<P> Currently, the only combat - ready fifth - generation fighters are the Lockheed Martin F - 22 Raptor, which entered service with the United States Air Force in 2005; the Lockheed Martin F - 35B Lightning II, which entered service with the United States Marine Corps in 2015; the Lockheed Martin F - 35A Lightning II, which entered service with the United States Air Force in 2016; and the Chengdu J - 20, which entered service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in March 2017 . The Lockheed Martin F - 35C Lightning II, Sukhoi Su - 57, HAL AMCA, TAI TFX, Shenyang J - 31, and Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin are currently under various stages of testing and development . </P> <P> Previous - generation stealth aircraft such as the B - 2 Spirit and F - 117 Nighthawk were designed to be bombers, lacking the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, low probability of intercept (LPI) data networks, aerial performance, and air - to - air weapons necessary to engage other aircraft . In the early 1970s, various American design projects identified stealth, speed, and maneuverability as key characteristics of a next - generation air - to - air combat aircraft . This led to the Request for Information for the Advanced Tactical Fighter project in May 1981, which resulted in the F - 22 . </P> <P> The USMC is leveraging the USAF's experience with "fifth - generation air warfare" in the F - 22, as they develop their own tactics for the F - 35 . </P> <P> According to Lockheed Martin in 2004, the only fifth - generation jet fighter then in operational service was their own F - 22 Raptor . Lockheed Martin uses "fifth generation fighter" to describe the F - 22 and F - 35 fighters, with the definition including "advanced stealth", "extreme performance", "information fusion" and "advanced sustainment". Their definition no longer includes supercruise capability, which has typically been associated with the more advanced modern fighters, but which the F - 35 lacks . Lockheed Martin attempted to trademark the term "5th generation fighters" in association with jet aircraft and structural parts thereof, and has a trademark for a logo with the term . </P>

Difference between 4th generation and 5th generation fighter aircraft