A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed to attack other aircraft in the air. Unlike the bombers, which are designed to attack targets on the surface. Fighter aircraft are relatively smaller, faster, and agile. Fighter aircraft were originally developed in World War I to deal with bombers and hot air balloons which were becoming more common for ground attack and reconnaissance.

The first fighter aircraft were originally wooden twin-wing aircraft that were given a submachine gun. In World War II, fighter aircraft were mostly made of metal, had single wings, and used machine guns embedded in the wings. After World War II, turbojet engines began to replace piston engines, and guided missiles began to be used to replace machine guns as the main weapon.

Classification of fighter aircraft is made by generation. The use of this generation was initially used by top defense officials in Russia, who referred to the United States' F-22 Raptor as a "fifth generation" fighter.

A fighter aircraft is an aircraft used for war in the air. Generally, fighter aircraft are slim, can move agile, carry canons (machine guns) as well as missiles and bombs, high speed, equipped with more avionics equipment than civilian/passenger aircraft such as radar that is able to detect opponents at long distances and lock on enemy targets. Moreover, it is equipped with deceptive equipment and radar jammers, so that it is capable of "stealth".