战斗机,历来是各国空军最主要的作战机种。50年代初,战斗机突破“音障”,出现了最早的第一代超音速战斗机。40多年来,已研制发展了四代。现装备部队的战斗机大多属于第二、第三代,如F-4、F-16。典型的第四代战斗机是美国的F-22。而介于第三代与第四代之间的“三代半”战斗机是法国的“狂风”(Rafale)战斗机和英国、德国、意大利、西班牙四国联合研制的欧洲战斗机EF2000。“狂风”和EF2000虽然与F-22同是80年代开始研制的,但不具备F-22第四代战斗机的主要特征:超音速巡航性能和隐身性能;在技术水平和作战效能方面还存在差距。若同第三代战斗机,如“幻影”2000相比,“狂风”和EF2000战斗机的技术水平、作战效能则有明显提高。因此,有人称这两种战斗机为“三 Fighter jets have always been the most important combat aircraft of various countries and air forces. In the early 1950s, fighter jets broke through “sound barrier” and the first generation of supersonic fighters appeared. For more than 40 years, it has been developed for four generations. Most of the fighter jets now equipped with troops belong to the second and third generations, such as F-4 and F-16. The typical fourth generation fighter is the United States F-22. The third and fourth generation fighter planes between the third and fourth generation are the French “Rafale” fighter aircraft and the EF2000, a European fighter aircraft jointly developed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. Although it was developed in the 1980s with the F-22, the Gale and the EF2000 do not have the main features of the F-22’s fourth-generation fighter aircraft: supersonic cruise performance and stealth performance; gaps in technology and combat effectiveness . Compared with the third-generation fighter aircraft, such as “Phantom” 2000, “Stormwind” and EF2000 fighter’s technical level, combat effectiveness has significantly improved. Therefore, some people call these two fighters "three