5 Of The Best Fighter Jets Flown By The US Marines

Yo momma12793/Wikimedia Commons Add SlashGear on Google: Preferred Source Google Discover When most people think of the United States Marine Corps (USMC), they likely picture Marines storming a beach to face enemy opposition in unfriendly territory. While the USMC does this sort of thing, the Marines also utilize a sizable naval fleet and aerial assets. These include all kinds of vehicles, from attack and transport helicopters to attack aircraft and aerial reconnaissance assets. The Marines also use a sizable force of fixed-wing attack aircraft through their Marine Corps Aviation units, including several types of fighter jets.

Because the USMC’s primary mission is to rapidly deploy, fight, and win against enemy opposition on land and at sea, many of its combat aircraft aren’t technically classified as fighter jets. Instead, the USMC primarily operates multirole and attack aircraft that support its missions, including ground operations wherever the Corps engages with enemy forces. To this end, the Marines’ combat jet aircraft aren’t often used as air-to-air fighters, though many have engaged in aerial dogfights over the years.

The Marines have flown fighters of various types since the McDonnell FH Phantom took to the skies in 1947, though the Corps’ aircraft have advanced significantly in the years since. Determining which fighter jet qualifies as the best the USMC has flown requires looking at their capabilities, combat record, and overall use by the Corps over the years. After eliminating any that didn’t match up to the overall capabilities and the records of the rest, what’s left qualifies as the best USMC fighter jets. Each of these five jets operated by the USMC is a combat-tested, highly capable platform that supported the Corps for years.

Balon Greyjoy/Wikimedia Commons The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk entered service in October 1956 and remained in operation for the USMC until 1998, so the Corps had a long history with it. The single-seat, carrier-capable attack aircraft also served the U.S. Navy (USN), and it was particularly useful because of its weapons payload, delta-wing configuration, and impressive engine. The A-4 was initially powered by a Curtiss-Wright J65-W-2, but eventually replaced this with the Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8A turbojet engine.

The J52 provided the aircraft with 9,300 pounds of thrust, which enabled the A-4 Skyhawk to reach a top speed of more than 695 mph, placing it in the subsonic range. As an attack aircraft, the A-4 Skyhawk was often outfitted with a variety of ordnance and weapons systems across its five hard points. In addition to its standard armament of two 20mm machine guns, the A-4 carried up to 8,200 pounds of mixed ordnance and other systems in the form of bombs, gun pods, fuel tanks, missiles, and rockets. The A-4 was a pioneer in in-flight refueling, functioning as both a receiver and a provider in a process known as “buddy” refueling.

The USMC and USN operated the A-4 Skyhawk throughout the Vietnam War, where it achieved an excellent combat record. Still, they weren’t immune to enemy fire, and when Lt. Cmdr. John McCain was shot down in October 1967, he was flying an A-4 Skyhawk. By the end of its service life, 2,960 A-4s were produced, and beyond the U.S. Marines, the Israeli Air Force also utilized them during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

U.S. Marine Corps/Wikimedia Commons Throughout much of the late 20th century, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was one of the USMC’s most recognizable supersonic fighter-bombers. The F-4 was the U.S. military’s first multiservice aircraft operated by the USMC, USN, and the U.S. Air Force (USAF), beginning in 1961. The aircraft continued operating in Marine Corps service until 1992, and throughout its service for the USMC, it was used for every mission type possible. This included providing ground support to Marines, air superiority, interception, long-range strike, close air support, air defense suppression, fleet defense, and more.

The F-4 Phantom II was an excellent workhorse fighter jet for every organization that operated it. When production ended, 5,057 F-4s were produced, and while the USAF got the bulk of them with 2,874, the USMC and USN divided the remaining 1,264, and the rest were sold to international customers. Those numbers make the F-4 the most produced supersonic fighter the United States has built and operated.

Production ramped up significantly to support operations in Vietnam in the 1960s, where Marines flew F-4s on various missions. The multirole fighter packed a lot of power into its frame, and it performed remarkably well in aerial combat. The F-4 has 150 confirmed air-to-air kills and 42 air-to-air losses, giving it a kill ratio of 3.6:1. F-4s carried up to 16,000 pounds of mixed ordnance, depending on mission requirements, and their twin General Electric J79 axial-flow afterburning turbojet engines gave the F-4 incredible speed, reaching Mach 2.2+ (1,688 mph).

U.S. Marine Corps/Wikimedia Commons While the preceding two fighters are no longer in service with the USMC, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet still remains in operation. The multirole combat aircraft is a twin-engine, carrier-capable fighter that first entered service in 1983 with the USMC. The USN also adopted the F/A-18, though it began phasing them out in favor of the F-35C Lightning II. Regardless, the Corps still flies the F/A-18, and further upgraded to the F/A-18C and F/A-18D until its gradual transition to the F-35 Lightning II.

