throw out the lovley + sign after its propsed max airspeed.

Answer 9

The Russians have always built their aircraft on one principle, to be faster or bigger than that of the Western Powers.

Yes, the Mig25 was fast, but at great expense. It also featured antiquated avionics and hydraulic systems.

Speed won't do you a bit of good if you don't have sophisticated systems to go with it.

Answer 10

Actually speed is useful, in beyond visual range engagements your missiles maximum range is determined not only by the mass and engine specs of the missile but also by the altitude and velocity of the launch platform. But in general specific excess energy, visibility and manoeuverability are much more important than top speed.