What is/was the most important military aircraft?

[Chaotic42]

There are three that I would say are in competition for #1:

P-51 Mustang: Long range, great to fly, it was a wonderfil escort or air domination fighter.

B-17 Flying Fortress: Produced in large numbers and fitted with the Nordon Bomb Sight, it was perhaps the reason we defeated Germany. No factory was safe.

B-52 Stratofortress: Nuclear capable, huge, built like a tank, and fast. It was far superior to anything the Soviet Union had, it's still in service and will be until at least 2040.

I'd have to say the B-17, but it's really close.

What do you think?

 

[KK]

I'd have to say the transport planes, without them you have nothing.

KK

 

[m2kewl]

F22 raptor.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: KK
I'd have to say the transport planes, without them you have nothing.

KK

Good point. The C-130 is very versatile and it's invaluable, really.

 

[dartworth]

Lockheed Martin U-2 Spy Plane

 

[squirrel dog]

sr72 blackbird

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: squirrel dog
sr72 blackbird

SR-72? Do you know something I don't?

 

[PlatinumGold]

i don't know much about this stuff, but i always thought that the P-51 mustang was a badass looking plane.

 

[dnuggett]

F -16 family

 

[Vortex22]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: squirrel dog
sr72 blackbird

SR-72? Do you know something I don't?

Hehe

 

[conjur]

MiG

 

[CanOWorms]

those radar planes?

 

What about the Huey, or the blackhawks of today (Although of late it seems alot of blackhawks are going down). The huey was a life line for soldiers in Vietnam.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: dnuggett
F -16 family

F-16's are awesome. 1.1 T/W ratio. If Falcon 4 SP3 is any sign, it flies like a dream, too.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms
those radar planes?

AWACS

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: conjur
MiG

That's a design bureau, Mikoyan Gurevich.

Edit: Link

 

[cyclistca]

Another vote for the AWACS.

 

[GoSharks]

awacs

 

[xeno2060]

KC-135 Stratotanker without mid-air refueling The modern Airforce is nothing

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: m2kewl
F22 raptor.

They've never really done anything that affected the world much.

 

[speg]

The Arrow

 

[SuperGroove]

well, I believe the B-29, in particular the Enola Gay, to be one of the most important military aircraft of all time.

Sucks.

 

[LAUST]

Now adays I'd think it's the Choppers.

 

[Turin39789]

The Spectre

 

[Justin218]

Maybe the spitfire. It helped win the battle of britain. If hitler took britain things would have been drastically different.