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Concept
Interceptor aircraft
Summary
An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are capable of being or are employed as both ‘standard’ air superiority fighters and as interceptors are sometimes known as fighter-interceptors. There are two general classes of interceptor: light fighters, designed for high performance over short range; and heavy fighters, which are intended to operate over longer ranges, in contested airspace and adverse meteorological conditions. While the second type was exemplified historically by specialized night fighter and all-weather interceptor designs, the integration of mid-air refueling, satellite navigation, on-board radar and beyond visual range (BVR) missile systems since the 1960s has allowed most frontline fighter designs to fill the roles once reserved for specialised night/all-weather fighters.
For daytime operations, conventional light fighters have normally filled the interceptor role. Day interceptors have been used in a defensive role since World War I, and are perhaps best known from major actions like the Battle of Britain, when the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane were part of a successful defensive strategy. However, dramatic improvements in both ground-based and airborne radar gave greater flexibility to existing fighters and few later designs were conceived as dedicated day interceptors. (Exceptions include the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, which was the only rocket-powered, manned military aircraft to see combat. To a lesser degree, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, which had heavy armament specifically intended for anti-bomber missions, was also a specialised day interceptor.)
Night fighters and bomber destroyers are interceptors of the heavy type, although initially they were rarely referred to as such.
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