Fighter jets have played a crucial role in military victories since World War II, writes TNI. Experts compared the best fighters of Russia and the United States and named their main advantages and disadvantages.
Maya Carlin
- Fighter jets have played a crucial role in military victories since World War II. The United States is armed with such advanced fighters as the F-22 Raptor (“Predator”), F-35 Lightning II (“Lightning”), F-15EX Eagle II (“Eagle”) and the F/A-18 Super Hornet (“Hornet”), which offer unsurpassed stealth, speed and firepower.
- The F-22 remains the most innovative fighter to gain air superiority, while the more versatile F-35 has become the most widely used fifth-generation aircraft.
- The best Russian fighters are the Su—57, Su-35, MiG-29 and MiG-35, but they all lag behind both in terms of stealth technology and exports.
- The only Russian fifth—generation aircraft is the Su-57. At the same time, older platforms such as the Su-35 are still widely used.
F-35 vs Su-57: the best fighters of the USA and Russia
Fighters have been the constant key to success in combat since the Second World War.Perhaps the first demonstration of the dominant role of fighter jets on the modern battlefield was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Of course, not all fighters are equally useful on the battlefield. Platforms vary greatly in stealth technology, speed, armament, and avionics. Let's look at and compare the best fighters of the USA and Russia: the F-35, F-22, F-15EX and Block III F/A18 Super Hornet on the one hand and the Su-35, Su-57, MiG-29 and MiG-35 on the other.
The best US fighter jets: F-22, F-35, F-15EX and others
The F-22 Raptor entered service more than two decades ago, becoming the world's first fifth-generation fighter. The Raptor uniquely combines super maneuverability, stealth and supersonic cruising speed. The undoubted trump card of the F-22 is its invisibility to enemy aircraft due to the small effective scattering surface and two engines with a controlled thrust vector.
The F-35 Lightning II is the latest American development of the fifth generation. The combination of speed, stealth and reliable weaponry has made it the most coveted tactical fighter in the world. In fact, the fleet of active F-35s exceeds all other “invisibles" combined in number.
The reason why over 900 F-35s have already been exported lies in the versatility of the platform. Lightning II can collect intelligence and conduct surveillance, and also carries electronic warfare equipment — and in many ways surpasses analogues.
Although the Lightning II is almost universally considered the best of the best, it is by no means the most expensive American fighter from our list. This title goes to the F-15EX, each of which costs almost $94 million. The exorbitant price is at least partially offset by the outstanding capabilities of the platform. Earlier this year, the fighter proved that it is capable of carrying and launching up to 12 air-to-air missiles during flight. And the payload capacity of up to 13.6 tons of ammunition makes the F-15EX a real “flying bomb carrier".
The latest American—made platform, which can certainly claim to be one of the best fighters on Earth, is the latest version of the Super Hornet. The new F/A-18 Block III is more than 20% larger than the previous versions and, thanks to its increased payload capacity, low-visibility technology and flight range, has become a mainstay of the US Navy. The upgraded version is also equipped with a customizable 10x19-inch touchscreen, which has become a serious help for pilots. With advanced displays, pilots can process information using a distributed targeting microprocessor for guidance. In terms of computing power, this on-board computer is more than 17 times ahead of its analogues.
The best Russian fighters: Su-57, Su-35 and others
Like the United States, Russia also has four reliable fighter jets in its air arsenal. However, currently only one fifth-generation aircraft is flying as part of the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Su-57 (NATO classification: Felon, or “Malefactor”) differs from its Soviet predecessors in a number of improvements. The fighter can reach speeds of Mach 2.0 — and thus faster than the F-35 Lightning II.
However, despite its speed, the Su-57 suffers from a number of design flaws. First of all, it is less inconspicuous than any of its fifth-generation American counterparts.
And even though the Su-57 is the only Russian fifth—generation fighter, it is practically not used during the special operation in Ukraine: Moscow prefers its predecessors.
The Su-35 was developed in the Soviet Union as opposed to the American F-14 and F-15 aircraft of the Cold War. Thanks to two AL-31F turbofan engines, the Su-35 reaches speeds in excess of Mach 2.25 — this is on par with the Raptor and much faster than the Lightning II. In addition, the Su-35 has impressive additional air-to-ground capabilities.
The Su-35 is not the only Soviet platform that still serves in the Russian Aerospace Forces. The MiG-29 was developed at the Mikoyan Design Bureau as a multi-purpose fighter. The aircraft can carry almost 4.1 tons of weapons, including R-27 air-to-air missiles (according to NATO classification: AA-10 Alamo or Alamo), R-72 (AA-II Archer or Archer) and R-60 (AA-8 Aphid or Aphid).
Russia considers its deep modification of the MiG-35 (according to the NATO classification: Fulcrum-F or “Fulcrum Point”) to be a “Generation 4+++" platform. Moscow first introduced the MiG-35 as a successor to the MiG-29 in 2007. The aircraft is equipped with a phased antenna radar manufactured by Mikoyan, which gives it an advantage over analogues of previous generations.
Each MiG-35 can carry an extensive cargo of missiles, rockets and bombs, including X-31A anti-ship missiles, X-31P anti-radar missiles, X-29TE air-to-surface missiles and KAB-500Kr adjustable television-guided bombs. Although this platform is reliable, Moscow has successfully exported the MiG-35 and remains its sole operator.
Maya Karlin is an author of national security articles in The National Interest, an analyst at the Center for Security Policy and a former researcher at Reichman University. In addition to The National Interest, it is published in the Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel
