The United States today fields the most advanced and combat-proven multirole fighter aircraft in the world. At the center of that dominance is the F-35 Lightning II, widely regarded as the most capable all-around multirole fighter ever to enter service. Alongside it stands the F-22 Raptor, still considered the gold standard for air superiority, even as it has evolved to take on limited multirole functions. Together, these aircraft anchor a U.S. fighter fleet that remains unmatched in capability, scale, and integration with broader military systems.
At the same time, China is rapidly narrowing the gap. With the Chengdu J-20 now in frontline service and the carrier-capable J-35 entering early production, Beijing is signaling its intention to challenge U.S. airpower, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. Europe, Russia, and other powers also operate extremely capable multirole fighters, including the Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, F-15EX Eagle II, F/A-18 Super Hornet, and Sukhoi Su-57. Yet when stealth, sensors, networking, and real-world combat performance are weighed together, the balance still tilts decisively toward the United States.
This article focuses on what makes a multirole fighter truly superior in the modern era—stealth, sensors, networking, battlefield effectiveness, and integration into larger combat systems—rather than classic metrics like raw speed, dogfighting agility, or aerobatic maneuvers such as the Cobra. Those qualities, while impressive at air shows, are no longer decisive in high-end warfare.
Before identifying the most superior multirole fighter, it is essential to define what “multirole” actually means. A multirole fighter is an aircraft capable of performing multiple combat missions effectively, including air-to-air combat, ground attack, close air support, suppression or destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD), electronic warfare, reconnaissance, and maritime strike.
Historically, fighters were often optimized for one or two specific missions. The F-4 Phantom II, for example, was designed as both an interceptor and a fighter-bomber. Cold War air forces typically fielded specialized fleets: interceptors for air defense, strike aircraft for ground attack, and dedicated electronic warfare platforms.
That model has largely disappeared. Today, almost every modern fighter jet qualifies as multirole, particularly after receiving upgrades. Even aircraft originally designed for a single mission have evolved. The F-15 Eagle was conceived as a pure air superiority fighter, while the F-22 Raptor was designed for air dominance in contested skies. Both now carry precision-guided munitions for ground attack. Naval aircraft designated as “F/A,” such as the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the planned F/A-XX, explicitly embrace the multirole concept.
There are still exceptions. The A-10 Thunderbolt II remains a dedicated close air support aircraft. Russia’s Su-25 fills a similar niche. Older Soviet-era aircraft like the Su-24 Fencer and MiG-31 Foxhound—an interceptor optimized for speed and altitude—are also not true multirole fighters by modern standards.
Defining superiority is more complex than comparing speed, thrust-to-weight ratios, or turning performance. A fighter can dominate one mission while lagging in others. The F-22 Raptor, for example, remains the world’s most formidable air dominance fighter, but it is not optimized for sustained ground attack in the way the F-35 or F-15EX is.
The F-35B introduces another dimension entirely. Its short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) capability allows it to operate from amphibious assault ships, forward bases, and austere locations where conventional fighters cannot. No other modern fighter offers this capability. Yet STOVL comes with trade-offs, including reduced range and payload compared to conventional variants.
The F-35 Lightning II, taken as a whole, is the most advanced and capable all-around fighter jet in the world. The F-22 still holds an edge in pure air-to-air combat, but the F-35’s stealth, sensors, and networking allow it to penetrate advanced air defenses and dismantle them from within. Israel has repeatedly demonstrated this capability in real-world operations, using its F-35I Adirs to strike heavily defended targets.
Stealth, however, is not free. To maintain a low radar cross-section, the F-35 must carry its weapons internally, limiting its payload compared to fourth-generation fighters operating with external stores. This trade-off reflects a broader shift in air combat: surviving and shaping the battlespace often matters more than sheer weapons load.
Capability alone does not win wars. Availability and scale are just as important. According to FlightGlobal data, the countries with the largest combat aircraft fleets—including many obsolete platforms—are:
- United States: 2,679
- China: 1,583
- Russia: 1,522 (with more than half considered dated)
- India: 643
- North Korea: 482 (almost entirely obsolete)
The F-22 Raptor illustrates the tension between capability and affordability. It is arguably the most superior air dominance fighter ever built, but its extreme cost led to early cancellation, leaving the U.S. Air Force with only 187 aircraft. In contrast, the F-35 and China’s J-20 are being produced in large numbers, ensuring sustained upgrades, industrial investment, and long-term viability.
In modern warfare, the “best” fighter is often the one available in sufficient numbers, supported by logistics, training, and upgrades—not the one with the most impressive specifications on paper.
Fifth-generation fighters combine stealth, advanced sensors, sensor fusion, and networking. Estimated numbers delivered:
- F-22 Raptor: 187
- F-35 Lightning II (all variants): 1,200+
- Chengdu J-20: 200–500 (high uncertainty)
- Shenyang J-35: Fewer than 10 operational
- Sukhoi Su-57: Around 20 in Russian service
The F-22 has proven itself for decades in exercises as the dominant air-to-air platform. When it occasionally “loses” in training scenarios, those events are widely reported precisely because they are so rare. Continuous upgrades to the F-35—most recently through the TR-3 hardware and software refresh—are narrowing the gap in air superiority performance while preserving the F-35’s unmatched multirole versatility.
Beyond the U.S. jets, the picture becomes murkier. The F-15EX, the latest Eurofighter Typhoon tranches, and the Rafale are all extremely capable in air-to-air combat. China’s J-20 is believed to be optimized for long-range engagements, particularly targeting high-value assets like airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft and tankers rather than engaging fighters directly.
Russia’s Su-57 Felon, despite its striking appearance and impressive air show performances, has not demonstrated meaningful combat effectiveness. Despite operating during the Ukraine war, it has not been credited with suppressing Ukrainian air defenses or achieving air-to-air kills, raising serious questions about its maturity and integration.
The F-35 program was controversial from the start. It was intended to replace a vast array of aircraft, from the A-10 and F-16 to the Harrier jump jet. That ambition forced numerous compromises, including accommodating the F-35B’s lift system across the entire family. Lockheed Martin also promised cutting-edge capabilities that did not yet exist, delaying full operational maturity.
Today, many of those promised capabilities are finally arriving. With hundreds of billions of dollars invested, more than a thousand aircraft delivered, and multiple combat deployments, the F-35 has matured into the world’s most capable fighter. Its stealth, sensors, and data fusion allow it not only to fight effectively itself, but to dramatically enhance the effectiveness of fourth-generation aircraft flying alongside it.
In coalition operations, an F-35 can act as a sensor node, feeding targeting data to F-16s, F-15s, and Eurofighters operating with external weapons loads. This ability to multiply the effectiveness of an entire force is a defining feature of fifth-generation airpower.
No modern fighter operates alone. Combat aircraft are embedded in a vast network of systems, including AEW&C platforms like the E-3 Sentry and E-7 Wedgetail, electronic attack aircraft such as the EA-18G Growler, aerial refueling tankers like the KC-46A Pegasus, satellites, ground-based radars, and missile defense systems such as Patriot and Aegis.
In this broader context, the United States enjoys an overwhelming advantage. It operates roughly 75 percent of the world’s military tanker fleet, giving it unparalleled power projection. No other country can sustain large-scale air operations far from home to the same extent. China, the United Kingdom, and Russia operate only limited tanker fleets by comparison.
This means that U.S. fighters are often more capable in practice than identical aircraft flown by other air forces. Superior ISR, electronic warfare, training, logistics, and integration amplify their effectiveness. Conversely, adversary aircraft like the Su-57 suffer not only from inferior sensors and stealth, but also from a lack of supporting force multipliers.
The Israeli Air Force stands out as an exceptional case. Israel has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to keep its F-35s, F-15s, and F-16s at the cutting edge, integrating them into lethal strike packages tailored to specific missions. European air forces operating the Eurofighter and Rafale also field highly capable multirole fighters, particularly in air defense and strike roles.
Russia’s Su-30, Su-34, and Su-35 are formidable large fighters, but they are hampered by limitations in sensors, networking, and electronic warfare, as well as highly detectable radar emissions. China’s rapidly expanding fleet, including the J-20 and J-10C, is harder to assess due to limited transparency and lack of combat experience. The J-10C reportedly performed well in Pakistani service during a 2025 skirmish with India, though analysts caution that such encounters are highly context-dependent.
Measured purely as an air superiority fighter, the F-22 Raptor remains unmatched. Measured as an all-around, multirole combat system, the F-35 Lightning II stands alone. Its combination of stealth, sensors, networking, and real-world combat experience has made it the backbone of Western airpower and the benchmark against which all others are judged.
China’s advances with the J-20 and J-35 suggest that the gap is narrowing, at least regionally. Europe continues to field world-class fighters in the Rafale and Eurofighter. Yet no other nation combines advanced aircraft with the scale, force multipliers, and continuous upgrade pathways of the United States.
In modern air warfare, superiority is no longer about a single jet winning a dogfight. It is about systems, numbers, integration, and the ability to see first, strike first, and survive. By those measures, the United States—and particularly the F-35—still defines the state of the art in multirole fighter aviation.
