The jet engine represents one of the most significant paradigm shifts in the history of aviation, but the jet age did not spring fully formed from the brow of Frank Whittle. Over the last 80 years, the push and pull of technology and response has seen the emergence of 5 distinct generations of jet fighter, with a 6th currently in development. These generations are more than a simple catalog of models; each represents fundamental shifts in operational capability and design philosophy. Understanding what makes each generation unique and how it came about makes it easier to understand the evolution of air power, the process of technological change, and how the simple interceptor of the 1940s became the complex, networked weapons system of the 21st century.

Gen 1

An Me 262, a bad fighter jet

Gen 0: Meteor, Me 262, P-80, F2H

Gen 1: F-86, MiG-15, Tunnan

Our story begins with the jet fighters that emerged during the Second World War. Of these, the Messerschmitt Me 262 is by far the most famous, but the Gloster Meteor and Lockheed P-80 also saw limited service in the war. These early jets are sometimes referred to as 0th generation fighters to distinguish them from the proper jet designs that emerged a few years later, but they are grouped here because of the short period of time Gen0 would cover and because Gen0 and Gen1 have more in common than not. Read more...

It's time once again for our regular Open Thread. Talk about whatever you want, so long as it isn't Culture War.

A reminder that I am currently taking signups for the 2026 meetup in Dayton, and they're filling up fast. The AirBnB is already full, and at some point soon, I'm going to have to cut things off to keep the size of the tour manageable.

Overhauls are Mine Warfare Part 1, INCW Part 4, Excitement in the Bab-el-Mandeb, and for 2024 US Military Aircraft Parts One, Two, Three and Four.

Five and a half years ago, I covered the announcement that the Italian FREMM class frigates would be adapted into the USN's new frigate, which was named the Constellation class after one of the original frigates a few months later. The idea was that by buying an existing design, it would reduce the risk of major cost overruns and help get the USN out of the shipbuilding doldrums it had been in ever since it was saddled with the LCS.

Unfortunately, none of this seems to have worked out. The program is currently 36 months behind schedule and well over budget, and the originally-planned 85% commonality has dropped to 15%, while the Navy and the shipbuilder, Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), have pushed ahead with construction well before the design is even completed. Things have gotten so bad that Secretary of the Navy John Phelan that four of the six ships currently on order are being cancelled, and that the Navy will look elsewhere for a small surface combatant. Read more...

I recently ran across a reference to Mikasa as the fourth unit of the Shikishima class. This was interesting, because every reference I've seen to Mikasa has her as the sole unit of her class. But then I started looking, and in the process, ended up wondering about why we draw the lines where we do.

Shikishima

In the years after the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese government spent a lot of the indemnity they'd extorted from the Chinese on battleships, buying four from British yards. In most sources I'm aware of, the first two, Shikishima and Hatsuse, are treated as being sisters, while Asahi and Mikasa are singletons. But all four ships have the same basic specifications, a displacement of around 15,000 tons, speed of 18 kts, armament of 4x12"/40 guns and 14 6", and a 9" belt. There are some minor differences in their exact dimensions, but on that front, Shikishima is more like Asahi than Hatsuse. Read more...

I've just announced the 2026 Naval Gazing meetup at the Air Force museum in Dayton, Ohio. As part of that, I am preparing an introduction to aviation tour, and figured I should give a sneak peak of that for anyone who is on the fence about going.

A fuselage

I should start this tour by explaining the basic parts of an airplane, so you understand what I'm talking about as we go along. We'll start with the fuselage. This is the tube in the center, and it's the most important part for two reasons. First, it serves as the backbone to hold all of the other pieces together, and if you take it away, you just have a pile of parts. Second, all planes exist for a reason, and that reason is usually found in the fuselage.¹ Now, for military aircraft, there are four basic roles, and all operational military aircraft fulfill one or more of these. First, handling information, which covers everything from flying over to see what's going on down below to carrying a big radar to detect and direct other planes to trying to jam enemy radar. Second, attacking things on the ground, be it factories or ships or tanks or whatever. Third, moving people and stuff around, because you would really rather it be somewhere else quickly. And fourth, attacking planes that are doing something you don't like. I put this one last because it ultimately exists only to support the doing of the other three things, or to stop the other guy doing them to you. No matter how much the Air Force might try to deny it, aviation ultimately exists to produce effects on the surface. Now, note that this only applies to operational aircraft, and there are two types of planes that militaries do operate which don't fit into this schema: trainers, which you use to teach pilots how to fly, and experimental planes that push forward the science of aeronautics. Read more...

Continuing our annual tradition, the 2026 Naval Gazing meetup will be held in Dayton, Ohio, on May 14th-17th. While an inland town in a (mostly) landlocked state may seem like an odd choice, Dayton is both the birthplace of aviation and home to probably the world's greatest air museum. And as per usual, we're getting an AirBnB, so there's stuff to do even if you don't want to spend every possible minute communing with planes.

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It's time once again for our regular Open Thread. Talk about whatever you want, so long as it isn't Culture War.

Overhauls are my review of the 45th Infantry Division Museum, Commercial Aviation Part 1 and for 2024 Navy Day 2024, Quanticle's review of Party on the Bridge and the 2024 USNI Sale.

The first USS Constellation was one of the original six frigates authorized in 1794 to deal with Algerian pirates. She was built in Baltimore and went on to serve as one of the nascent country's main warships during the trade conflicts of the early 19th century. Today, USS Constellation is a museum ship in Baltimore harbor, alongside submarine Torsk and Coast Guard cutter Rodger B. Taney.

Constellation in Baltimore

But the ship in Baltimore is obviously a very different ship from the one launched in 1797, the result of a major rebuild at Norfolk in 1853. After that, she served as part of the blockading force during the Civil War and spent two decades as a training ship, taking midshipmen around the world, before being hulked at Newport. She remained there for decades, serving as the official flagship of the Atlantic Fleet during WWII before the Navy finally decided to dispose of her in the fiscally strained years after WWII. The citizens of Baltimore began a campaign to bring her home that paid off in 1955, when she was donated and plans were made to restore her as far as possible to her 1797 configuration. Read more...

As the end of the year draws close, the Naval Institute Press once again has put its books on sale. It's a better sale than last year, with everything not on clearance getting 50% off if you use the code HOLIDAY at checkout, although they haven't brought back free shipping. The vast majority of the stuff I use for Naval Gazing comes from them, so this is without a doubt the best time to build out your naval library.

Looking first over the new releases, there's the spring and fall catalogs, as well as the spring 2026 section. Unfortunately, it is here that USNI's strange operational decisions and/or ongoing IT woes cause problems, as several of the most interesting new releases, including the vital Seaforth World Naval Review 2026, French Aircraft Carriers 1910-2000, Japanese Aircraft Carriers 1920-1945 and Friedman's new The British Aircraft Carrier in Two World Wars are not in those catalogs. Ones that are in the catalog and are worth checking out include Friedman's new book on Cold War ASW (I already have a copy, and it's quite good), Paul Stillwell's book on New Jersey, Stephen McLaughin's new book on Tsarist Cruisers and the second volume of Friedman's new work on British carriers. Read more...

Reader Albert Liu has recently been to Japan, and has kindly contributed reviews of two places he visited.

Japan Coast Guard Museum

A North Korean spy ship²

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