The F/A-18 replaced older F-4 Phantom IIs, taking over their roles, which included numerous operational capabilities. Like many aircraft that have been in operation for decades, the modern F/A-18 is significantly more advanced than the variants that preceded the current models. One of the F/A-18’s claims to fame is its speed, as the legacy F/A-18 can reach speeds of Mach 1.8 (1,190 mph). While the F-4 Phantom II was faster, the F/A-18 has the edge in maneuvering, where it truly shines.

While the F/A-18 has a limited kill ratio of 2-to-1, it’s from two confirmed air-to-air kills and one air-to-air loss during the Gulf War. Outside of dogfighting, the F/A-18 is used as a ground attack vehicle, thanks to its nine hardpoints capable of over 400 loadouts for whatever the Corps’ mission requires. For decades, the F/A-18 has proven itself not only as a capable fighter, but also as highly survivable and able to perform all of the same functions as its predecessor.

U.S. Navy/Wikimedia Commons Because the USMC conducts operations in areas where it doesn’t always have runways, the service has used vehicles capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL). This makes it possible for a jet like the legendary McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II to land just like a helicopter. It can take off the same way by pointing its engine thrust down to hover off the ground before switching to more traditional rear-directional thrust for high-speed flight.

The AV-8B Harrier II isn’t typically used as an air-to-air fighter, and was most often employed in a ground-attack role. The USMC operated the AV-8B from 1985 until recently, as the aircraft finally retired on June 3, 2026. The Harrier emerged from a joint project between the U.S. and the United Kingdom; the U.K. backed out before the AV-8B entered service, but rejoined in 1982. The USMC often flew its Harriers from small carriers and amphibious assault ships, though it could land pretty much anywhere.

This allowed them to support ground operations in forward-deployed locations in numerous conflicts, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. While the AV-8B wasn’t operated as a fighter jet for its primary role, one variant has an impressive kill ratio of 20:0. This is due to 20, possibly 23, air-to-air kills and no losses. That said, those victories belong to the Royal Navy, not the USMC, as they occurred during the Falklands War in 1982 via the British variant, the British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS.1. Regardless, few aircraft are as iconic as the Marines’ AV-8B Harrier II.

U.S. Navy/Wikimedia Commons The F-35 Lightning II is the U.S. military’s second 5th-generation fighter, available in three variants: the F-35A, operated by the USAF; the F-35B, operated by the USMC; and the F-35C, operated by the USN. The F-35B has a significant difference from the other variants in that it’s short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL)-capable. This is one of the main reasons why the Marines fly the F-35 and not the F-22, which is reserved for the USAF.

As you likely guessed, the F-35B replaced the AV-8B Harrier II, which is why the USMC opted to finally retire the aircraft in 2026. The USMC began flying the F-35B in 2013, so it’s been replacing legacy aircraft since that time, though the Corps didn’t declare it as being initially operationally capable until July 31, 2015. Initially, the Marines ordered 353 F-35Bs, but changed this to only 280 aircraft to align with the branch’s long-term plans, with 205 expected to be delivered by the end of 2026.

This makes the F-35B the USMC’s only tactical fighter, and like many of the aircraft that came before it, the F-35B is capable of filling numerous roles. While the USMC has yet to achieve an air-to-air kill while flying an F-35B, an Israeli variant, the F-35I, successfully downed an Iranian Yak-130 in March 2026, giving the aircraft its crewed kill ratio of 1:0, as F-35s have downed numerous uncrewed aircraft. Granted, that’s not the aircraft’s primary purpose for the USMC, which uses it much like the Harrier II, functioning as a ground-attack platform that can take off and land wherever the USMC operates.

Erik Drost/Wikimedia Commons Throughout its time flying in unfriendly skies, the USMC has operated a lot of aircraft. The branch began flying planes in the 1910s, taking to the sky in the Curtiss A-2 biplane made largely of wood and canvas. As time passed, the Marines adopted jet engines in their aircraft, and they flew a lot of varieties, making choosing the best ones a difficult and admittedly subjective task. To stay objective, we looked at each fighter jet’s combat record, how long it remained in service, and how it represented USMC aviation.

Some aircraft are representative of the Corps in ways that others aren’t. Even the ones that operated for other branches tend to stand out with USMC aviators. The brave men and women who flew and fly these aircraft have been doing so in every major U.S. military operation since World War I. Some of the aircraft we considered but didn’t include are the Grumman F9F Panther, which served throughout the Korean War, the Hawker Siddeley AV-8A Harrier, which was the USMC’s first-generation V/STOL aircraft, and a few others.

In the end, the aircraft mentioned above made the cut for their overall performance, capabilities, and how well they represent the USMC. The Corps has flown many other aircraft for more than a century, but when we get into the nitty-gritty of its jets, we land on the A-4 Skyhawk, the F-4 Phantom II, the F/A-18 Hornet, the AV-8B Harrier II, and the F-35B Lightning II. Over time, something may replace what’s been chosen, but as of now, these five are the USMC’s best fighter jets.