Fighter Design & Use: Cold War

[Zipper730]

I figure I should probably rewrite much of this because it's got too much text: That said, I was thinking about the role of fighter planes throughout the Cold War up to Vietnam, and then from there to the immediate period post Vietnam.

What I found interesting was that from 1945 to the 1950's the role of fighters were basically the same as in WWII, and then as nuclear bombs got small they ended up being either nuclear bomb delivery first or interceptors. This applied for both services, but it seemed worse for the USAF

 

[tyrodtom]

Spare us your summaries .

 

[Zipper730]

Moderators feel free to delete post

 

[Conslaw]

The one thing that was true about fighters in the 1950s, the philosophy was constantly changing. If you look at the USAF's primary jets during the Korean War, they were the F-84 and the F-86. These two jets fulfilled rolls similarly to the specialty of their makers' respective WWII planes, the P-47 and P-51. The F-84 specialized in ground attack, and the F-86 in air superiority. Yet, even while these planes were in their heyday, the whole assortment of Century Series planes hit the drawing board. Then came the specialized "Century Series". The F-100, originally a supersonic day fighter evolved into a fighter bomber. The F-101 was a penetration fighter and recon aircraft. The F-102 was an all-weather interceptor, the F-104 was a high-speed interceptor, the F-105 was a nuclear-capable fighter-bomber. The F-106 was a faster successor to the F-102. Despite the flashy century series, at the same time, the USAF actually took delivery of a greater quantity of F-84F and F-86D versions of the Korean War duo.

Hot on the heels of these specialized aircraft came the F-4 Phantom, that not only was capable of serving as a stand in to all these types. It eventually replaced most of the other USAF and USN fighters.