4th, 5th, 6th Generation Fighters: One Big Myth Is Warping Airpower Strategy

4th, 5th, 6th Generation Fighters: One Big Myth Is Warping Airpower Strategy

Key Points and Summary – Debates over whether America “needs” a sixth-generation fighter often start from the wrong place: the generational labels themselves. Dr. Robert Farley traces how the 1st-through-5th-generation scheme emerged in the 1990s to capture big leaps from the Me-262 to the F-22 and F-35, then grew fuzzy with upgraded 4.5-generation jets. A F-15EX assigned to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, f…