Military aircraft

An F-16 Fighting Falcon (leading), P-51D Mustang (bottom), F-86 Sabre (top), and F-22 Raptor (trailing) fly in a formation representing four generations of American combat aircraft.

A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type.[1] Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:

  • Combat aircraft, such as fighters and bombers, are designed to destroy enemy equipment or personnel using their own aircraft ordnance.[1] Combat aircraft are typically developed and procured only by military forces.
  • Non-combat aircraft, such as transports and tankers are not designed for combat as their primary function, but may carry weapons for self-defense. These mainly operate in support roles, and may be developed by either military forces or civilian organizations.
  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference gunston was invoked but never defined (see the help page).