What military aircraft are defining today’s most intense conflicts? 2026 has its fair share of ongoing conflicts, with multiple overlapping conflicts in the Middle East, the ongoing large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Mali, Myanmar (Burma), Sudan, the US Operation Southern Spear to arrest Venezuela’s Maduro, tensions over Taiwan, and more. While Chinese J-20, J-15, J-10, and J-16 jets are important and numerous, they are not yet “defining today’s most intense” kinetic conflicts.

Notable aircraft missing from this article include the Russian Su-57 Felon and the F-22 Raptor. The Su-57 remains an immature aircraft in low numbers, and its use remains cautionary. The F-22 may be the most advanced air dominance fighter, but none of today’s conflicts are providing it the opportunity to prove its mettle. That said, it has been deployed to the Middle East and taken part in operations.

The Lockheed Martin F-35

Credit: Department of Defense

The F-35 gets a lot of attention, often for being over budget and delayed, although almost all fighter jet programs are over budget and delayed. Having been in service for around ten years, the F-35 is now truly starting to come into its own. With Lockheed having delivered over 1,300 examples, the jet family is taking its place as the second-most-common fighter jet in service today, behind only the F-16. In 2025, Dutch F-35s became the first NATO aircraft in history to kinetically protect NATO airspace as they downed intruding Russian drones over Poland.

F-35s were a core part of the US force built up in the Caribbean as part of Operation Southern Spear, and they are a central part of deterrence in East Asia. They are also in service with Japan and Korea. During 2024, 2025, and 2026, they were central to SEAD and DEAD Israeli/US missions over Iran. Israel is so impressed with them that the country is moving to purchase another 25 examples, eventually bringing its fleet to 100. It has 48 in service now.

The F-35 is now the only fighter in service with Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands, while Belgium, Poland, and Finland are gearing up to bring their first examples into service. The UK has completed its initial orders for 48 examples. The US Navy and US Marines are a few short years away from completing the retrofit program for their ships to operate F-35s, while the Air Force has over 550 examples in service.

F-15E Strike Eagle

Credit: Shutterstock

While the F-35 and F-22 are limited by their internal weapons bays to reserve stealth, the F-15E is free to carry large amounts of ordnance externally. With Israel and the US, the F-35 may often act as an enabler, kicking in the proverbial door by taking out and suppressing air defense and providing a “god’s eye view” of the battlespace. But it’s the F-15 that can carry large quantities of munitions, though the US can dial this up by calling in its strategic bombers.

The F-15E, armed with rockets, is also part of the air defense in the Middle East against one-way attack drones and cruise missiles. Three US F-15Es were downed by friendly fire, and one by hostile ground-based fire. The F-15s are also in service with the air forces of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with Qatar’s F-15QAs taking out a pair of Iranian Su-24 Fencers.

Israel was impressed by the F-15’s performance and has ordered another 25 examples of the latest F-15EX on top of its existing order for 25 F-15EXs. Meanwhile, the US is moving to double its planned purchase of the F-15EX to 267 jets, suggesting it foresees the F-15EX operating alongside the future F-47 long after the F-22 eventually retires.

F-16 Fighting Falcon

Credit: US Air Force

The F-16 is a small multirole fighter, but thanks to its versatility and affordability, the aircraft remains the most common fighter jet in the world. The USAF and Israel have used it in almost every conflict as a workhorse. While the jet is fast retiring from Western European air forces, it is growing in Eastern European air forces.

The F-16 is now the mainstay of the Ukrainian Air Force, with the jets active every day, with the primary role being air defense. Ukraine’s F-16s are growing in numbers and capabilities and have become a program the Russian Air Force is unable to effectively counter. Meanwhile, Bulgaria and Slovakia are working up their fleets of F-16s while Turkey, Greece, and Taiwan are modernizing parts of their fleets and/or purchasing more new aircraft.

Separately, the US Air Force’s A-10 Warthog appears to be going out with a blaze of glory. In 2025 and 2026, the A-10 has been seen in action in Syria, Iraq, and Iran. It has been videoed using its famous autocannon on strafing runs and has been reported to have had a role against Iran’s navy. In its twilight years, it has been retrofitted as a drone hunter. The Air Force has reduced its fleet to around 100 examples, and the last are expected to retire in 2030.

