1903 12 17, a great moment in human history has arrived. The Wright brothers in the United States used bicycle repair technology to make fruitful improvements on the previous glider and built the world's first real airplane-Flyer1. The plane is 6.43 meters long, with a wingspan of 12.3 meters and a weight of 340 kilograms. The plane is equipped with a 12 horsepower diesel engine. 10: 35, his younger brother Orwell Wright bravely boarded the plane and became the first man to fly into the sky in human history. Although this flight was not very successful, it marked the arrival of the era of flight and opened up a new era in the aviation field. Since then, there has been an airplane craze in Europe, which has rapidly improved the performance of airplanes and reached a practical level. Soon, seaplanes and carrier-based aircraft came out one after another. With the continuous improvement of aircraft performance and the rapid expansion of its application scope, some people naturally associate it with war.

1909, the us army equipped the world's first military aircraft. 191101On October 23rd, Italy used the plane for the first time when it was fighting with Turkey. Subsequently, military aircraft developed rapidly in Germany, Britain, France and other European countries. Of course, at first, planes were mainly used for reconnaissance and communication, but they inevitably encountered enemy planes on the battlefield. At that time, pilots had to shoot at each other with their infantry weapons. To this end, countries have installed more lethal machine guns on planes, resulting in fighters mainly used in air combat, and soon bombers mainly used to attack ground targets.

After the first world war, countries have a deeper understanding of the role of aircraft and constantly improve aircraft. With the progress of metallurgy and machine manufacturing technology, the performance of aircraft has been continuously improved. In the early days of World War II, some planes reached a speed of about 500 kilometers per hour. In the middle and late period of the war, the speed of some fighters has reached about 750 kilometers per hour. At the end of the war, jet fighters made in Germany and Britain began to be used in combat. The main representatives of aircraft in this period are Soviet-made Iraqi 5, Iraqi 15 and Iraqi 16 fighters. British mosquito fighter; Comet fighter developed by Germany-the world's first supersonic plane, etc. After the Second World War, with the progress of science and technology, the tactical and technical performance of military aircraft has continuously made breakthrough progress, the combat effectiveness of weapons has become higher and higher, and the scope of activities has become wider and wider. The maximum speed of modern fighters is generally around M (Mach) 2.0, and the maximum speed of MIG -25 aircraft can reach M3.0；; At the flying height, it generally does not exceed 20,000 meters. Most bombers are subsonic, and the maximum speed of individual bombers reaches m 2.2, and the maximum range can reach 1 650km. If you refuel in the air, you can increase the range by 20-40% each time. The reconnaissance plane has a maximum flying altitude of 24,000-35,000 meters and a range of more than 7,000 kilometers. Giant military transport planes can carry 200 tons or more of cargo. Due to the increase in performance and use, the types of aircraft have also increased a lot. Military aircraft can be divided into fighter, bomber, fighter-bomber, reconnaissance plane, early warning plane, military transport plane, electronic countermeasure plane, aerial tanker, military trainer and military helicopter. In some local wars after World War II, air superiority is more important than ever, and the air force is the most important service for air superiority. Therefore, some military powers are sparing no effort to develop their own air forces.

At present, the main development trends of military aircraft are: a large number of non-metallic materials are used to reduce weight; Attach importance to the application of stealth technology; Develop vertical and short takeoff and landing aircraft to reduce or get rid of dependence on the airport; Microelectronics and computer technology are widely used to realize the integration and intelligence of airborne equipment, the precise guidance, long-range projection, binding and generalization of airborne weapons; Electronic and photoelectric countermeasures are adopted to enhance the ability of electronic countermeasures. The outstanding performance of American-made B-2 stealth bomber in Kosovo, large-scale multi-purpose stealth aircraft will be the object of development in various countries.