The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle holds an exceptional kill-to-loss ratio of 102 to 0. However, pilot skill and training heavily influence such records, so kill ratio alone is a limited measure of which fighter is truly best. The F-15 is famous enough to have landed safely on one wing.

The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor was the world’s first and, as of 2016, only operational fifth-generation fighter. It is a stealth air-superiority aircraft nearly invisible to radar, and was also the most advanced and most expensive production fighter built to that point. Fifth-generation design marked a major leap over earlier jets.

Fifth-generation fighters combine stealth (low radar observability), advanced sensors and avionics, and integrated electronic systems for air superiority. The F-22 Raptor set the benchmark, with later or planned entrants including the F-35 Lightning II, Russia’s Sukhoi T-50 (PAK FA), and China’s Shenyang J-31. The trajectory continues toward sixth-generation designs, traced in military aviation history from the Zeppelin to the sixth generation.

Because best depends on the metric. Kill ratio favours the F-15, but it is shaped by pilot training as much as the aircraft. Stealth and avionics favour the F-22, yet its real-world edge is debated. New types keep arriving, so whatever is best today is soon challenged — making the answer a moving target rather than a fixed winner.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is frequently cited as the most expensive military program ever, while the F-22 Raptor was the most expensive production fighter of its time. High cost is a recurring theme in modern fighter development — and sometimes fatal to it, as when a major European next-generation fighter program collapsed.

Flying a fighter jet is expensive but possible for civilians. A MiG-29 supersonic experience flight starts at around EUR 13,500 for 45 minutes, or EUR 11,500 for a 25-minute non-supersonic flight. Military operating costs are far higher — Austria calculated roughly EUR 70,000 per flight hour for its Eurofighters. You can even fly a fighter jet yourself through experience providers.

Air Force One, the Boeing VC-25A (a modified 747-200), costs about USD 206,337 per flight hour according to figures released under the US Freedom of Information Act. That makes presidential travel extremely expensive — one 2013 overseas trip reportedly cost taxpayers nearly USD 8 million.

Fighter jets are costly to operate because they burn huge amounts of fuel and require intensive, specialised maintenance. Supersonic jets consume far more fuel than subsonic trainers, which is why trainer flights are significantly cheaper. Crews, spare parts, and runway operations all add to the high hourly cost.

The Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is widely regarded as the most expensive aircraft ever built, and it is correspondingly costly to operate. Other expensive aircraft to run include Air Force One and the E-4 "Nightwatch" airborne command post.

The E-4 "Nightwatch" is a militarised Boeing 747 that serves as a US airborne command-and-control centre, designed to keep national leadership operational during a crisis. It is among the most expensive aircraft to operate and has been seen flying to events such as the Davos World Economic Forum.

Realistically, no — civilians cannot fly the F-15 Eagle. It remains a frontline military aircraft, so opportunities are essentially limited to serving fighter pilots and rare high-profile guests. The few civilians who have ridden in one, such as Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson, were exceptional cases rather than something available to the public.

The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle first flew in 1972 and has been produced in over 1,200 units, remaining in service for decades. Boeing, which acquired McDonnell Douglas, later introduced the updated F-15SE Silent Eagle in 2010, and the US Air Force still invests in new-build F-15 Eagles.

Civilians generally cannot fly modern frontline jets like the F-15 or F-16, since those require joining an air force. Some retired or privately operated jets can be flown as a passenger experience, but most current fast jets are single-seat or restricted, which is part of why you can't simply fly a fighter jet solo.

No — flying the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon realistically requires becoming a fighter pilot and joining an air force that operates it. Although it has a two-seat variant, the back seat is not available to the public, so civilian flights in operational F-16s are not offered.

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat — made famous by Top Gun — is out of service with the US Navy, so it cannot be flown by civilians either. Its enduring popularity keeps the question alive; here is the full answer to whether you can fly an F-14 Tomcat.

Jeremy Clarkson flew in an F-15 as a high-profile television presenter for Top Gear, a rare media opportunity rather than a bookable experience. Such flights are arranged for celebrities or press and are not representative of what ordinary enthusiasts can access, which remains extremely limited for operational fighters.

