A multirole combat aircraft is an aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

 designed to act in at least two different roles in combat. The primary role is usually a fighter

Fighter aircraft

A 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...

—hence, it is as often called a multirole fighter—while the secondary role is usually air-to-surface attack. More roles are added, such as air reconnaissance, forward air control

Forward air control

Forward air control is the provision of guidance to Close Air Support aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller . For NATO forces the qualifications and experience required to be...

, and electronic warfare

Electronic warfare

Electronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...

. As of the subtypes of attack missions, besides the most often air interdiction

Air interdiction

Air interdiction is the use of aircraft to attack tactical ground targets that are not in close proximity to friendly ground forces. It differs from close air support because it does not directly support ground operations and is not closely coordinated with ground units...

, there may be suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD), or even close air support

Close air support

In military tactics, close air support is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are close to friendly forces, and which requires detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement of these forces.The determining factor for CAS is...

 (CAS).

Strike fighter

Strike fighter

In a current military parlance, a strike fighter is a multi-role combat aircraft designed to operate primarily in the air-to-surface attack role while also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers...

, which similarly refers to a fighter capable of attack role, for historical reasons implies putting more emphasis on the interdiction aspect.

The main motivation for developing multirole aircraft is cost reduction. A fleet of multirole aircraft, when comparing to separate fleets of dedicated aircraft, costs less to develop, to manufacture, to maintain, and to supply. Some aircraft are called swing-role, to emphasize the ability of a quick role change, either at short notice, or even within the same mission.

History of the term

Multi-RoleCambridge Dictionary only lists "multirole", and not "multi-role". Combat Aircraft was the title of a multinational European project in 1968 that became the Panavia Tornado

Panavia Tornado

The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...

 aircraft. During its development, the project had also been briefly called Multi-Role Aircraft (MRA). The same aircraft is now referred to as the Tornado IDS, or InterDictor/Strike, to differentiate it from a later aircraft based on essentially the same airframe, known as Panavia Tornado ADV

Panavia Tornado ADV

The Panavia Tornado Air Defence Variant is a long-range, twin-engine interceptor version of the swing-wing Panavia Tornado. The aircraft's first flight was on 27 October 1979, and it entered service in 1986. It was retired on 22 March 2011 by the Royal Air Forceand is now only in service with the...

 or air-defence variant, with two types having diverged from an initial design presumably intended to perform both missions.

Examples

Listed below are examples of multirole combat aircraft and the country where they have been developed:

Region	Country of origin	Aircraft	Notes
Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...	West Germany	Panavia Tornado Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...	The original aircraft to have the word "Multi-Role" in its official description.
		Eurofighter Typhoon Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole combat aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of three companies: EADS, Alenia Aeronautica and BAE Systems; working through a holding company, Eurofighter GmbH, which was formed in 1986...	Described as a "highly agile Air Superiority and Air-to-Surface, multi-role/swing-role fighter" by the manufacturers and users.
		Dassault Mirage 2000
		Dassault Rafale Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engine delta-wing multi-role jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Introduced in 2000, the Rafale is being produced both for land-based use with the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations with the French Navy...	Described as a fully "omnirole" fighter by Dassault Dassault Aviation Dassault Aviation is a French aircraft manufacturer of military, regional and business jets, a subsidiary of Dassault Group.It was founded in 1930 by Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch or "MB". After World War II, Marcel Bloch changed his name to Marcel Dassault, and the name of the...
		Saab JAS 39 Gripen	JAS comes from Jakt ("fighter"), Attack, Spaning ("reconnaissance")
		Mikoyan MiG-29M Mikoyan MiG-29M The Mikoyan MiG-29M is a mature development of the MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-29K/KUB technology. Formerly known as the "MiG-33", it was developed from the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jet during mid-1980s...	Multirole development of MiG-29
		Sukhoi Su-30M	Multirole development of Su-27PU/Su-30
		Sukhoi Su-35S	4++ generation development of Su-27M/Su-35
		Mikoyan MiG-35 Mikoyan MiG-35 The Mikoyan MiG-35 is a further development of the MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-29K/KUB technology. It is classified as a 4++ generation jet fighter by Mikoyan. The first prototype was a modification of the aircraft that previously served as MiG-29M2 model demonstrator. 10 prototypes have been built so far...	4++ generation development of MiG-29M and MiG-29K
		Sukhoi PAK FA Sukhoi PAK FA The Sukhoi PAK FA is a twin-engine jet fighter being developed by Sukhoi OKB for the Russian Air Force. The Sukhoi T-50 is the prototype for PAK FA. The PAK FA is one of only a handful of stealth jet programs globally...	Sukhoi T-50 prototype first flew in 2010
North America North America North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...		McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II	American 3rd generation fighter/interceptor.
		McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle	The F-15E is a multirole fighter derived from the F-15 Eagle F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter designed by McDonnell Douglas to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It is considered among the most successful modern fighters with over 100 aerial combat victories with no losses in dogfights...  air superiority fighter. It is used by the United States Air Force United States Air Force The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...  other U.S. allies like Israel, South Korea, Singapore & Saudi Arabia.
		General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon	The F-16 is a multirole fighter used by many members of NATO and other U.S. allies
		McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet and Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet	The 'A' in "F/A" explicitly denotes the joint Attack role of the F/A-18 ('F' = Fighter Fighter aircraft A 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... )
NATO (extended)		F-35 Lightning II F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...
Asia Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...	Japan Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	Mitsubishi F-2 Mitsubishi F-2 The Mitsubishi F-2 is a multirole fighter manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Lockheed Martin for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, with a 60/40 split in manufacturing between Japan and the USA. Production started in 1996 and the first aircraft entered service in 2000. The first 76...	Developed from F-16 Block 40
	Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan) Republic of China The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...	AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo
		Chengdu J-7 Chengdu J-7 The Chengdu Jian-7 is a People's Republic of China-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21. Though production ceased in 2008 it continues to serve, mostly as an interceptor, in several air forces, including China's.-Design and development:...	Reverse engineered from MiG-21F-13
		Shenyang J-8 Shenyang J-8 The Shenyang J-8 is a high-speed, high-altitude Chinese-built single-seat interceptor fighter aircraft.-J-8:...
		Xian JH-7A
		Shenyang J-11 Shenyang J-11 The Shenyang J-11 with NATO reporting name: Flanker B+ is a single-seat, twin-engine jet fighter based on the Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-27 air superiority fighter produced by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation...	Reverse engineered from Sukhoi Su-27SK
		Chengdu J-10 Chengdu J-10 The Chengdu J-10 is a multirole fighter aircraft designed and produced by the People's Republic of China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force...
		Chengdu J-20 Chengdu J-20 The Chengdu J-20 is a purported fifth-generation, stealth, twin-engine fighter aircraft prototype developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force . In late 2010, the J-20 underwent high speed taxiing tests. The J-20 made its first flight on 11...	Prototype first flown in 2011
		JF-17 Thunder JF-17 Thunder The PAC JF-17 Thunder , or CAC FC-1 Xiaolong , is a light-weight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by the Chengdu Aircraft Industries Corporation of China, the Pakistan Air Force and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex...	Previously known as Super Seven
		Sukhoi Su-30MKK Sukhoi Su-30MKK The Sukhoi Su-30MKK is a modification of the Su-27 SK manufactured since 1999 by KnAAPO and Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. It is considered an upgraded version of Sukhoi Su-30. It was jointly developed by Russia and China, similar to the Su-30MKI. It is a heavy class, all-weather, long-range...	Used by the PLA Air Force ('K' = Kitayski, China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... )
		HAL Tejas HAL Tejas The HAL Tejas is a lightweight multirole fighter developed by India. It is a tailless, compound delta-wing design powered by a single engine. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters...	Previously known as LCA.
		AMCA	Indian fifth generation Fifth generation jet fighter A fifth-generation jet fighter is a fighter aircraft classification used in the United States encompassing the most advanced generation of fighter aircraft...  multirole fighter.
		Sukhoi Su-30MKI	Used by the Indian Air Force Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict... . ('I' = INDIA India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... )
		Sukhoi/HAL FGFA Sukhoi/HAL FGFA The Sukhoi/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft is a fifth-generation fighter being developed by Russia and India. It is a derivative project from the PAK FA being developed for the Indian Air Force .Two separate prototypes will be developed, one by Russia and a separate one by India...	Derivative of PAK FA Sukhoi PAK FA The Sukhoi PAK FA is a twin-engine jet fighter being developed by Sukhoi OKB for the Russian Air Force. The Sukhoi T-50 is the prototype for PAK FA. The PAK FA is one of only a handful of stealth jet programs globally... (T-50).

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