Whats the difference between these military fighter jet?

Question

Im really ignorant when it comes to Military Jets.

What is the difference between all these jets?They all look alike.

What does the F stand for in all the names?

F-15

F-16

F-18 Hornet

F-22 Raptor

Answer 1

The F stand for fighter.  Even to the untrained eye the differences are significant.

.F-15 Is a very large twin engine single seat fighter designed to be the Air Force's front line fighter of it's day.

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http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air...

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F-16 Is a smaller single engine and single seat fighter,very agile and lighter in weight than the F-15.  It's under fuselage air intake is what sets it apart visually.

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http://www.airliners.net/photo/Netherlan...

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F-18 Hornet is a medium sized twin engine aircraft developed for the Navy for carrier use.  It's twin vertical tail surfaces are canted each to one size.

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http://www.airliners.net/photo/Switzerla...

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F-22 Raptor is a very modern stealthy aircraft designed to replace the F-15 as America's front line air superiority fighter.  It is at least a generation ahead of any other fighter aircraft flying today.

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http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air...

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Answer 2

They all look alike?? I think Ray Charles said that too.

Give another look at the pictures. They are totally different. Maybe if you said the F14 and F15 look alike, I could buy it.

As far as the differences, what the others said.

Answer 3

As already stated,F stands for fighter in US service.

The four aircraft listed have been developed for different purposes by various manufacturers.

1.F15 Eagle,a McDonnell Douglas design in service for over twenty years.This is considered one of the world's premier single seat air-superiority fighters.

2.The F16,designed by Lockheed Martin is a single seat multi-role fighter,a lightweight air-combat machine.

3.F18 Hornets are a Boeing design,a single seat carrier-borne and land based fighter and strike attack 'plane.True fighter/bomber able to operate in either role.

4.The F22 Raptor has been designed to eventually replace the F15 in USAF service.This is a "Stealthy" air dominance fighter,embodying state-of the-art equipment and designed by Lockheed Martin/Boeing.

Answer 4

all those planes have different capabilities . the handling, weapons and such things. also engines.

Answer 5

There's a lot to say about this, so I'll have to be pretty brief.

The F-15 is a large, twin engined air superiority fighter. The F-16 is a smaller, single engine, low cost fighter. Both of these are used by the U.S. Air force and other governments. The F-18 is also a smaller, low cost fighter like the F-16 (in fact it was developed from the same design competition) but is used by the Navy. The F-22 is a large, twin engined stealth fighter designed to replace the F-15. The F-15 and F-22 are meant primarily to attack other aircraft, while the F-16 and F-18 have developed an extensive ground attack capablility. You may also hear of the F-15E, which is a bombing version of the F-15. If you still have any questions, you can send me a message and I'll add whatever you want to know to this answer. You can also look at this wikipedia page. Some details may be innacurate, but it is a great place to start for a general overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighter_air...

Answer 6

F stands for fighter. B for bomber (B17  for instance), H  is helicopter, C is cargo, and so on. As to the difference between them you will have to look it up, but obviously F16 is a later plane than F15.

Answer 7

"F" stands for "Fighter".  Originally intended to mean that this design in intended primarily to shoot down other aircraft, it now means any aircraft that isn't a tanker, transport or bomber.

F15 Eagle is a twin engine air-superiority fighter, originally.  The two seat version F15D was converted into the F15E "Strike Eagle" optimized for air-ground.  The F15 replaced the F4, and F106 in the USAF inventory.

F16 Fighting Falcon, officially but everyone in the USAF calls it a "Viper".  Single-engine aircraft, originally designed as a cheap lightweight fighter for NATO.  The F16 has replaced F4's, A7s, and F104s (NATO).  Primarily Air=ground it has a good air/air capability.

F-18 Hornet.  Was originally the YF17 competitor to the YF16 for the lightweight fighter competition.  It lost that, but in a rare display of non-partisanship the Navy wanted to replace the F14, A6, A7 in its carrier air wings.  Overseas it replaced Mirage IIIs (Australia, Switzerland), Drakens/Mig21s (Finland).  The current version is the Superhornet with better offensive and defensive avionics.  

F-22 Raptor.  Twin engined, "stealthy" (to a degree), with the ability to go 1.0Mach without afterburners-though this hasn't been fully proven yet.  The intended replacement for the F15.  Somewhat controversial in the USAF; as the Air Force has released members, elminated the F117, and closed bases to pay for what will be basically 2xwings worth of air/air fighters.