These fighter jets make up for what they may lack in size with spell-binding mobility. These are the 13 most agile in the world today.
The graceful swoop and harried valor of aerial combat have enthralled aviation enthusiasts for decades. Humanity only cracked the code of lift and thrust in the early 20th century. Since then, flying machines have evolved from puttering craft of fabric and wood to virtual rocketships that blast to near-space altitudes.
The First World War established the term ‘dogfight’ for aerial combat between flyers. The violent aerial maneuvers reminded onlookers of dogs swirling and snapping in search of a fatal strike. Powerful aircraft enabled evolving fighter pilots to take off and engage in combat, but agility kept them alive to return. A craft’s ability to turn, maneuver, and pivot for an advantageous position dominated the day of early dogfighting and continues to do so today.
Much of aerial warfare has evolved, but the maneuvering principle remains unchanged. A fighter aircraft with superior agility has an edge in combat. The Mach-2 class General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an ultra-speedy yet nimble fighter with combat cred. China’s Chengdu J-10 has recently garnered attention by reportedly scoring victories with a secondary market nation. Russia retains a functional and deadly supply of Su-27 Flankers and MiG-29 Fulcrums.
While the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning soak up the fifth-gen spotlight, and with a sixth generation under development, an arms race for agile jet fighters percolates in the secondary markets. Here’s a peek at some of the most agile fighter jets flying operationally today.General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
The 50-year-old F-16 Fighting Falcon is a certified combat legend and the benchmark for agility this side of thrust vectoring. The Flankers and Fulcrums of the world were built to take on the Falcon’s flock, but so far, the closest that contest has come to reality is the skies over Ukraine.
The F-16’s relatively enduring design includes a single-engine design contributing to a lightweight airframe with a high thrust-to-weight ratio. Combined with one of the earliest fly-by-wire systems in military aviation, the F-16 could achieve a top speed near Mach 2. Agility takes a hit at extraordinary speeds, but the F-16 shone in other ways.
One reason for the F-16’s tremendous agility is the concept of relaxed static stability. The F-16’s inherently unstable airframe is kept in check by a computer system. By operating at the edge of the envelope, it can achieve spectacular results while turning and maneuvering, making it an exceptionally agile fighter jet. Its pilots seldom refer to it as the Falcon, preferring the nickname ‘Viper’ for its snake-like appearance and agility.
The F-16 can’t disappear from radar screens like up-to-date modern fighters with incorporated stealth technology. Yet it remains a brutal and commanding air superiority platform in the rarefied air of fighter jet-wielding nations. Modern iterations of the continuously updated F-16 stay in service with more than two dozen militaries.Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is the gold standard for fifth-generation air superiority fighters today. As much as aerial combat has evolved, today’s fighter pilots still want to get their nose on target before the other guy in a close fight. That’s part of why Lockheed Martin incorporated a thrust vectoring engine system in the F-22.
The Raptor uses a pair of Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofans, which offer significant power and incorporate thrust-vectoring capability. Part of the reason the F-22 has rectangular exhaust nozzles is that those nozzles direct engine thrust in different directions.
Thrust vectoring technology has been used to get the short takeoff and landing (STOL) Harrier Jump Jet off the ground. However, the Raptor utilizes 2D thrust vectoring in low-speed flight to adjust nose angle, allowing the aircraft to point in different directions while appearing to hang in the air.
If you’ve ever seen the F-22 perform at an airshow, you’ve seen the terrifying but effectively named ‘post-stall maneuvers’. Nearly every other aircraft without a thrust-vectoring system would drop out of the sky like a rock if it tried to mimic the Raptor. As much as things have changed, keeping the other plane in front of you remains a significant advantage in dogfighting.Eurofighter Typhoon
The development project between Airbus, BAE Systems, and Leonardo paid dividends in the Eurofighter Typhoon. The Typhoon is a fourth-generation multi-role air dominance fighter in the same vein as the F-16. Capable of ground and air attack, it is fast and nimble, and it packs a neat aerodynamic trick.
The Future European Fighter Aircraft organization coalesced in 1983 when the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain pooled resources to develop a Western European fighter for the Cold War. The resulting Typhoon was a Mach 2-class fighter with a combination of fly-by-wire systems and edge-of-the-envelope performance.
The Typhoon does not thrust vector like an F-22 or have the production numbers of the F-16, but it has an ace up its sleeve. Forward canards provide precise pitch control forward of the airframe’s center of gravity, resulting in tighter turns and improved maneuvering. The Typhoon complements its canard trickery with advanced carbon composite materials and modern avionic systems.
With 572 deliveries as of 2020, Austria, Kuwait, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and others operate the Eurofighter. A German Luftwaffe Eurofighter Typhoon developed a buzz in 2012 when it achieved a simulated victory against a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor during training exercises. The mock dogfight took place within visible range, and the Typhoon slipped inside the Raptor’s guard to score the win.Sukhoi Su-57 Felon
The Russian Sukhoi Su-57 Felon is a single-seat twin-engine fifth-generation fighter that first flew in 2010 to succeed the MiG-29 Fulcrum. Like the Raptor, the Felon uses stealth technology and thrust vectoring for increased maneuverability.
