Well folks, there I was...a little bit burned out on Medal of Honor stories. I have a lot of respect for those guys, many of whom did not survive. But I was having trouble keeping the story and facts straight. So I took a break and started putzing around on my laptop looking for something I could use to entertain myself or maybe find a new subject to discuss on Sarge's Blog. Fortunately, I found a little of both.
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Artist conception of a 6th generation fighter Source |
As many of you are aware, our current, newest, Air Superiority fighter, the F-22 and the newest Strike fighter (primary mission is air to ground but has air to air capability), the F-35, are Fifth Generation Fighters. The Eagle is Fourth Generation and a bit long in the tooth, but her air to air kill ratio is 105-0. So gotta love her.
As I've mentioned here before, back in the day, my name was on the canopy rail of that exact F-15. Miss her I do.
While that Eagle and many of her sisters are still flying, what has become known as the "5th generation fighters" have become the backbone fighter force in the Air Force.
The F-22 and the F-35 both are operational fighters now. "Operational Fighters" is the terminology to describe the fact that they are currently handling "Real World" missions. However, due to budget considerations, the F-22 fleet, which had been planned for 600ish jets, is currently limited to 183.
The F-35 fleet has, at the time of this writing, 883 jets.
And recently, the first of the 6th Generation fighters has started to be developed and is expected to become operational starting in 2029. The number of jets of this next generation to be built under the plan is 185. Seems a bit small to me, but I'm sure they are hideously expensive. Hopefully, they are equally extremely capable.
I now have a very good idea how my father felt when I told him I was going to be flying the F-15. He had been an F-86D pilot.
My how time has passed! Quite a difference wouldn’t you say?
We shall see what will be. Peace out y'all.
Sources
https://militarymachine.com/f-47-ngad-sixth-generation-fighter
https://aviationnews.eu/news/2025/07/meet-the-f%e2%80%9147-americas-sixth%e2%80%91gen-stealth-fighter/
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/screen-shot-2020-09-15-at-12-31-41-pm-1600198341.png?crop=1xw:0.887120651369356xh;center,top&resize=1200:*
https://simpleflying.com/how-many-f-35s-in-service/
https://www.militaryupdate.net/2025/09/how-many-f-22-raptors-does-us-have.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_F-47
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/456th_Fighter-Interceptor_Squadron
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