Followings are the few most advance,,costly and powerful planes of modern era:
Role
Stealth bomber
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
Northrop Corporation
Northrop Grumman
First flight
17 July 1989
Introduction
April 1997
Status
Active service: 20 aircraft
Primary user
United States Air Force
Number built
21
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (also known as the Stealth Bomber) is an American heavy bomber with "low observable" stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti aircraft defenses and deploy both conventional and nuclear weapons. Because of its considerable capital and operational cost, the project was controversial in the us congress and among the joint chief of staff.
The U.S. B-2 bomber is the most expensive warplane ever to enter service as per june 2010. It’s also one of the most expensive aircraft to maintain, costing about $3.4 million a month per aircraft just for that. For every hour in the air, about 60 man hours of maintenance are required. The B-2 often flies missions lasting over 30 hours. The extensive maintenance needs of the B-2 keep at least a third of them out of action at any given time. As a result, the aircraft is often referred to as a “hanger queen” (an aircraft that spends most of its time in a hanger getting fixed).
The 21 B-2s built ended up costing over $2 billion each. About half of that was development expense. At the time these aircraft were built (in the 1990s), they cost as much as a major warship. The B-2 has similar needs, including periodic (every seven years), lengthy (13 months) refurbishment (programmed depot maintenance, or PDM). Most of the PDM is devoted to refurbishing structural stealth features. PDMs, upgrades and operating costs nearly double the cost of each B-2 over its service life (30 or more years). There are 19 B-2s in service, and one used for R&D. One was lost in a 2008 accident.
The U.S. B-2 bomber takes a lot of heat for its high price. Actual construction costs for each of those aircraft was about a billion dollars. Still pretty high, mainly because a lot of special machinery and factories had to be built to manufacture the many custom components. The air force likes to point out that if the original (1986) plan had been followed, each B-2 would have cost half a billion dollars each. But then the entire program would have cost $58.2 billion, versus $44.3 billion for the 21 plane program (which included $10 billion more R&D expense).
New technology gives a weapon, especially an aircraft, an edge in combat. But since World War II, most military technology has been developed in peacetime conditions. This means it is more than twice as expensive, as there is no wartime urgency to overcome bureaucratic inertia (and emphasis on covering your ass, which is very time consuming and expensive) and hesitation (because you don’t have a war going on to settle disputes over what will work best). As a result, developing this technology takes longer in peacetime, which also raises the cost. Worst of all, fewer units of a new weapon are produced (driving up the amount of development cost each weapon will have to carry.) If several hundred B-2s were produced under wartime conditions, each aircraft would have probably cost $200 million each, or less. In other words, a tenth of what it actually cost.”
source:wikipedia
Role
Multirole fighter
Manufacturer
Panavia Aircraft GmbH
First flight
14 August 1974
Introduced
1979
Status
Operational
Primary users
Royal Air Force
Luftwaffe
Italian Air Force
Royal Saudi Air Force
Produced
1979–1998
Number built
992
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy. There are three primary versions of the Tornado; the Tornado IDS (interdictor/strike) fighter-bomber, the suppression of enemy air defences Tornado ECR (electronic combat/reconnaissance) and the Tornado ADV (air defence variant) interceptor.
Role
Air superiority fighter
National origin
Soviet Union / Russia
Manufacturer
Sukhoi Design Bureau
First flight
20 May 1977
Introduced
December 1984
Status
In production, in service
Primary users
Russian Air Force
Chinese Air Force
Ukrainian Air Force
See Operators for others
Produced
1984–current
Number built
680
Unit cost
US$30 million
The Sukhoi Su-27 (Cyrillic: Сухой Су-27) (NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a single-seat, twin-engine Mach-2 class jet fighter originally manufactured by the Soviet Union, and designed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large United States fourth generation fighters, with long 3,530-kilometre (1,910 nmi) range, heavy armament, sophisticated avionics and high maneuverability. The Su-27 most often flies air superiority missions, but is able to perform almost all combat operations. Complementing the smaller MiG-29, the Su-27's closest US counterpart is the F-15 Eagle.
Role
Multi-role combat aircraft
National origin
People's Republic of China
Manufacturer
Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation
Designed by
Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute
First flight
23 March 1998
Introduced
2005
Status
In service
Primary user
People's Liberation Army Air Force
Produced
2002–Present
Number built
80-100
Program cost
500 million RMB allocated in 1982 (Project #10)
Unit cost
190 million RMB (27.84 millionUSD; 2010)
The Chengdu J-10 (simplified Chinese: 歼十; traditional Chinese: 殲十; pinyin: Jiān Shí; literally "Annihilator Ten") is a multirole fighter aircraft designed and produced by the People's Republic of China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC) for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Known in the West as the "Vigorous Dragon",[8] the J-10 is a multi-role combat aircraft capable of all-weather day/night operation.
Role
Airborne warning and control system(AWACS)
Manufacturer
Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Northrop Grumman (radar)
First flight
25 May 1976 (E-3A with full mission avionics)
Introduction
March 1977
Primary users
United States Air Force
Royal Air Force
Royal Saudi Air Force
NATO
Produced
1977–1991
Number built
68
The Boeing E-3 Sentry is a U.S. military airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft based on the Boeing 707 that provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications. It is used by countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia and NATO air defense forces. It is distinguished by the disc-shaped rotodome above the fuselage. Production ended in 1992 after 68 had been built.
Role
Stealth air superiority fighter
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
First flight
YF-22: 29 September 1990
F-22: 7 September 1997
Introduced
15 December 2005
Status
In service
Primary user
United States Air Force
Number built
168 as of October 2010 (187 planned)
Program cost
US$65 billion
Unit cost
US$150 million (flyaway cost for FY2009)
The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a single-seat, twin-engine fifth-generation supermaneuverable fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. It was designed primarily as an air superiority fighter, but has additional capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles.[6] Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is the prime contractor and is responsible for the majority of the airframe, weapon systems and final assembly of the F-22. Program partner Boeing Defense, Space & Security provides the wings, aft fuselage, avionics integration, and all of the pilot and maintenance training systems.
Role
Unmanned combat air vehicle
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
First flight
2 February 2001
Primary users
United States Air Force
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Royal Air Force
Aeronautica Militare
Number built
57
Unit cost
US$10.5 million for Reaper with sensors
Developed from
MQ-1 Predator
Developed into
General Atomics Avenger
The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (originally the Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), capable of remote controlled or autonomous flight operations, developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) for use by the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Royal Air Force, and the Italian Air Force. The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft (RPV/RPA) by the U.S. Air Force to indicate their human ground controllers.[2][3] The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance.
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