Which is the fastest fighter plane

Question

Which is the fastest fighter plane

Answer 1

The SR-71 Blackbird, (YF-12) Mach 3.2+ 85,000+ feet &

3. MiG-25R Foxbat-B, Mach 3.2 123,524 feet Are The Fastest Fighters

Answer 2

The MiG 25 Foxbat-A at 2.8 Mach sustained.

Followed closely (no pun) by the F15 Eagle at 2.5 Mach

Someone will no doubt post the "YF12".  That was never a real program-it was a cover for the REAL SR71 Blackbird program.

EDIT:  Don't know who one answerer flew against, but Eagles can and do exceed 2.0 Mach with weapons-in fact it was designed to do so. AFA "Sea-level" well yes ANY fighter is limited at sea-level and no one mentioned G-loading.

Sorry, don't care what Wiki says-please read what I'm writing the program was a COVER for the SR71.  It was NEVER considered to be a production interceptor-ever.

Answer 3

The fastest fighter plane is the Russian MIG-25. Flying at a max of 3,645 km/h, 2,385 mph.

Answer 4

Fastest under WHAT circumstance(s)?

The MiG-25's that set speed records are in "ultra-slick" config. When fully armed with 8 missiles it's a lot slower. And so's the F-15D.

Fastest and STILL ARMED fighter would probably be the F-22, with internal weapon bay load only.

EDIT: As for YF-12... It DID exist, it DID flew, and it even LAUNCHED MISSILES at Mach 3.2 using its Hughes AN/ASG-18 fire-control radar against drones (and killed them). Blame Vietnam and Robert McNamara for not getting it into service.

Answer 5

The MiG 25,

Performance

Maximum speed:

Mach 3.2 (3,490 km/h, 2,170 mph)

Mach 2.83 (3,090 km/h, 1,920 mph) continuous engine limit

Answer 6

don t let anyone tell you different, the fastest fighter is the mig-25, and the second fastest is the F15. the mig can hit a maximum top speed of mach 3.2 clean, and just under mach 3 with weapons installed. the F15 as a top speed of mach 2.8 clean, and around mach 2.6 with weapons. remember that the mig25 was designed to run down the north american XB70 bomber, which had a top speed of mach 3, and just under that with weapons installed(nuclear weapons of that day were quite heavy and did reduce top speed even though they would have been loaded internally). while the YF12 fighter was produced, there were only a couple, and those were used for testing purposes only, and eventually converted to SR71 specs since you could never install a gun as the aircraft flew faster than the bullets. at best the YF12 could have been an interceptor, but since the soviet union never made a bomber that could fly faster then any fighter in the USAF or USN inventory, there was no need for a mach 3 + interceptor.

Answer 7

The Mig-25 is not the fastest fighter plane, it is rather slow when loaded with weapons. It is limited to mach 2.5 without weapons (not mach 2.8 or 3.2 as claimed, those were records set by specially modified versions) At sea level it cannot break the speed of sound, the airframe cannot withstand the loads (It is only rated to a poor 5g's, compared to 8.5 for the F-15, and 9 for the F-16.

Back in 1981, a F-15 was able to down a Mig-25 while it was in an all out dash to intercept another Israeli aircraft. The F-15 is not capable of more than Mach 1.5 when armed. It cannot break the sound barrier without afterburners. The Mig must fly at a very high altitude to reach any decent speeds, since its structural strength is so low.

The fastest speed that can be sustained by an armed fighter is mach 1.6, and that record belongs to the F-22. There are no other fighters in the world that can sustain that kind of speed for more than 15 minutes.  The F-22 sustains it for an hour or more.