The Flanker & Legacy Soviet/Russian Systems

Credit: Shutterstock

As the conflict has drawn on, the Russian Air Force has largely contracted to its core modernized Flanker series — the Su-30/34/35 (and MiG-31s to some extent). Outdated Russian platforms like the Su-27, MiG-29, Su-24, and Su-25 have been fading from the frontlines and are increasingly found on rear-echelon duties. Ukraine also continues to use legacy Su-27, Su-24, MiG-29, and Su-25 combat aircraft, but it wants to replace these systems with Western aircraft.

In 2025, Indian-built Su-30MKIs saw action against Pakistan, reportedly resulting in at least one being lost. Russia is also continuing modest deliveries of fighter jets (Su-30s and Su-35s) to Algeria, Belarus, and Myanmar. Deliveries to Iran don’t appear to have eventuated. Some legacy Soviet/Russian Sukhois and MiGs can be found in other conflicts in Mali, Sudan, Iran, Syria, Myanmar, and elsewhere.

All of Syria’s Soviet fighter jets are believed lost. Many of Iran’s are likely gone, although as of May 2026, it still has at least two MiG-29s. However, legacy Soviet-era fighters are rapidly coming to an end as they are lost, become nonoperational, and are replaced by combat drones or other systems, including the cheap, low-end Sino-Pakistani JF-17. Chinese-built Pakistani J-10 fighters helped define the 2025 conflict with India, and it is unclear which jets Pakistan used to strike Afghanistan in 2026.

Aerial Tankers

Credit: US Air Force

While many may focus on the fighter jets, it’s the logistics and enablers behind them that make their operations possible. One of the most important aircraft defining modern combat is aerial tankers, specifically three types (excluding the turboprop KC-130). The world’s most important tankers are the KC-135, KC-46, and Airbus MRTT. As Russia and China only operate small tanker fleets, their air forces are limited to operating close to their bases. That said, their jets, like the Su-30 and J-20, are designed with large internal fuel volumes.

Without the KC-135 (including Israeli versions) and KC-46 tankers, the air campaigns over Iran would not have been possible. It would also have been extremely difficult to move the USAF assets into the region without them. In the operation, the USAF may have used more tanker aircraft than the rest of the world has combined.

The European A330 MRTT (called Voyager in the RAF) is also vital to European operations. Every day, the A330 MRTT is active, supporting British operations at its RAF Akoriti base in Cyprus and its Mount Pleasant base in the Falkland Islands. British and French aircraft were active in defending the Gulf states from attacks, and A330 MRTTs were central. The Russian Air Force has little ability to project air power far from its borders, partly because its limited fleet of Il-78s is mostly confined to sustaining bomber patrols.

US & Russian Strategic Bombers

Credit: US Air Force

This last section could easily go to important military aircraft like reconnaissance aircraft (e.g., RQ-9), transport aircraft (e.g., C-17), or AWACS aircraft (e.g., E-3), the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, new Chinese fighters, or even the French Rafale, but it will instead deal with strategic bombers. After many years of doing little, other than carrying out strikes on insurgents, Russian and US bombers have made a major comeback. In 2026, six of the world’s seven in-service bombers are seeing combat (counting the Tu-22 as a strategic bomber). Only China’s H-6 bombers are not.

The US used its B-2 bombers in 2024 against targets in Yemen, seen as a warning to Iran. Then it used the B-2s in Operation Midnight Hammer against Iranian nuclear facilities. In 2026, the USAF strategic bomber fleet came to life, launching countless bombing runs using all three types of bombers — the B-2, B-1B, and B-52. No US bombers have been lost. At the same time, the USAF is test-flying its new B-21 ahead of the bomber’s expected entry into service in 2027.

Russia’s bomber story is very different. Russia has been unable to achieve air superiority, meaning its bombers have to carry long-range standoff munitions that can be launched safely. The US can deliver cheap and plentiful JDAMs and GBU-57 bunker busters. Russia’s diminishing old fleet has also suffered significant losses, including an estimated 20% of its operational fleet during 2025’s Operation Spiderweb. The losses have compelled Russia to start employing its limited fleet of prestige Tu-160 bombers.