Editing Strike fighter (section)

==History==
Beginning in the 1940s, the term "strike fighter" was occasionally used in navies to refer to [[fighter aircraft]] capable of performing [[air strike|air-to-surface strike]]s, such as the [[Westland Wyvern]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Zi82AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Strike+fighter%22&dq=%22Strike+fighter%22 "Aerospace Engineering, Volume 6."] ''Institute of the Aerospace Sciences'', 1947.</ref> [[Blackburn Firebrand]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UHjmAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Strike+fighter%22&dq=%22Strike+fighter%22 ''The Aeroplane: Volume 75,'' 1948.]</ref> and [[Blackburn Firecrest]].

The term "light weight tactical strike fighter (LWTSF)" was used to describe the aircraft to meet the December 1953 NATO specification [[NBMR-1]].<ref>{{cite book| last1=Angelucci| first1=Enzo| last2=Matricardi| first2=Paolo|year=1980| title=Combat Aircraft 1945–1960| place=Maidenhead| publisher=Sampson Low Guides| isbn=0-562-00136-0| page=273}}</ref> Amongst the designs submitted to the competition were the [[Aerfer Sagittario 2]], [[Breguet Br.1001 Taon]], [[Dassault Étendard VI]], [[Fiat G.91]] and [[Sud-Est Baroudeur]].
[[File:Westland Wyvern S Mk.4.jpg|thumb|The [[Westland Wyvern]]]]
The term entered normal use in the [[United States Navy]]<ref name=popular1983>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PETCVTz_lwUC&pg=PA98 "Inside story of the troubled F/A-18."] ''Popular Science,'' Volume 223, Issue 4, October 1983. {{ISSN|0161-7370}}. Retrieved: 23 December 2011. Quote: ... can fly either as a fighter or an attack plane [...] In Navy parlance, it is a strike fighter.</ref> by the end of the 1970s, becoming the official<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rQoAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA5 "The FY 1981 military programs."] ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,'' Volume 36, Issue 6, June 1980, p. 38. {{ISSN|0096-3402}}. Retrieved: 23 December 2011.</ref> description of the new [[McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet]]. In 1983, the U.S. Navy even renamed each existing Fighter Attack Squadron to Strike Fighter Squadron to emphasize<ref name=polmar>Polmar 1997, p. 343.</ref> the air-to-surface mission (as the "Fighter Attack" designation was confused with the "Fighter" designation, which flew pure air-to-air missions).

This name quickly spread to non-maritime use. When the F-15E Strike Eagle came into service, it was originally called a "dual role fighter",<ref>''Defence Update (International),'' Issues 79–84, p. 43.</ref> but it instead quickly became known as a "strike fighter".

===Joint Strike Fighter===
{{main|Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II}}
In 1995, the U.S. military's Joint Advanced Strike Technology program changed its name to the [[Joint Strike Fighter]] program.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/jsf.htm "Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)."] ''globalsecurity.org.'' Retrieved: 2 February 2011.</ref> The project consequently resulted in the development of the [[F-35 Lightning II]] family of [[fifth generation jet fighter|fifth generation]] [[Multirole combat aircraft|multirole fighters]] to perform [[ground-attack aircraft|ground attack]], [[reconnaissance]], and [[air defense]] missions with [[Stealth aircraft|stealth]] capability.
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