F-14 Tomcat 
The
Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable geometry wing aircraft. The F-14 was the United States Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor and tactical reconnaissance platform from 1972 to 2006. It later performed precision strike missions once it was integrated with LANTIRN. It was developed after the collapse of the F-111B project, and was the first of the American teen-series fighters which were designed incorporating the experience of air combat in Vietnam against MiGs. It entered service in 1972 with the U.S. Navy, replacing the F-4 Phantom II. It was later exported to the Imperial Iranian Air Force in 1976. It was retired from the U.S. Navy fleet on 22 September 2006, having been replaced by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.[3] As of 2007, it remains in service only with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.
The F-14 was designed to improve on the Phantom's air combat performance in several respects. The F-14's canopy offers the crew excellent visibility throughout the 360 degrees in a circle. The plane features variable geometry wings that sweep automatically during flight. For high-speed intercept, they are swept back; they swing forward to allow the F-14 to turn sharply and dogfight. The F-14's fuselage and wings allow it to climb faster than the F-4, while the twin-tail arrangement offers better stability. During the Vietnam conflict, the F-4's lack of a gun was criticized by fighter pilots, and the belated use of a 20 mm gun pod attached to a hardpoint, while useful, was not an optimal solution. As a result, Grumman equipped the F-14 with an internal 20 mm Vulcan Gatling-type gun mounted on the left side, and can carry Phoenix, Sparrow, and Sidewinder anti-aircraft missiles
The Navy wanted the F-14 to have a thrust-to-weight ratio of unity or greater, though this was not achieved until after the F-14 entered service because of delays in engine development. A higher thrust to weight ratio allows a fighter pilot to use the vertical as well as horizontal dimension when dogfighting. The value of this was clearly demonstrated via the Navy's Top Gun program, begun in March of 1969. F-4 Phantom crews frequently fought North Vietnamese MiG-17s. The MiG was lighter and could turn more sharply in a dogfight than the Phantom. However, the Phantom's crew could use its superior thrust to exploit the vertical dimension, and, as one example, Top Gun instructors taught F-4 crews to perform the "egg maneuver," wherein a Phantom engaging a MiG would climb sharply, completing a loop inverted and then dive on the hapless enemy. The result was that, after 1970, US Navy fighter crews enjoyed a greater than 12:1 kill ratio over North Vietnamese pilots.
The F-14 was designed to incorporate these lessons. The intended thrust to weight ratio of unity would allow it to outclimb any opposing fighter jet; the swing-wing would allow it to "knife-fight" in the horizontal as well, and the internal gun would ensure the crew had a reliable, lethal weapon to use when knife-fighting
F-22 Raptor
The
F-22 Raptor is a fifth generation stealth fighter aircraft. It was originally envisioned as an air superiority fighter for use against the Soviet Air Force, but is equipped for ground attack, electronic warfare and signals intelligence roles as well. Faced with a protracted development period, the prototype aircraft was designated
YF-22 and, as
F/A-22 during the three years before formally entering United States Air Force service in December 2005 as the
F-22A. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is the prime contractor and is responsible for the majority of the airframe, weapon systems and final assembly of the F-22. Along with Lockheed Martin, partner Boeing Integrated Defense Systems provides the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and 100% of the pilot and maintenance training systems.
Intended to be the leading American advanced tactical fighter in the early part of the 21st century, the Raptor is the world's most expensive fighter to date with a cost of about US$120 million per unit, or US$361 million per unit when development costs are added.[1] As of April 2005 the total development and production cost of the program is at least US$70 billion, and the number of planes to be built has dropped to 438, then 381, and now to 180, down from the initial requirement of 750. Part of the reason for the decrease in the requirement is that the F-35 Lightning II uses much of the technology used on the F-22, but at a much more affordable price. To a large extent the cost of these technologies is only lower for the F-35 because they have already been developed for the F-22. Had the F-22 not been developed, the costs of these technologies for the F-35 would have been significantly higher.
The production model was formally named F-22 "Raptor" when the first production-representative plane was unveiled on 9 April 1997 at Lockheed-Georgia Co., Marietta, Georgia. First flight occurred on 7 September 1997.
In September 2002, Air Force leaders changed the Raptor’s designation to F/A-22. The new designation, which mimicked that of the Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet, was intended to highlight plans to give the Raptor a ground-attack capability amid intense debate over the relevance of the expensive air-superiority jet. This was later changed back to simply F-22 on December 12, 2005. On 15 December 2005, the F-22A entered service
F-35 Lighting II
The
F-35 Lightning II is a single-seat, single-engined military strike fighter, a multi-role aircraft that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air-to-air combat. The F-35 descended from the X-35 of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Its development is being funded by the United States, the United Kingdom, and other partner governments. It is being designed and built by an aerospace industry team led by Lockheed Martin and major partners BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman. Demonstrator aircraft flew in 2000 a production model first took flight on 15 December 2006.
The F-35 appears to be a smaller, slightly more conventional, one-engine sibling of the sleeker, two-engine F-22 Raptor, and indeed, drew elements from it. The exhaust duct design was inspired by the General Dynamics Model 200, a 1972 VTOL aircraft designed for the Sea Control Ship. Directed-energy weapons may be installed in conventional takeoff F-35 Lightning IIs, whose lack of a direct lift fan frees up about 10 ft³ (0.28 m³) of space and whose engine provides more than 27,000 hp (20 MW) for electrical power. Some concepts, including solid state lasers and high-power microwave beams, may be nearing operational status
