Atlas Trail
Fighters Through Two Wars and Beyond: From the Fokker Triplane to the Su-57
This trail follows the single-seat fighter across more than a century of air war, from the Fokker Triplane of 1917 to the Su-57 of the 2020s. Each stop shows how a different air force answered the same question of how to win the sky, through maneuverability, rugged construction, speed, sensors or stealth.
Stop 1 of 8.
Weapons Systems
The Fokker Dr.I entered frontline service in 1917 with three stacked wings, trading some top speed for exceptional maneuverability and a very high rate of climb. It is remembered chiefly because Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, flew a red example and was killed in one in April 1918.
Stop 2 of 8.
Weapons Systems
The Hawker Hurricane joined the Royal Air Force in 1937 as Britain's first monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit. In the Battle of Britain in 1940 it shot down more enemy aircraft than any other RAF type, helped by a fabric-and-tube construction that was easy to repair.
Stop 3 of 8.
Weapons Systems
The Fw 190 reached the Luftwaffe in 1941 with an air-cooled radial engine, which gave its engine more resistance to combat damage than the inline engine of the Bf 109. Its appearance over the Western Front initially outclassed the Spitfire Mark V, and a ground-attack version, the Fw 190F, was used extensively on the Eastern Front.
Stop 4 of 8.
Weapons Systems
The Me 262 became the world's first operational jet fighter when it entered Luftwaffe service in 1944, roughly 100 miles per hour faster than the best Allied piston-engine fighters. Engine problems, the insistence that it be adapted as a fast bomber, fuel shortages and a lack of trained pilots kept it from changing the war's outcome.
Stop 5 of 8.
Weapons Systems
The MiG-29 entered Soviet service in the early 1980s as a maneuverable frontline fighter meant to counter the American F-15 and F-16. Its helmet-mounted sight let pilots aim short-range infrared missiles by looking at a target, and former East German examples gave NATO a direct look at it after German reunification.
Stop 6 of 8.
Weapons Systems
The F/A-18 Hornet entered United States Navy and Marine Corps service in 1983 as one airframe for the fighter and attack roles that naval aviation had previously split across separate types. Its combat record runs from the 1986 airstrikes on Libya through the Gulf War, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Stop 7 of 8.
Weapons Systems
The Eurofighter Typhoon entered operational service in 2003 after a politically contentious development stretching back to the 1980s, built by a consortium of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. Designed first for air superiority, it gained a substantial ground-attack role and flew in the 2011 intervention in Libya.
Stop 8 of 8.
Weapons Systems
The Su-57 is Russia's single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation stealth fighter, first flown as a prototype in 2010 as an answer to the F-22 and F-35. Funding shortfalls, the withdrawal of partner India and technical delays meant only limited service in the early 2020s, with small production numbers.
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