strike fighter

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,[https://books.google.com/books?id=Zi82AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Strike+fighter%22&dq=%22Strike+fighter%22 "Aerospace Engineering, Volume 6."] Institute of the Aerospace Sciences, 1947. Blackburn Firebrand[https://books.google.com/books?id=UHjmAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Strike+fighter%22&dq=%22Strike+fighter%22 The Aeroplane: Volume 75, 1948.] and Blackburn Firecrest.

The term "light weight tactical strike fighter (LWTSF)" was used to describe the aircraft to meet the December 1953 NATO specification NBMR-1.{{cite book| last1=Angelucci| first1=Enzo| last2=Matricardi| first2=Paolo|year=1980| title=Combat Aircraft 1945–1960| place=Maidenhead| publisher=Sampson Low Guides| isbn=0-562-00136-0| page=273}} Amongst the designs submitted to the competition were the Aerfer Sagittario 2, Breguet Br.1001 Taon, Dassault Étendard VI, Fiat G.91 and Sud-Est Baroudeur.

File:Westland Wyvern S Mk.4.jpg]]

The term entered normal use in the United States Navy[https://books.google.com/books?id=PETCVTz_lwUC&pg=PA98 "Inside story of the troubled F/A-18."] Popular Science, Volume 223, Issue 4, October 1983. {{ISSN|0161-7370}}. Retrieved: 23 December 2011. Quote: ... can fly either as a fighter or an attack plane [...] In Navy parlance, it is a strike fighter. by the end of the 1970s, becoming the official[https://books.google.com/books?id=rQoAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA5 "The FY 1981 military programs."] Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 36, Issue 6, June 1980, p. 38. {{ISSN|0096-3402}}. Retrieved: 23 December 2011. 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 emphasizePolmar 1997, p. 343. 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",Defence Update (International), Issues 79–84, p. 43. but it instead quickly became known as a "strike fighter".

{{main|Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II}}

In 1995, the U.S. military's Joint Advanced Strike Technology program changed its name to the Joint Strike Fighter program.[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/jsf.htm "Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)."] globalsecurity.org. Retrieved: 2 February 2011. 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.

• {{flagicon|USA}} Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
• {{flagicon|USA}} Boeing F-15EX Eagle II
• {{flagicon|USA}} McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle
• {{flagicon|USA}} Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
• {{flagicon|Russia}} Sukhoi Su-34
• {{flagicon|China}} Shenyang J-16

• Interdictor aircraft
• Interceptor aircraft
• Fighter-bomber
• Attack aircraft
• Multirole combat aircraft

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• Polmar, Norman. The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1997. {{ISBN|978-1-59114-685-8}}.

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{{Military aircraft types (roles)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strike Fighter}}

Category:Fighter aircraft

Category:Attack aircraft