A
day fighter is a
fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
equipped only to fight during the day. More specifically, it refers to a multi-purpose aircraft that does not include equipment for fighting at night (such as
radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
), although it is sometimes used to refer to some
interceptorsAn interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, particularly bombers, usually relying on great speed...
as well.
Examples of planes that were classified as day fighters were the
Supermarine SpitfireThe Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries through the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used into the 1950s both as a front line fighter and in secondary roles...
and
Messerschmitt Bf 109The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. It was one of the first true modern fighters of the era, including such features as an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear...
. Both were excellent interceptors, but were also found in roles such as
strike fighterA strike fighter is a fighter aircraft which is also capable of attacking surface targets, including ships. It differs from a ground-attack aircraft in that the aircraft remains a capable fighter. Previously, an airstrike on a ground target would usually involve bombers, defended by fighters...
and
reconnaissanceReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
.
A
day fighter is a
fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
equipped only to fight during the day. More specifically, it refers to a multi-purpose aircraft that does not include equipment for fighting at night (such as
radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
), although it is sometimes used to refer to some
interceptorsAn interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, particularly bombers, usually relying on great speed...
as well.
Examples of planes that were classified as day fighters were the
Supermarine SpitfireThe Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries through the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used into the 1950s both as a front line fighter and in secondary roles...
and
Messerschmitt Bf 109The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s. It was one of the first true modern fighters of the era, including such features as an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear...
. Both were excellent interceptors, but were also found in roles such as
strike fighterA strike fighter is a fighter aircraft which is also capable of attacking surface targets, including ships. It differs from a ground-attack aircraft in that the aircraft remains a capable fighter. Previously, an airstrike on a ground target would usually involve bombers, defended by fighters...
and
reconnaissanceReconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Canadian and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon...
. However, neither was really able to be used as a useful
night fighterA night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility.Night fighters came into their own during World War II, made possible with the advent of airborne radar. Prior to that, the main components of air defence at night were searchlights and anti-aircraft...
, so the term day fighter was used to describe designs of this sort.
Today almost all fighter aircraft have enough equipment to be used as a night fighter, so the term has fallen from use. Lightweight fighters without full night equipment such as the
F-5 Freedom Fighter/Tiger IIThe Northrop F-5A/B Freedom Fighter and F-5E/F Tiger II are part of a family of widely used light supersonic fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop in the United States, beginning in 1960s...
and MiG-21 Fishbed are still used by nations which lack the money to acquire advanced fighter aircraft.
The last of the day fighters were the original F-16 and the YF-17 that competed for the Light Weight Fighter contract which had the goal of providing the USAF with an inexpensive day fighter that could be purchased in great numbers to establish air superiority. Ironically, after winning the contract the F-16 quickly matured into a much more capable multi-role aircraft and can no longer be considered a day fighter.