AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-Kuo
Taiwan’s indigenous defence fighter β built in the 1990s when U.S. arms embargoes blocked F-16 sales. Still the backbone of Taiwan’s air defence.
Fighter
Combat fighter aircraft
Lockheed XF-90
A late-1940s long-range penetration fighter that lost to the F-101 Voodoo. The only surviving airframe was nuked at Frenchman Flat in 1952.
Northrop YF-17 Cobra
The F-16’s losing rival in the Lightweight Fighter program β but in losing, it became the F/A-18 Hornet and one of the most successful carrier fighters in history.
Boeing F-15EX Eagle II
The 2020s rebirth of the Eagle β more hardpoints than any tactical fighter in service, hypersonic-missile carriage, and the EPAWSS suite.
Sukhoi Su-37 Flanker-F
The thrust-vectoring Flanker prototype that wowed airshows with Pugachev’s Cobra and the “Kulbit” loop before its single airframe was lost in 2002.
Convair F2Y Sea Dart
The only supersonic seaplane fighter ever built. Convair’s delta-winged hydro-ski jet briefly exceeded Mach 1 in 1954 before the Navy lost interest.
Boeing X-32
Boeing’s losing entry in the Joint Strike Fighter competition β a chin-intake delta-wing demonstrator that flew 1.6 Mach but lost to the X-35 in 2001.
Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin
Overview π· Photo: Wikimedia Commons / JASDF The Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin (εΏη₯, meaning “mind” or “spirit”), formerly known as the
Mitsubishi F-1
Overview π· Photo: Wikimedia Commons / JASDF The Mitsubishi F-1 was Japan’s first domestically designed and built supersonic combat aircraft.
Dassault Mirage 5
Overview π· Photo: Wikimedia Commons The Dassault Mirage 5 is a French supersonic attack aircraft and fighter-bomber designed by Dassault