Aerodynamics

The main job a of a fighter has always been to catch and destroy the enemy aircrafts. To achieve this they need speed and a good rate of climb. This is hopefully enough to take the opponent by surprise. Maneuverability is also a key defensive attribute which enables the fighter to get away from the opponents envelope.The two main types of maneuverability are to transient and turn. Transient are the ability to change the flight mode to another; pitch, roll and yaw.

When a fighter goes supersonic, the center of lift moves aft, and the tail surface have to provide a download to preserve stability. Modern fighters use computerized fly-by-wire or fly-by-light to correct control inputs. Fly by wire simply means that the aircraft uses a joystick F15 eagle fly by wire system.

The roll is caused by ailerons on the wings, or fins past by spoilers dumped loft on one side. Turning ability is determined by the amount of loft a wing can produce. The fighter with the lowest wing loading will outrun it’s opponent. A fighter like the Indian SU 30MKI with extreme maneuverability can just get a pilot inside the extremely agile F-16 dizzy and take it down.

A different way to look at fighter performance is to look at the position and kinetic energy. Position-altitude which can be converted into speed by diving and kinetic energy-which is the combination of it’s mass and velocity.

Conventional fighter maneuverability depends on the lift created by its wings. So wing design therefore is very important. A long wingspan maximizes the lift but reduces the rate of roll. To solve this problems variable sweep wings with wider aspect ratio were created.