Many of the frontline fighter jet families designed and initially built in the 1970s remain in use today. These include the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F-15 Eagle family, the European Panavia Tornado, and various Soviet-origin aircraft like the Su-24 Fencer. With that being said, it should be stressed that while the family of jets may still be in service, the 70s-built airframes may not be. Additionally, the latest iterations of the jets, like the F-15EX, have little in common with the original 1970s jets other than basic airframe and superficial appearance.
It is tempting to put the Grumman F-14 Tomcat on this list as a very limited number of flyable airframes remain in service with Iran’s air force. However, a number of those remaining were destroyed by Israel in June 2025, so they will be excluded as it is unclear if Iran has flyable (and especially combat-worthy) Tomcats remaining. At any rate, it is unlikely they will ever see combat use again.
5
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
Built from 1958 to 1981
One of the oldest fighter jets remaining in service in NATO today is the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. It became famous in the Vietnam War and was operated by the US Navy, US Marine Corps, the US Air Force, and various US allies and partners. Some 5,195 Phantoms were built between 1958 and 1981, making it the US’s most prolific supersonic military aircraft ever produced. Engineers prematurely thought the age of the fighter jet cannon was over, and so initial versions were built without a gun before it was hurriedly added.
Combat use of the Phantom ended in US service in 1996. These aircraft had a post-retirement epilogue, being retrofitted as QF-4 Aerial Targets for US training and target practice. As stocks are now exhausted, the US has switched to the F-16 for successor QF-16 Aerial Targets. Internationally, the F-4 remained in service, although they are now fast disappearing. In 2024, South Korea retired the last of its F-4s, while Greece is in the process of removing them from service.
This will leave Iran and Turkey as the final operators of the type. As with the Tomcat, it is unclear how many Phantoms remain flyable, let alone combat-worthy, in Iran, as Israel has destroyed several Iranian F-4 Phantoms. To protect its vintage aircraft and pretense to having a fighter jet air force, Iran typically keeps its jets protected in tunnels burrowed into the mountains. Turkey is the only remaining Phantom operator able to properly sustain its fleet and plans to operate them for longer, until at least 2030.
4
Sukhoi Su-24
Built from 1967 to 1993
The Soviet-origin Su-24 ‘Fencer’ is a tactical bomber developed by the Soviet Union partly with inspiration and straight-up copying of the earlier US F-111 Aardvark, and the French Dassault Mirage G8. The top Soviet Su-24 engineer, Oleg Samoilovich, said that “we blindly copied the shape of the F-111’s nose cone.” The Soviets never admitted to copying the French and American aircraft, and instead said that they “confirmed the correctness of the chosen decisions when creating the Sukhoi Su-24” by comparing it with Western aircraft.
The aircraft entered Soviet service in 1974, was exported to some countries around the world. It remains in Russian, Algerian, and Ukrainian service, and other countries like Iran and Sudan also operate them, but their combat-worthiness is unclear. Russia still operates well over 200 examples, but these are aging and are rarely used in frontline roles as of 2025. Instead, they are used for rear echelon duties and patrols, and are sometimes the aircraft caught violating NATO airspace.
In Ukrainian service, these tired old aircraft have been fitted to carry Western munitions. While Ukraine is keeping a limited number in service and has pulled many debilitated airframes out of retirement and somehow got them flying again, they are expected to retire after Ukraine receives enough F-16, Gripen, and maybe Rafale fighter jets. Elsewhere, Kazakhstan has retired its Su-24s, putting the non-operational airframes up for auction in 2023. Whatever airframes Syria still had in inventory were destroyed in airstrikes at the end of 2024.
3
Panavia Tornado
Built from 1979 to 1988
The European Panavia Tornado hails from a period of variable sweep wing fighter jet designs that included the F-14 Tomcat and the Su-24 Fencer. Variable sweep wings aid the aircraft to fly at both high and low speeds, but this was made mostly redundant with fly-by-wire systems starting with the F-16. However, the Panavia Tornado is now an aging aircraft and was retired from British service in 2019.
