The United States military has seven categories of aircrafts. They are: fighter, bomber, tanker, trainer, transport, ground attack, and surveillance. Sometimes the same model aircrafts used for fighter operations will also be used for ground attack or even surveillance.

Fighter Aircrafts

A fighter is used mainly for attacking other aircrafts. Fighters are small, fast and easily maneuvered. Fighters were developed during World War I in response the use of aircrafts to drop bombs. The earliest fighters were wooden planes with only machine guns for weapons. Now fighters have missiles and a radar to track a target.

Bomber Aircrafts

A bomber is used to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Within this category there are different types of bombers: