ASPIRING TO FIFTH GENERATION FIGHTERS

摘要

In April 1991 the Lockheed Martin F-22 was declared the winner of the United States Air Force (USAF) Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) programme for a stealthy multirole combat aircraft. Incorporating low observables technology and supersonic cruise without afterburning, the F-22 Raptor which gained full operational capability (FOC) in December 2007, was the world's first fifth-generation fighter aircraft.