Post–World War II U.S. Combat Aircraft Ranked by Confirmed Kills

The Jet Age emerged in the aftermath of World War II, ushering in one of the most significant technological shifts in military aviation history. As jet propulsion replaced piston-driven engines, fighter aircraft gained unprecedented speed, altitude capability, and combat flexibility. Aerial warfare evolved alongside these advancements. Traditional close-range dogfights became less common, while the doctrine of air superiority took center stage. Breakthroughs in engineering, avionics, and weapons systems gave rise to many of the iconic fighter aircraft that continue to define modern air combat.

In this analysis, History Computer examines the most lethal U.S. military aircraft of the post–World War II era, ranked by confirmed aerial victories. To compile this ranking, we reviewed historical aircraft catalogs and defense databases, including Military Factory and other publicly available military aviation records. Aircraft are ranked according to confirmed kills. Supplemental data includes aircraft classification, maximum speed, year introduced into service, and primary armament. In cases where complete records were unavailable or limited, those gaps are noted.

It is important to recognize that confirmed kill counts do not fully capture an aircraft’s strategic value. Several highly influential fighters played critical roles in deterrence, patrol, escort, and airspace control without recording aerial victories. Some well-known platforms surprisingly never tallied a confirmed kill for U.S. operators, despite their importance in maintaining air dominance.

Below is a ranking of post–World War II U.S. aircraft by confirmed aerial victories.

Understanding air superiority, as it relates to how it's earned or measured, comes down to more than tallying aircraft shot down. It's about persistent control of the airspace in terms of denying the enemy freedom of action through attrition and by disrupting their radar, logistics, and more. Kill counts are a solid metric for tallying the score. Militaries with finite resources are less willing to risk it, if they know their aircraft will be shot down repeatedly. Also, air superiority gives a strategic foothold to larger military operations in general.

• Confirmed kills: Not publicly available
• Type: 5th generation air dominance fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 2005
• Top speed: 1,599 mph
• Armament: 20mm automatic cannon, Sidewinder missiles, AMRAAM missiles, joint drop munitions, drop bombs, air-launched cruise missiles

The F-22 has no publicly detailed confirmed kills, but these aircraft have shot down high-altitude objects–whether they were manned is unknown.

• Confirmed kills: Not publicly available
• Type: Multirole 5th generation aircraft
• Year introduced: 2016
• Top speed: 1,199 mph
• Armament: 25mm GAU-12/U automatic cannon, Sidewinder missiles, Paveway guided bombs, Rockeye II bombs, Brimstone missiles, Storm Shadow missiles, drop bombs

American flown F-35s have not registered any confirmed kills publicly. However, allies with F-35's have recorded kills of their own.

• Confirmed kills: 0
• Type: Fighter / Interceptor aircraft
• Year introduced: 1958
• Top speed: 1320 mph
• Armament: 20mm M61 Vulcan automatic cannons, Sidewinder missiles, Sparrow missiles, Selenia Aspide missiles, rocket pods, conventional drop bombs, nuclear ordnance

There were effectively no combat kills for this aircraft with US operators. However, multiple kills have been logged by foreign operators like Taiwan and Pakistan.

• Confirmed kills: 0
• Type: Swing-wing, carrierborne fleet defense fighter
• Year introduced: 1974
• Top speed: 1,544 mph
• Armament: 20mm internal gatling gun, Phoenix missiles, Sparrow missiles, Sidewinder missiles, conventional drop bombs, guided bombs

Although the US Armed Forces do not have any confirmed kills with this aircraft, the ones sold to Iran are credited with a fair amount (~55).

• Confirmed kills: 0
• Type: Supersonic interceptor aircraft
• Year introduced: 1956
• Top speed: 825 mph
• Armament: AIM-4A semi-active radar-homing air-to-air missiles, InfraRed homing air-to-air missiles, folding-fin aerial rockets, Falcon nuclear missiles

There were no significant US air-to-air combat kills recorded, as there was little-to-no wartime scoring with this aircraft.

• Confirmed kills: 0
• Type: Short take-off and vertical landing strike aircraft
• Year introduced: 1985
• Top speed: 665 mph
• Armament: 30mm ADEN cannons, drop bombs, laser-guided bombs, Maverick missiles, Harpoon missiles, cluster munitions, Sidewinder missiles, AMRAAM missiles, joint direct attack munitions

There are no notable US air-to-air confirmed kills with this aircraft. Most of the confirmed kills come from foreign operators, notably in the Falklands.

• Confirmed kills: 0
• Type: Interceptor / Reconnaissance aircraft
• Year introduced: 1957
• Top speed: 1134 mph
• Armament: 20mm M39 automatic cannons, MB-1 Genie missiles (nuclear-tipped), Falcon air-to-air missiles

This aircraft served during the Cold War but recorded no confirmed kills by US operators.

• Confirmed kills: 1
• Type: Multirole carrier-based fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 1956
• Top speed: 645 mph
• Armament: 20mm Colt Mk 12 automatic cannons, Sidewinder missiles, Bullpup missiles, Maverick missiles, Shrike missiles, Walleye drop bombs, LAU-10 rocket pods, nuclear bombs (B43, B57, B61), Rockeye bombs, Rockeye II bombs, conventional drop bombs

The US Navy and Marines scored one confirmed kill with this aircraft in the Vietnam War.