The Tornado remains in service with the German, Italian Royal Saudi Arabian air forces, but is being replaced by the Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35A. It came in three main variants: the Tornado IDS (interdictor / strike) fighter bomber, the Tornado ECR (electronic combat / reconnaissance) aircraft, and the Tornado ADV (air defense) interceptor. Germany’s fleet of 85 Tornados is made up of IDS and ECR variant aircraft, as the ADV variant has been retired by all users. Germany plans to retire its Tornados by around 2030.
The US Air Force’s analog to the Tornado is the (retired) General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, and a Soviet counterpart is the Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer. The aircraft was built by Panavia, made up of the UK’s British Aerospace, West Germany’s MBB, and Italy’s Aeritalia. These same three countries went on to develop the very capable Eurofighter Typhoon. The UK and Italy (with Japan) are now developing the next-generation Tempest/GCAP fighter, and Germany is in an unhappy marriage with France developing the next-generation FCAS fighter jet.
2
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle Family
Built from 1972 to the present day
The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle family of jets was built as an air superiority fighter jet and evolved into a multirole fighter. During the Cold War, the US was extremely selective about which countries it sold the capable F-15 to, and mostly blocked exports to countries that weren’t NATO allies or the select group of close non-NATO allies (generally Australia, Japan, and Israel). Japan and Israel were early F-15 customers, with the jet also being sold to other Middle Eastern countries as export restrictions relaxed.
As the F-15 has aged, the US has switched to being protective of its F-35. The latest edition of the F-15 family is the Boeing F-15EX II, which, again, should be thought of as an all-new aircraft compared with the original 1970s/1980s F-15 C/D models. Boeing is currently ramping up production of its F-15EX II for the Air Force. In 2024, Israel placed another order for 25 units of the F-15EX, and these are expected to be delivered in the early 2030s.
The F-15 has a number of advantages when operating alongside 5th-generation fighter jets. For example, they can be a delivery truck for a large number of ordnance after advanced 5th-generation fighters have degraded enemy air defenses. The US Air Force had planned to replace its F-15 family with the F-22 Raptor. However, the early termination of the Raptor, with only 187 examples procured, only allowed it to partially replace the F-15.
In response, the Air Force put the F-15 back into production as the comprehensively modernized F-15EX, and so is partially replacing old F-15C/Ds with modern Eagles as well as F-35As. Going forward, it is planned for the upcoming F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet and the emerging lineup of advanced autonomous combat aircraft like CCAs to replace more F-15s.
1
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
Built from 1973 to the present day
The General Dynamics and now Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is arguably the most successful fourth-generation fighter jet ever made. Today, the Falcon remains the most common fighter jet in service. The small fighter jet was designed as an air superiority fighter jet in the 1970s and evolved into a very capable multirole fighter jet in high demand by most US-allied air forces with a fighter jet requirement. Over 4,600 examples have been built, of which around 2,000 remain operational.
It remains in production as the upgraded Block 70/72 variant. The Block 70 is better thought of as a different aircraft compared with the original aircraft of the 1970s and 1980s. Lockheed is working to ramp up production of the F-16, and deliveries are set to continue into the 2030s. Over 300 examples remain on order, all of which are for export customers, as the USAF no longer purchases new F-16s. With that being said, the USAF keeps its large fleet of F-16s upgraded with 5th-generation software.
|
Select F-16 operators |
|
|---|---|
|
Long-term operators upgrading F-16s |
United States, Chile, Turkey, Taiwan |
|
Countries upgrading to F-16 |
Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Romania, Argentina |
|
Countries fully retiring F-16s |
The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Belgium |
|
Total remaining in operation |
Approx. 2,000 |
While some countries, like Romania, Ukraine, and Argentina, are only now upgrading to old used Block 40/50 models of the F-16, other countries like Bulgaria and Slovakia are upgrading their air forces to operate the newest variant. Significant customers for new or upgraded F-16s also include Taiwan and Turkey. Of the fighter jets the USAF operates and are on the export market (F-16, F-15, and F-35), the F-16 is the cheapest and the most feasible for air forces with limited budgets.
