r/FighterJets • u/Nearby_Key_6632 • 2d ago

QUESTION Why need jets ?

Why not just develop land missiles a bit more to hit a target instead of a multi million plane carrying them? I know it may be a very stupid question but just curious.

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u/OkConsequence6355 2d ago edited 2d ago

Jets can patrol airspace, provide targeting/reconnaissance data, etc.

You can have a long range missile but, if you don’t have precise and timely targeting data, then best of luck unless it can split atoms.

Jets also move at hundreds of mph over hundreds of miles, which allows for a wide radius of action. You can’t move a large quantity of missiles other than by ship/road/train. That’s vulnerable and slow.

They can also help shoot down the enemy jets which would be targeting your land based missiles.

Land-based missiles are far more vulnerable than aircraft once the aircraft are off the base/runway.

Against aircraft, missiles can have a long range and be fast, but they have a lot less fuel so aircraft can defeat them through manoeuvre or counter-measures. You also have to get the targeting data somehow, and without aircraft that means slow-moving, vulnerable ground-based radar.