Warplanes of the future

It is 1989 and Salamander Books have decided to look at the warplanes of the future! Of course, 1989 (or most likely 1988 when the book was actually written) is over 35 years ago now, so which of these future warplanes actually made it into service? Have any of them already been retired?

This was a Bill Gunston book, so was of course very well researched and written. The book is also very well illustrated, but that is to be expected from a Salamander book. Some aircraft featured here such as the Nimrod AEW never made it, others like the Typhoon and Rafale are now combat proven types well into their mid-lives. 

This book was released near to the end of the Cold War which saw the pace of warplane development slow dramatically. The military cut backs due to the "peace dividend" put paid to some of the projects included here too.

But the pace of military development was just slowed for a bit, it did not stop. What is cutting edge now (such as the JSF) does not even appear in this book, and of course the various advanced Chinese projects over the last couple of decades could not even be imagined back then. This helps make the book a very enjoyable read from a curiosity and historic point of view.

British Aerospace EAP, which became the...

Eurofighter Typhoon