By the combat tally compiled here, the F-15 Eagle has the standout record: 102 air-to-air kills and zero air-to-air losses across the conflicts listed. It has never been shot down by another aircraft in air combat, an almost unique achievement among modern fighters.

In this compilation the F-16 Fighting Falcon is credited with 76 air-to-air kills against 1 air-to-air loss, plus 5 aircraft lost to ground fire. Those victories span conflicts flown by the US, Israel, Pakistan and several other operators.

In the data gathered here the F-15 Eagle shows 102 kills and 0 air-to-air losses, meaning no F-15 had been shot down by an enemy aircraft. Aircraft destroyed on the ground are excluded, since any plane can be caught parked regardless of its quality.

An air-to-air kill is the destruction of an enemy aircraft in flight by another aircraft, usually with missiles or cannon fire. Combat records separate these from air-to-air losses and from aircraft brought down by ground fire, to measure true dogfighting performance.

Records like these reflect the work of exceptional pilots. Israel's Giora Epstein, the West's greatest jet ace, and Pakistan's M.M. Alam, who downed five aircraft in under a minute, are among the most celebrated jet aces in history.

MiGFlug's favourite fighter-jet films are Les Chevaliers du Ciel, Top Gun, the documentary Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag, and Iron Eagle. Each is praised for its dogfights and flying footage, with the top picks using real aircraft rather than computer graphics.

Top Gun centres on the F-14 Tomcat, the US Navy's swing-wing carrier fighter. The film made the Tomcat a pop-culture icon, and many fans still ask whether you can fly an F-14 Tomcat today.

The French film Les Chevaliers du Ciel features the Dassault Mirage 2000. Its aerial sequences were shot entirely with real aircraft and no CGI, using a specially built camera carried in a fuel pod on a chase Mirage 2000 fast enough to keep pace with the "star" jets.

Iron Eagle features the F-16 Fighting Falcon as its hero jet, though many flight scenes used remote-controlled scale models. The "enemy" fighters in the film are not MiGs at all but Israel Aircraft Industries F-21 Kfirs, which are modified French Mirage 5s.

Yes. The original Top Gun is famous for sending interest in naval aviation soaring, as detailed in our look at how Top Gun doubled Navy recruitment overnight. Few films have had such a direct effect on a military service.

Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag is praised as highly accurate technically. It follows the US Air Force's Red Flag exercise, features the F-15 as its main aircraft, and includes striking footage inside an AWACS, making it a favourite among aviation enthusiasts.

Yes. The US Air Force trains F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightning IIs in mixed formations to improve integration between its two stealth fighters. Flying together, they pair the F-22's air-superiority strengths with the F-35's sensor fusion, as seen when Raptors trained alongside allied F-35s.

The F-22 Raptor is the US Air Force's premier air-superiority stealth fighter, and the only fighter able to conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground missions simultaneously with very high survivability. It emerged from the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) programme as a fifth-generation benchmark.

The contract for Engineering and Manufacturing Development of the F-22 was awarded to a Boeing and Lockheed Martin team in August 1991, with later changes raising the total value to around $11 billion. The programme built and tested flightworthy and ground-test aircraft before production.

The F-22 uses the AN/APG-77 radar, a low-observable, active electronically-scanned array designed for air superiority and strike. It works as part of integrated avionics that fuse the radar, electronic warfare, and weapons-management systems to give the pilot exceptional situational awareness.

Fifth-generation capability made its combat debut with the F-22 Raptor in the air-to-ground role during the early stages of Operation Inherent Resolve, striking ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. The mission validated the value of stealth and sensor fusion in real operations.

Sensor fusion combines data from a fighter's radar, electronic warfare suite, and other sensors into a single, clear picture for the pilot. It is a defining feature of fifth-generation jets like the F-22 and the F-35, reducing pilot workload and improving situational awareness.

Flying mixed F-22 and F-35 formations lets each jet cover the other's strengths — the F-22 for air dominance, the F-35 for networked sensing and strike — preparing aircrews to face advanced air forces such as China or Russia in a future conflict.