• Confirmed kills: ~1
• Type: Carrier-based strike fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 1999
• Top speed: 1,187 mph
• Armament: 20mm M61A1 Vulcan automatic cannon, Sidewinder missiles, AMRAAM missiles, Harpoon missiles, HARM missiles, Maverick missiles, joint direct att munitions, Rockeye II bombs, general purpose bombs

This solo confirmed kill happened in June 2017 to a Su-22. However, there have been a number of shootdowns for drones.

• Confirmed kills: ~2
• Type: Carrier-based strike fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 1983
• Top speed: 1,190 mph
• Armament: 20mm M61 Vulcan cannon, Sidewinder missiles, Sparrow missiles, Maverick missiles, Harpoon missiles, HARM missiles, laser-guided / precision drop bombs, gun pods, rocket pods, nuclear-tipped ordnance

These confirmed kills came from Operation Desert Storm.

• Confirmed kills: ~2
• Type: Close-air support / forward air control
• Year introduced: 1976
• Top speed: 439 mph
• Armament: 30mm GAU-8/A gatling gun, Maverick missiles, Sidewinder missiles, rocket pods, drop bombs, cluster bombs, Paveway bombs

A-10's are not air-superiority fighters, so their air-to-air combat record is incredibly limited. However, this aircraft did down 2 helicopters in 1991.

• Confirmed kills: ~3
• Type: Air superiority / fighter-bomber / reconnaissance aircraft
• Year introduced: 1954
• Top speed: 864 mph
• Armament: 20mm M39 autocannons, Sidewinder missiles, Bullpup missiles, Shrike missiles, HVAR rockets, conventional drop bombs, nuclear missiles

There were very few kills by this aircraft during the Vietnam War and many claims are probables.

• Confirmed kills: ~5
• Type: Fighter-bomber aircraft
• Year introduced: 1945
• Top speed: 577 mph
• Armament: 12.7mm M2 Browning heavy machine guns, conventional drop bombs, HVAR rockets

The kills by this aircraft came from early in the Korean War but some are contested.

• Confirmed kills: ~8
• Type: Fighter-bomber aircraft
• Year introduced: 1947
• Top speed: 587 mph
• Armament: 12.7mm heavy machine guns, aerial rockets, conventional drop bombs, napalm

These were 8 credited MiG kills in the Korean War.

• Confirmed kills: ~10
• Type: Multirole 4th generation fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 1978
• Top speed: 1,317 mph
• Armament: 20mm M61 automatic cannon, Sidewinder missiles, AMRAAM missiles, Maverick missiles, Penguin missiles, Runway denial bombs, cluster bombs, laser-guided bombs, conventional drop bombs

US operators generally scored low confirmed kills with this aircraft compared to other militaries around the world. Most of the F-16 kills belong to countries like Israel or Pakistan. A couple of the US confirmed kills came in no-fly-zone ops and the Balkans.

• Confirmed kills: ~19
• Type: Carrier-based fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 1957
• Top speed: 1118 mph
• Armament: 20mm automatic cannons, Sidewinder missiles, air-to-air missiles, Bullpup missiles, Matra missiles, Magic missiles

The US Navy is credited with kills in the high-teens with this aircraft during the Vietnam War.

• Confirmed kills: ~27
• Type: Fighter-bomber aircraft
• Year introduced: 1958
• Top speed: 1390 mph
• Armament: 20mm M61 automatic cannon, Sidewinder missiles, mine dispensers, air-to-surface missiles, anti-radiation missiles, rocket pods, nuclear-tipped weapons, conventional drop bombs

All of these air-to-air victories came from the Vietnam War.

• Confirmed kills: ~36
• Type: Air superiority fighter aircraft
• Year introduced: 1976
• Top speed: 1,875 mph
• Armament: 20mm M61A1 automatic cannon, Sidewinder missiles, Sparrow missiles, Maverick missiles, HARM missiles, laser-guided bombs, joint direct attack munitions, cluster bombs, nuclear bombs

These kills primarily come from Operation Desert Storm and other smaller engagements. The F-15C actually scored the bulk of the USAF air-to-air victories in Desert Storm.

• Confirmed kills: ~150
• Type: Strike fighter
• Year introduced: 1960
• Top speed: 1,473 mph
• Armament: 20mm M61 Vulcan, Skyflash missiles, Sparrow missiles, Sidewinder missiles, rocket pods, gun pods, conventional drop bombs, guided bombs

The Armed Forces of the US have a combined total of 150 air-to-air kills in Vietnam. In terms of the breakdown, the USAF tallied 107, Navy got 40, and the Marines got 3.

• Confirmed kills: ~792
• Type: Fighter-bomber aircraft
• Year introduced: 1949
• Top speed: 690 mph
• Armament: 12.7mm M2 Browning heavy machine guns, 20mm automatic cannons, rockets, Sidewinder missiles, conventional drop bombs

The US claims to have nearly 800 kills with this aircraft, primarily stemming from the Korean War. However, some are revising this number down to around 200.