What's the smallest jet fighter plane?

Question

Yes the BD-5J is the smallest jet plane, but its not a FIGHTER plane.

Answer 1

The cessna 172r!! Bit believe my man you get in ALOT of trouble so dont frikken do it!!!

Answer 2

The smallest jet fighter I know of was the British Folland Gnat of the 1950s.Folland's  idea was that intead of building a plane that could do everything at enormous expense and complexity, needing massive concrete airfields and backup, you had much smaller lighter simpler more manoeverable machines that did one or two things very well  and you had a lot of them for the same price as one monster. Most jet fighters today are bigger and heavier than loaded twin engined bombers were in WW2. The Gnat was adopted by the RAF as a jet trainer, and was used for many years by the display team the 'Red Arrows', but it was never used by the RAF as a fighter. Some were sold abroad and used as fighters in the India- Pakistan wars, where it was nicknamed the 'Giant killer'  The 2 seater trainer version was 37 feet long, wingspan 24 feet.with 2. 30 mm cannon.Speed Mach 1.15. Very good for its day. I think the idea is sound, many modern jets spend as much time in the hanger having maintainance than flying. There is a lot to be said for having a simple machine that can take off from a highway. The WW2 German jets, the Me262 and their like could do it and be serviced under the trees as well.

Answer 3

I would give it to the A4 Skyhawk.  Although it was built as an Attack Aircraft it has proved to be a successful fighter.  It was the primary weapon for Argentina in the Faulklands War.

It's shorter than the F-5, T-38, and although slightly heavier empty, 10,800 lbs to 8.085 lbs,  Gross Take-off weight is proportionally higher, 24,500 lbs to 20,677 lbs.

The F-5 was built as a trainer but became very popular in lesser developed countries because of it's simplicity, performance and ease of maintenance.

The A-4 was designed to fight. The Blue Angels flew it for many years. Top Gun instructors flying the Skyhawk whupped everything in the sky - including Tomcats, Phantoms, Crusaders, Hornets and Vipers. It has been said that the aircraft's most significant contribution evolves around how it proved that with diligent engineering, hard work and continuing cooperation between builder and buyer, wonders can be worked. Wonders that last a very long time!  http://www.a4skyhawk.org/2b/heinemann.ht...

A-4 Specs, http://www.highironillustrations.com/avi...

F-5 Specs http://www.globalaircraft.org/planes/f-5...

The second site offers specs on all military aircraft.

Good Question, you'll see on the above site, the Mig 17 is smaller but I don't know if it's still in service.

Answer 4

The BAE Systems Hawk Mk 200,wing span 30'9.25",length 36'7.25" has to be one of the smallest,if not the smallest fighter in service.

Answer 5

For now i think it's the f-16 is the smallest fighter.

Answer 6

Hmmmm. I'll look this up later to confirm this, but off the top of my head, I'd say the MiG-21 or the F-5 are probably in close contention of current-service fighters. Not just by overall demensons like wingspan or length, but by weight as well. Both are very light. Right now, I'm betting on the F-5.

Answer 7

007k

Answer 8

You're right.  How bout McDonell XF-85 Goblin. >>>So what is it smart guy?