National origin: Russia Unit cost: US$ 30 million Sukhoi Su-27 is a supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. The aircraft is a direct competitor to the United States fourth-generation fighters, such as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and F-15 Eagle. Specially designed to perform almost all aerial warfare, Su-27 has long-range air defense to protect the soviet coast from aircraft carriers and flying long-range fighter escort for Soviet heavy bombers such as the Tu-95 “Bear,” Tu-22M “Backfire” and Tu-160 “Blackjack. This superfast aircraft is a complementary aircraft for MiG-29, with similar designs but significantly larger.
2.General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark
Max Speed: 2655 km/h National origin: United States Unit cost: US$ 10.3 million F-111 Aardvark is an interdictor, fighter bomber, and strategic bomber manufactured by general dynamics. However, it is a retired medium-range interdictor, American supersonic, tactical attack aircraft, and it has a significant role in the strategic aerial nuclear bomber. It is the pioneer of several modern aircraft featuring variable, swift wings, after-burn turbofan engines, and automated terrain-following radar for low-level, high-speed flights. During the initial design period, this aircraft had troubles with its intended roles. From 1990 -1998, all variables of F-111 retired and got replaced with F-15E strike eagle.
3.McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
Max Speed: 3017 km/h National origin: United States Unit cost: US$ 27.9million F-15 Eagle is a currently operational air superiority fighter and multirole combat aircraft. It has a twin-engine with a fall weather tactical fighter function, designed by McDonnell Douglas. The US exported it to several countries, including Israel, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. The aircraft has a unique feature of secondary ground-attack capability, a largely unused feature. In September 2015, Boeing, the prime contractor for the EPAWSS, unveiled its 2040C Eagle upgrade, designed to keep the F-15 relevant through 2040.
4.Mikoyan Mig-31
Max Speed: 3000 km/h National origin: Soviet Union Unit cost: US$ 12 million Designed as a replacement to the previous version of MiG, MiG-25 Foxbat is an interceptor, attacker aircraft. It is one of the fastest fighter jets in the world, operated by the Russian air force, which is still in use. The defense ministry expects it to continue working till 2030 or beyond as its lifetime increased from 2500 to 300 hours on the existing airframe. Russia plans to work on MiG-31’s replacement PAK-DP, by 2019. It has a large twin-engine aircraft with side-punted air intake ramps, and a shoulder-mounted wing, unlike the MiG-25. It is also the first operational fighter in the world with the Zalson S-800, a PESA radar.
5.North American XB-70 Valkyrie
Max Speed: 3309 km/h National origin: United States Unit cost: US$ 750 million The XB-70 was the prototype for B-70, a nuclear-armed, deep-penetration strategic bomber. It was designed in 1950 by North American aviation, which was capable of flying to 70000 feet. A high altitude and high-speed capacity fighter jet that could be detected in a radar system easily that would also make the bomber to escape after spending a brief time in the enemy’s radar. Due to the high cost with a shorter range offering, USAF gave up the B-70 production idea in 1961. They handed in over for research and built two prototypes aircrafts XB-70A.
6.Bell X-2
Max Speed: 3370 km/hr National origin: United States Unit cost: Bell X-2 was a rocket-powered, swept-wing research aircraft, built to investigate flight characteristics in the Mach 2-3 range. Developed in 1945 by a collaboration between bell aircraft, the united states air force, and the national advisory committee for aeronautics. It has an advanced aerodynamic design developed for a prolonged period that would provide a vehicle for researching flight characteristics. Its capability to push through a manned flight to speed, altitude, and temperature was beyond any other aircraft at that time.
7.Mikoyan Mig-25
Max Speed: 3494 km/h National origin: Soviet Union Unit cost: US$ 60 million MiG-25 is a supersonic interceptor that served during the time of the cold war, and currently, it is in limited service. It was one of the fastest aircraft to join the Soviet Union military service. Developed by the soviet union’s Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, it is one of the few aircraft, built primarily with stainless stell. The development of MiG-25 raised concerns in the US that resulted in a rapid performance increase in F-15 Eagle. A total of 1186 MiG-25 were in operation between 1964-1984. Unlike other Soviet aircraft, Foxbat comprised 4 air-to-air missiles that pushed their surveillance game up a notch.
8.Lockheed YF-12
Max Speed: 3661 km/h National origin: United States Unit cost: US$ 15-18 million An aircraft currently canceled was built only 3 in number. Primarily used by the United States air force and NASA, it was an interceptor aircraft. Developed in the late 1950s as a considerable replacement to F-106 Delta Dart is a twin-seat version of the Lockheed A-12. To date, it is the biggest, heaviest, and fasted aircraft in the world. At an altitude over 800000 feet with speed over 2000 miles per hour, Lockheed YF-12 maintained the speed records for the world’s fastest plane.
9.Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Max Speed: 3529 km/h National origin: United Nations Unit cost: US$ 34 million Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is the fastest fighter jet in the world used by both USAF and NASA. It is a long-range, high altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft, manufactured by American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was from the black project from the Lockheed A-12 in the year 1960. The shape of SR-71 is similar to the A-12, a first-ever aircraft designed with a reduced radar cross-section. Blackbird was so fast there was no time for the air in front to slide, resulting in increased pressure in the frontal nose area. This led to an increase in its temperature caused due to high friction.
10.North American X-15
Max Speed: 7274 km/h National origin: United States Unit cost: US$ 9 million It was an experimental aircraft launched as a part of the X-plane series. It a rocket-powered North American hypersonic plane. This fighter plane currently holds the world record for the fastest plane in the world with a top speed of 6.70 Mach. Its unique design with big wedge tail and small width wings helped to stabilize the aircraft in higher altitudes. One of the drawbacks was at lower altitude the drag from such a giant tail was immense. The three world records held by X-15 were:
