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Honestly, the Vulture droids just latching onto the outside of their ship is really unique. Means a ship doesn't nessisarly need a dedicated hangar bay to carry a fighter escort.

Half the reason the 302 (and all tau'ri ships for that matter) are so good, is because we saw them be developed, we watched as they discovered trinium, we watched as they stole and modified the death gliders, we were there when the Asgard gifted us the improved hyperdrives. Pretty much all of the developments were either mentioned or shown on screen, then used behind the scenes to make these wonderfully advanced, yet seemingly possible designs

Swordfish II from Cowboy Bebop. Technically it is a racing ship modified to be a fighter. - bubble cockpit that doubles as an escape pod - giant plasma cannon - VTOL and vector thrust propulsion - pilot drives it like a motorcycle A really unique and interesting craft that combines so many great elements.

I am very attached to the starfury mostly because it was sneaking out of my bedroom at 11pm at night when i was not yet a teenager and watching babylon 5 which got me into sci-fi to begin with. I immediately started drawing ships and eventually started trying my hand at 3d modeling and ever since have loved a good beam weapon

My favourite has to be the Hammerhead from Space: Above and Beyond, which had just about everything you could wish for: visible RCS thrusters, ejectable cockpit/escape pod, missile hardpoints, a cool launching sequence, and not just one, but two turrets

The 302 is one of those fighters that looks like a futuristic grounded design of a real fighter. Also, kudos for recognising 'R-Type'. What a great load of fighter they were! :)

I suppose it falls to me to bring up the (V/Y)F series of fighters from the Macross series - aka Variable Fighters (or their original came, Valkyries). Some things I particularly like about them: - Usage of the mecha transformation to reorient and reposition thrusters for absurd maneuverability (i.e. being able to turn your primary thrusters tangential from your current direction), or swing your center of gravity around - Heavily customizable in terms of additional weapons or roles, in addition to being able to punch far beyond their weight due to miniaturization of WMDs - Active Stealth systems, which helps explain why fighters get used in a setting with near-relativistic beam weaponry with ftl sensors - And lastly, the fact you can track development and iteration of the fighters as the series progresses, from the VF-0 to the VF-25. Shame it doesn't get brought up much, but it's a superb fighter that deserves more mainstream respect.

I love the F-302, and especially how the Tauri took two Death Gliders, smashed them together for a prototype, discovered how bad of an idea that was, and then instead made a new prototype that was intended to be even better than a Death Glider, instead of simply a copy of it, and succeeded.

Honorable mention to the SA-23E Mitchell-Hyundyne Starfury? Inconceivable! A few have mentioned it already in the comments, but the SA-43 Hammerhead from Space: Above and Beyond is a very cool design that often gets overlooked.

I just always loved the Y-wings. Especially the clone wars version is the one I really fell in love with.

Star Fury is mine by far,BB5 in general, "Space: Above and Beyond" had the Hammerhead as well I loved, obscure I'm relatively sure. I liked the list in whole.

My favorite is the Hammer Head from Space Above and Beyond. Since it looks like a natural evolution of planes we have to day into a aro-space fighter.

You nailed it with the F-302! I was going to bring that up in my comment but now you already had it in the video. I just love the semi-realistic design with its reasonable advanced technology, and that’s pretty much why I love Stargate as a whole. SG-1 is my favorite sci-fi show and the F-302 my favorite fighter.

Only honourable mention for the venerable Starfury? For me, it's still one of the greatest fighters in all of SciFi. It has this combination of being both cool, unique and grounded. Also very much liked the Defender heavy fighter from Freelancer. Shame the game had a generic linear progression with its fighters, so it wasn't viable past the first act of the game. What else? Oh, kinda like the design of the Forsaken from Chorus, even though the ship's design has its problems.

The Tauri ship designs in SG1 were all masterfully done. Not one really felt out of place and the tauri ships really did feel like the kinda ships a military on earth would come up with

Not sure if Starfox counts as Sci-FI, but it would be an amazing honorary mention, considering how good of a fighter it is and its amazing performance in the lylat war and the aparoid crisis.

The Starfury. It was the first time an effort was made in sci-fi tv to play nice with Newtonian physics and there were a bunch of episodes where they were integral to the plot instead of just being fodder in space battles.

Love the f302 fighters have and always will be my favourite

I was going to say the Starfury, but absolutely yes on the F302. I also loved the Excalibur from Wing Commander. It had a very simple and effective design that to me feels like and F15 Strike Eagle.

Everyone forgets the badass that is The Hammerhead from Space Above and Beyond

My favourite are the vulture droids. They are weirdly realistic for being Star Wars fighters. Automated to make perfect use of high G 3D maneuvers. Cheap to make up for losses from point defense when fighting too close to capital ships. Armed to the teeth, including with missiles. Small, both to make carrying them easier, and hitting them more difficult. Able to walk and vertical take off, to ease deployment (especially when hanging outside the ship instead of in an hangar. Even if I would guess most fighters spend their time inside, to ease maintenance). And very fast, to again deploy rapidly in formation, as well as intercept enemy crafts. Yet, despite all these magnificent qualities, they even have design flaws! And doctrical trade offs. Something awfully often missing from Sci-Fi crafts, which often blend into a "generalist" role no matter their size, and do so with little limitations or weaknesses. The Vultures are fragile, with no shielding or armour, to remain small, cheap and nimble. Despite outgunning most rival designs, they lack heavy weaponry, apart for theoretical antiship missiles, limiting their battlefield roles to purely interception, escort and strike craft superiority. They are droids, and cheap ones at that, which of course leads to a lack of flexibility in tactics apart from those pre-programmed or fed by the mothership. And finally, they have an extremely poor deployment range, not only lacking an FTL drive of their own to strike away from their mothership, but also their solid fuel cells, necessary for the burst of speed and firepower that made them so fearsome, were consumed at a frighteningly fast rate. Forcing them to refuel several times over any extended engagement. Severely reducing the fast deployment effectiveness. Edit: I forgot to mention, but since all weaponry is mounted on their rotating wings and moving head, it makes the Vulture one of the few fighters in Sci-Fi with no fixed armaments. Technically speaking, despite never seeing it done on screen, Vulture droids shouldn't even have to engage in traditional dogfights. They are basically three huge turrets on solid fuel rockets, giving them 360° fire arcs.

So happy you put the Lost in Space fighters in this list. The free-rotating cockpit bubble always impressed me as a great way to handle the g-forces of space combat, as well as providing excellent visibility for the pilot.

I think the SA-43 Hammerhead fighter from "Space: Above and Beyond" deserved an honorable mention here.

I still have a soft spot for the B-Wing from Star Wars. Still my favorite, years later (TIE Defender comes close). Outside of that, the Acolyte fighter/bombers from Homeworld Cataclysm were a lot of fun, and the idea of doing an attack run with missiles on a large target, then returning to base to re-arm had a bit more depth than HW1's bomber swarms.

TIE Defender, hands down due to its practically mythical status among Imperial starfighters (being able to outrun stock concussion missiles is always a bonus and also having shields, hyperdrive, and warheads to boot) and having practically a whole campaign dedicated to it in the original TIE Fighter gives it something of a sentimental feeling in my book.

Space: Above and Beyond's hammerhead was great, though an old and obscure show now, one I'd love you to cover. Other than that the Starfury from B5 is up there. Though for me a lot of my core memories for sci-fi space combat come from endlessly replaying Starlancer on PC as a kid. It had a lot of really interesting designs for fighters and carriers and even though it was essentially ww2 in space, it was fun nonetheless. If you're going to go back to a gaming episode, maybe take a look at Starlancer? The opening FMV is worth it alone. It's eventual successor Freelancer though also a great game, couldn't hold a candle to it, at least in art design and dogfighting physics.

I like the space above and beyond ships. Both the hammerhead and the chiggy von richtoven fighter

My top five space fighters in no particular order. The Mandalorian Fang Fighter. The Raptor from Wing Commander. The B-Wing. The VF-1 from Macross/Robotech it’s a transforming F-14 with three different combat forms for different situations. It can perform as a fighter in its fighter form, or more like a helicopter in guardian/gerwalk, or like giant infantry/armor in batroid form. The tie interceptor.

Have you ever covered *Space: Above and Beyond's* _SA-43 Hammerhead,_ the "Endo/Exo-Atmospheric Attack Jet"? IIRC it was a rather well-thought-out ship; very well-armed and had a cockpit that doubled as an escape pod. I _think_ it also had an FTL drive, or whatever they called it in the series. If you haven't already covered it (I did a search), it might be another fighter worth looking at.

Nostalgia points me toward all the 'advanced' fighters you could earn in the game TIE fighter. The T/A, the GUN, the T/D, and the MIS. They were all great at their given roles and all looked really sleek and intimidating- even with the graphics of the time. I put thousands of flight hours into that game as a kid/teen, so I have a soft spot for those ships to this day, not only for their look and their potential, but because they served as badges of honor. You had to 'earn' them in game by defeating previous levels.

Love the Star Fury, both the design and through emotional attachment. If @Spacedock hasn't seen the series yet, they must do a watch! So many cool ships, and one of the greatest stories in any media of science fiction!

I commend and thank you for finding, what seems like, the holy grail of starfury footage: the one from Thirdspace where they are armed with - and use - missiles! Favorite starfighter for sure!

As something of a naval enthusiast who plays Warframe, the best comparison I can think of for the Railjack is that it’s a space torpedo boat. Large enough to require a crew, but not really large enough to be able to stay away from base for long periods of time. Quite small for a crewed ship, and quite fast, but only armored against starfighter-grade weaponry. They mount a single medium cannon (large enough to destroy heavily armored Crewships but not enough to threaten true capital ships), with three lighter turrets for defense and to take on lightly-armored opponents. It’s a PT boat with a 20mm Oerlikon, two M2 .50’s, and a 3” gun stuck on the front because the Marines weren’t using it. In Space. And I love it.

I can't believe you left out the Buck Rogers Thunderfighter. Another McQuarrie design that was always a favorite of mine.

God, I too love the F-302 :) My only complaint with it is, that it really should have carried more missiles.

I've always loved the b-wing and the tri fighter. Though the old cylon raider was my favourite on this list! Keep up the good work!

I have always loved the Starfury. Grounded, but still so beautiful in that uniquely human aesthetic from the show. Although I prefer the Thunderbolt to the standard model.

The Star Fury is right up there for me. It was my first experience of a space fighter with vector thrust capability. I remember watching an early episode of B5 and seeing the Fury's launch and thinking "Oh look, discount X-wings" and then being blown away when a fury pilot changed the orientation of his fighter to take a shot at a raider without ever changing his direction of travel. Another great ship that I don't think has ever been mention on this channel is the SA-43 Hammerhead from Space: Above and Beyond. Its basically a cross between the Colonial Viper and a modern day Apache gunship. Its Awesome!

It just occurred to me that this channel has yet to discuss the Outlaw Star, the grappling ship from the anime of the same name. Might make for a fun video on unconventional space combat.

Honestly for me, mine is the Jackal fighter from COD Infinite Warfare. It locked like the love child of a space shuttle and a F-35 fighter. I always enjoyed launching from the carrier and blasting off from the surface to low orbit in the first mission was one of the coolest things in sci-fi games.

My favorite space fighter is the GTF Valkyrie from Descent: Freespace. It was a fairly early-game ship and was a glass cannon even when it was first introduced, but it was quick as hell and maneuverable. It was designed to be a bomber interceptor. When the Shivans first arrived in Terran & Vasudan space it was about the only fighter that could keep up with their scout ships, although it lacked the firepower to make a dent in one. (I've since met someone online who claims they were able to destroy a Shivan ship with dumbfire rockets in their first encounter. But I was never able to keep up with one to pour enough rockets into it to destroy it.)

My Top 5 Space Fighters: 5) The Starfury from Babylon 5. A design meant to be as realistic as possible, and shown performing maneuvers very unlike the WW2-style dogfighting you usually see space fighters doing, like accelerating in one direction, then when they get going, cutting main thrust and spinning 180 degrees to fire on pursuers. I also liked the way B5's "cobra bays" used the station's rotation to give them a boost away from the station when launching. 4) The VF-25 Messiah Valkyrie from Macross Frontier. I'm a fan of transforming mecha in general, but I love the sleek design of the VF-25 and its variants. Functionally, it's extremely versatile - besides the fact that it can be used effectively for ground attack and aerospace combat, the basic frame can be modified in a variety of different ways, allowing each fighter to be customized to take advantage of its pilot's skill set. For instance, beyond the basic "jack of all trades" VF-25F, there are variants like the VF-25S with enhanced optics, targeting systems and long-range weaponry to create a "sniper" version. My favorite is actually the RVF-25 reconnaisance variant, which features enhanced electronic warfare capabilities and advanced sensor systems, even including a dish-shaped "radome" sensor unit just above and behind the cockpit canopy. I actually purchased the model kit, which includes 3 "Ghost" drones, as the RVF-25 can also be used to control multiple unmanned fighters. There are also equipment packs that can be attached to add additional armor panels, thruster pods and/or weapons, all of which are designed to be functional in all 3 of the transforming mecha's modes (the humanoid "battroid" mode, fighter mode, and the in-between "gerwalk" mode). 3) Modern Cylon Raider. Particularly in the Battlestar Galactica miniseries, these unmanned fighters were absolutely terrifying. While some of their initial effectiveness was due to a software vulnerability inserted into colonial ships' flight systems ahead of time, even after that issue was patched, their potent combination of guided missiles (sometimes including nuclear warheads) and direct-fire projectile cannons makes them versatile, and often allows just one or two raiders to destroy multiple targets at once. I also liked the idea that (unless the Colonials managed to destroy the local Resurrection Ship) the "minds" of destroyed raiders could be downloaded into new units, allowing them to evolve from machines executing pre-programmed maneuvers, to experienced combat veterans, learning not only from successful missions, but also from their defeats. 2) The Delta Flyer from Star Trek: Voyager. As its lead designer Tom Paris put it, it's a warp-powered 24th-century hot rod. It's just slightly bigger than a normal Federation shuttlecraft, but it's packed with extra armor plating, improved shields, and weapons upgraded with Borg tech. Its speed and maneuverability are such that it can outperform spacecraft designed specifically for racing. It has a transporter, a tractor beam, and even its own little coffin-like escape pods. It can operate in nearly any environment, from deep space to the depths of a gas giant's atmosphere, or even underwater. It takes the extreme multifunctionality of bigger Federation ships and squeezes it into a fast, well-armed "shuttlecraft" that's practically a flying Swiss army knife. 1) Prince Xizor's Virago from Shadows of the Empire. What's as fast as a TIE Interceptor, better armored and shielded than an X-Wing, turns on a dime, and packs both heavy laser cannons and a total of 6 proton torpedoes? This custom-built starfighter / mobile weapons platform, built exclusively for Prince Xizor of Black Sun by MandalMotors. Made by the same Mandalorian shipwrights who brought us the Kom'rk-class heavy fighter / transport of the Clone Wars era, the Virago is fast, maneuverable, and well-armed. If things go south, it's survivable enough to take a beating, and has a Class 1.0 hyperdrive to let you retreat and fight another day. It's like a jet- black interstellar Lamborghini with guns. If you have credits to burn, allies to impress, and enemies to kill, the Virago (and, to a lesser extent, the production-model StarViper fighters derived from its design) is a stylish way to do all three. I had a Micro Machines Action Fleet version of the Virago as a kid. I loved the way the wings could position themselves independently, and the "arms" with the weapons could swing out to the sides, or even fire backwards. Sadly, I had to leave it behind with a lot of other toys when my family moved to another state, and donated it to a thrift shop in Pennsylvania. Hopefully, it's sitting proudly on its little Action Fleet display stand on somebody's bookshelf.

The Arwing( I and II) from the Star Fox series is also a very good fighter and should've been an honorable mention. (Wolfen can come along with the Arwing cos they also look badass).

I've always been fond of the Y-wing fighter-bomber, especially the clone wars variant. It was always cool with the bubble turret on the top. I'd love to see something take the role of the PBY-Catalina in sci-fi, or other anti-submarine flying boats.

Saber from Halo: Reach. So neat how they have a booster stage to reach orbit. The flight mechanics are, well... not realistic, but the design is so cool

The Shivan SF Manticore and SF Basilisk from FreeSpace have always been a couple favorites.

Kushan/Hiigaran fighters and interceptors form both Homeworld 1 and 2 are my favorites. From movies and tv I do agree with that the F-302 from Stargate is pretty cool.

The Pyro-GX from the Descent series has a special place in my heart. I have many fond memories playing the game and its multiplayer, and to this day it remains one of the most beautiful fighters in sci-fi for me.

The Wraith Dart deserves an honorable mention. Just the sound of those things sent terror into me as a kid.

I have a soft spot for the VF-1 Valkyrie from Robotech. It looks vaguely like an F-14 but also becomes a robot or half robot - half ship and it looks good either way.

The GTF Perseus interceptor from FreeSpace 2. It was always my favorite fighter to pilot. Good speed and maneuverability, good weapon selection and armor. All this and it looked badass. Yeah, it fell into the "fighter jet in space" trope without being atmospheric while the rest of the craft fit better into the mold of spaceships, but when I was a kid this is exactly what I wanted.

What about the Cosmo Zero and Cosmo Falcon? I like the look of those two because they looked like retro-1960s-70s jet aircrafts.

Did not expect to see the LIS bubble fighter on here but am very pleased to see it again

The space combat only Railjack mission will indeed be missed! Cool to see that ship get a mention. The Starfury platform grew on me the older I got. It went from being cool at time of watching the show to later on being oh it's pretty grounded in it's design actually! Also lets go Stargate! The F302 and it's growth being a mix of two technologies was pretty fun to watch. As for my favorite I think that comes in with the Swordfish from Cowboy Bebop. A racing craft converted to a light space fighter for Spike. The maneuverability in action, how it's stored folded up, and how it's massive underslung gun spin about when not in use.

So many great fighter options. Great stuff, as always! The top that come to mind, also 'not the Gunstar' for me, are Robotech/Macross Armored Veritechs (show or games), the Hammerhead from Space: Above & Beyond, the Tie Defender, and the Draconian Hatchet fighter from Buck Rogers!

In my top five would be the zeta gundam or the asshimar because of the same reason the vulture droid is on your list, it transforms and its cool af

I have always liked the Thunderbolt from B5 and the Perseus from Freespace 2

There are so many cool Space Fighters. Right now the Excalibur from the Wing Commander games comes to mind. It was overpowered, had a really sleek design and just felt like you could take on the whole galaxy.

The Starfury is the best, it's essentially a mini Gunstar, especially the Thunderbolt 2 seater version. Don't get how it didn't take the 1st place spot considering the love of realism and the Gunstar.

The Starfury (Babylon 5) and the Viper (Battlestar Galactica) will always be my top choices.

It wasn't flashy at all really, but the Cobra Mark III from the original Elite holds a special place in my heart. Too many hours were poured into that game and it was the first ship I ever piloted.

R-Type Final is the reason I started to love Sci-Fi and everything related to technology, also the reason I love to always experiment different approaches to anything, no matter how may seem stupid, and see how other people think/do things. Every single time I see those 101 ships I can see myself back in time at the age of 11 playing R-Type Final and completing a 1.5M High Score Run with R-13A Cerberus at Maximum Difficulty. dang time flows XD If you ask me what is my favorite ship...Well I don't have one in particular, they're all fantastic, but there's always one in my mind and that is B-5C Platinum Heart. I simply love the lore of the ship. Great video, I enjoyed it a lot!!

I will always have a special place in my heart for the Jedi Starfighter from episode 2. I just love the big hyperdrive ring that the fighter docks to.

So mine is an odd choice I know, but I am absolutely in love with Kylo Rens TIE Silencer from The Last Jedi. Everything about it from the elongated wings, to the unique cockpit shape, to the massive aft engines just like so cool to me. It's a ship that feels like it was made for a character, like Vaders original X1 which it seems to take some inspiration from. Also it reminds me of the TIE Avenger, which o think is pretty cool.

I like the Wraith fighter from Starcraft. A tough and dependable fighter with a similar design to the Star Wars Republic V-19 Torrent.

The F-302 has a special place in my heart as I Stargate SG1 was one of the first sci-fi shows I got into and it shaped my appreciation for the idea of forward swept wing which led me to fall in love with the Cylon raiders in turn because they shared some of that language

Glad to see that you included those Bubble Fighters we saw from Lost In Space, they do give off vibes of the B-Wing from Star Wars

My memory is pretty bad but the American Sci-fi series "Space: Above and Beyond" had, on the enemy side, a 3 wing space fighter that I quite liked. The iconic space battle of that time, to me, was in the episode "The Angriest Angel" with a furious dogfight LTC McQueen's SA-43 Hammerhead going up against a unique enemy superiority fighter that was just taking out all their patrol craft. The human's SA-43 Hammerhead a main turret with x-axis gimbal, detachable cockpit (that is lifted up to the flight deck) and... a CD player for the pilot. But I really really liked the sillhouette of the enemy fighter. SAB was not as popular as B5 though, so isn't as well remembered or thought of.

(hides his fighter design that has a 3-person crew, but each with separate duties that he thinks makes sense) You hit on some really good ones. I'm sure five minutes after I post this I'll think of one I also like, but you hit the main one really.

I want to add the "Albion Skunk" from X-Rebirth to the honorable mentions: I love its design.

3:58 this is why I love the interior shots of the Razorback during the expanse

One of my childhood favorite ships is the Government Police Havoc Gunship from G-Police 1997. It’s pretty cool in its design and plays well with the main characters backstory.

Personally, some of my favourite Sci-Fi space fighters are probably from the old Freespace series. The first brings "The Big Momma" in the GTF Hercules, lots of guns fixed to a boxy frame with plenty enough weaponry and good defenses. It even gets a variant for the second game in the Mark 2, which sacrifices a few weapons for a bunch more speed and maneuverability. But my favorite from there is definitely the GTF Pegasus from Freespace 2; 19m of fragile spear-tip-shaped hull, with a rule-of-cool hollow in the middle of it. Strapped with just a single bank of guns and barely any missiles, but wrapped in powerful anti-detection stealth cladding, and with more maneuvering thrust than you can shake a stick at. When in the black of space, the only real ways to track it are the engine flares, as well as the blue lines of - what look like - sufficiently sci-fi active hull cooling veins which line the top of its hull.

More than any other on this list, the F-302 wasn't just on-screen while story happened around it - the F-302 had stories to tell itself, both on and off-screen. It's impact on Cam, it's necessity after the f-301 incident, the link with the aerospace guru's company that designed the propulsion control systems... so much story there :)

My favorite space fighter has been and always will be the Black Lance Dragon from Wing Commander 4. Near perfect cloak, a main battery of 2 plasma guns, 2 tachyon cannons, and those friggin' sweet near insta kill fission guns. And the one shot, one kill flash pak. And the sound it made while cloaking and uncloaking was just sooo cool. With that 2-5 for me would be: 2. S-4 Dark Angel, as Colony Wars was the 'next' space flight sim I fell in love with outside of WC and X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter it really was a fun ship to fly and looked so darn cool. 3. Alpha-Class xG-1 Star Wing, super-fast, and a metric f ton of missiles, what's not to love. One of my favorite ships on the tabletop and in X-wing vs. Tie Fighter. 4. Dralthi Mk. 1 The quintessential 'bad guy' ship of the Kilrathi in Wing Commander, and I love the flying kitty pancake so much. Also, the Kilrathi are my favorite sci-fi race too, so have to have this ship on the list too. 5. And while it's not 'technically' a space fighter it still operates just fine in space, so I'm counting the VF-1 Valkyrie from Robotech, as it's a mecha and a fighter, and hybrid of the two, and versatility is a great quality to have. And it furthers one aspect a space fighter has to have, and that's being functional in an atmosphere as well space. It's why yes, a brick is fine in space, but it doesn't work in a planet's atmosphere like Earth, so space fighters NEED to be aerodynamic to some point.

Oh hey, the Railjack showed up as an HM! Thanks! The Railjack is great. It's like they crossed an AC-130 with a CH-53 and sent it to space. So much fun.

.....You're the first person I've ever seen talk about the bubble fighters from lost in space.... I love you...

Good list. Glad to see the Lost in Space Fighters on a top anything. Always been a big fan of them myself

I have a Top 20 Fav Fictional Craft List, but if I focus down on only those void-capable craft... Honorable Mentions (void-capable only) - Terrain Wraith _(StarCraft)_ - Protoss Dark Templar Corsair _(StarCraft)_ - Drukhari Voidraven Bomber _(Warhammer 40k)_ - Drej Stinger _(Titan A.E.)_ - Zerg Queen _(StarCraft)_ - Rebel Alliance X-Wing _(Star Wars)_ . *#5 - Covenant Vampire **_(Halo)_* This thing is a monster. Armed primarily with an oversized “blamite” Needler as seen in the first person games, it tracks and rams enemy aircraft, exploding with greater effect in clusters. Its secondary armaments are a pair of rapid-firing Class-2 Medium Plasma Cannons as seen on Shade Turrets, Banshees, and Ghosts. One is mounted on each side of the craft on a ball turret that automatically tracks and shoots targets. This makes the Vampire tremendously powerful in a dogfight at slow and high speeds, and still good at hitting ground targets. And that’s not even the worst. Its Stasis Cannon is able to disable enemy aircraft with effects similar to an EMP, keeping them suspended in place, making them even easier targets to shoot down. If upgraded with Stasis Drain, this ability will also drain energy out of the target which then regenerates damage to the Vampire, hence its name, to the point the enemy vehicle will crash if drained completely. As a bonus, the Vampire is capable of fighting in space, though it rarely needs to as other craft handle this job much better. Despite its use as a powerhouse air superiority unit, the Covenant set it aside in the Human-Covenant War in favor of more versatile air vehicles. I can’t imagine how or why, but I suppose that the nimble Banshees and Spirit and Phantom troop carriers being plenty good enough in atmosphere with speeding, darting Seraphs would negate the need for the Vampire. While studying the Covenant for the creation of their Planetary Conquest tournament profile, I encountered the Vampire and fell deeply in love with it. Even though I’ve never played the games that include this ship, I seem to like it a great deal more than the Protoss equivalent Corsair. I feel its weapons are more unique and design looks better, and abilities more directly useful in engagements. . *#4 - Wraith Dart **_(Stargate: Atlantis)_* The vampiric Wraith dominate the Pegasus Galaxy and have subjugated almost all the human populace. They feed on the life force of humans, participating in an act called “culling”, in which humans are captured and harvested. To instigate this, the Wraith employ small, arrow-like Darts. They are unshielded, relatively vulnerable, but have numerous utilities. Their small size allows them to pass through Stargates which are far too small to accommodate anything much larger. To compensate for this lack, they use a culling beam that teleports a chosen type of target into or out of a sophisticated crystal computer system that translates objects and life forms into a type of data information. This allows a single Wraith Dart to deploy dozens of Wraith onto a target while beaming up dozens of enemies or victims. The astounding thing is that up to 50 individuals can be transported this way, and can even be used for cargo. The beam can be modified for scanning and transmitting information for intelligence gathering. This makes them ideal as scouts in areas the Wraith intend to invade. This gives the Dart tremendous flexibility for its small size. They’re also used to intercept and block enemy attacks, ram themselves into targets in suicide runs, and en mass bombard weak points or overwhelm larger enemy vessels. They come with their own, eerie, ominous sound. One of their main weakness is that they lack missiles, bombs, or other heavy weaponry, as they aren’t intended to destroy hard targets. If such an attack is necessary usually a Wraith Hive Ship will conduct a bombardment. The other is that they are intended to engage foes very close, which brings them into range of small arms weapon fire, particularly anti-personnel support weapons, for which the Darts have little defense against. I think even their cockpit and HUD is really cool and uniquely strange. Overall though, ingenious, compact design that is very different than the heavy, large, ominous foes most would face in Sci-fi. They’re built for the utility that the Wraith need and use. . *#3 - TIE Interceptor **_(Star Wars)_* (Won't do lore on this one.) Throughout the years, while I always had a liking to the X-Wing, I thought the TIE Interceptor was the coolest ship in all of the Star Wars franchise. I owned a toy of one as a kid and I loved it a lot. I almost wished that this were a premiere starfighter for the Rebel Alliance. . *#2 - T'au Empire Barracuda **_(Warhammer 40k)_* The Air Caste pilots of the T’au race are naturally attuned with spatial awareness, resistant to G forces, and as such a mind designed for air combat. This combines with the deadly array of technological development the Tau provide. The Barracuda is an attack craft for the T’au navy in space, escorting bombers and transports while intercepting and destroying enemy fighters. They are also air superiority fighters in atmosphere, though this role has been reduced to support of more multi-role Razorshark. It even comes equipped with the ability to take-off and land VTOL. For offense, the primary weapon system is a frontal, nose-mounted Ion Cannon capable of shooting in bursts that can disable and pulverize heavy vehicles and installations and smash enemy aircraft apart from well over a mile away. This can be replaced by a Heavy Burst Cannon for better strafing and dogfighting. Secondary armaments are two, automated swivel-turret Burst Cannons. Aided by drone targeting system prevalent in T’au vehicles. As the drones can independently target enemies at any axis point underneath, front, and behind the aircraft at short range, baffling standard dogfighting tactics. Additional weapons include Missile Pods with 8 internal bays, 4 on each wing, allowing it to punish light vehicles and heavy infantry, and weaken or finish off hard targets. If Markerlights are in the field and heavy targets are plentiful, it can carry a rack of up to 4 external laser-guided Seeker Missiles (which can also target enemy aircraft if tracked by the Markerlight user). Some of the weapons can be accurate enough to target individual soldiers while doing minimal damage to a vital structure they are nearby. For defense, the Barracuda is, quite unfairly perhaps, relatively durable and thick while sporting a very thin profile depth. In addition, it can be fitted with various onboard defense systems giving it incredibly unfair advantages in combat. A Disruption Pod can alter the wave patterns of sensory systems and light, making it nigh invisible at long range and requiring point-on LOS for targeting with guided missile systems. At speed, it is even invisible to the naked eye. Decoy Launchers function as a form of chaff and flare mounted near the engines, and even if struck, an Automated Repair System can emit tiny drones that repair, shift, and refit onto the hull to rebuild damaged parts. This is the most powerful thing on my list. Its only lack is in the utility and bombing department. In everything else it excels. I’m glad I could find a lot of pictures of this thing because it presents a unique look from every angle. My second-favorite vehicle used by my favorite fictional race of all time, this thing has multiple levels of unmatched awesome. . *#1 - Tyrusian Raider **_(Invasion America)_* This thing has just about everything. Stealth, yes, even invisible to the naked eye (though not at the same time as engaging combat or landing it seems). Transport capacity? I believe standard variants can carry 20 individuals. It has central table with a holographic projector and can be equipped with additional navigation/scanning computer systems. For CAS, the twin cannons can be accurate enough to take out individual humanoids grappling with friendly persons completely ionizing them, and it seems hitting the right spot can inflict massive, structural damage to enemy capital ships and simply obliterate anything smaller. The back hatch can extend an energized particle platform of some kind for ease of embarking or disembarking regardless of terrain. Its maneuverability is virtually unmatched by nearly anything else on my list. It can hover effortlessly in the air, and at least some models have a tachyon drive for FTL travel. It can link up to vid-screens on the dome of the ship, and maintain inner-system distance communication and observation relative to the position and view of the receiver. One of the best parts? It’s controlled mentally, via Tyrusian DNA link in a sort of techno-telepathic-telekinesis. This makes it relatively easy to operate (the basics, anyway). And it just looks so damn awesome! The only thing this ship lacks is an active and solid defense, though the frame seems quite durable so long as damage to the core infrastructure isn’t hit, as it gyros in the air attempting to remain airborne and stabilize automatically.

I'm glad of your top pick. I was getting ready to riot when you got to the honorable mentions without it making an appearance.

We all have our favorites, but I'll gladly concede a couple of these chocies to you: the Vulture Droid is indeed a highly inventive design (especially when paired with the "Buzz Droids" that are basically living cluster bombs), and I'm glad to see someone remembers the 3-man Cylon Raider from my childhood! The Raider, I'd class as a "fast attack craft," somewhere between a starfighter and a capital ship. Within that class, my own favorite is the Skipray Blastboat from Star Wars Legends, with its 4-man crew, high speed, extreme durability, and frightening arsenal of weaponry that pivots around the central section, as well. I also retain a sentimental fondness for the ships from 1979's "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," for no other reason than them memories.

Gotta love the veritech fighters from Robotech. Nothing quite like dogfighting in space against alien giants while piloting a transforming military fighter jet 😂

The TIE series is honestly some of my favorite aerocraft of all time; the sfx, the aesthetics, the design, everything is just perfect My favorite variants are the Fighter, the Defender, the Striker, and the Inquisitor's TIE Advanced model, though the Bomber and TIE Droid are pretty excellent as well

My top five are thus: 5: Vipers from BSG (Either Version) 4: X-Wing - I just love the "Bi-plane" design, it looks mean and capable. 3: Pathfinder from For All Mankind - I would absolutely argue that this should be considered a fighter because it's the only fully realistic one in Science Fiction. The crew is small enough to count, and the craft is large enough to be realistic for fuel, weapon payload, and the ability to land back on Earth. For the timeline setting of the show, the weapons used on this craft (Modified AIM-54 Phoenix Missiles) make a ton of sense. In real life, military spacecraft will likely have larger crews and much more effective weapons (like the Expanse.) 2: F-302 from Stargate - We watch the Tau'ri slowly gather the elements needed to build this over several seasons. It really felt earned when it first took off. 1: Starfury from Babylon 5 - Sorry, but in a reality where space fighters aren't realistic at all, this one comes extremely close to being so. I love this spacecraft to death.

Oh dude, that reference book sounds amazing. You slap 3 of those reference books together and find some way to print it and I think we have a bonified masterpiece art book. Would 100% pay ~80$ for 3 of those reference book things in a physical format

I guess the Star Wars "Snowspeeder" isn't technicallty a Spacefighter, but I never quite understood why not. It's a beautiful wedge shaped design with ship long guns and payload options, and even a second individual (while used as a rear gunner, it was obvious that was a secondary function, not primary) in the back. You'd think as an atmospheric starfighter, that second person could have an augmented console to act as navigator to plot hyperspace travel, but maybe I'm just projecting my love of the design. And while I also loved your Bubble Fighter from LiS (I actually bought the toy version at one point! Long lost, but still) I love the B-wing design from Star Wars, which the bubble fighter beats a striking resemblance too. I can easily see both of those being taken from roughly the same mold, and with future iterations, coming to a similar end design.

I have a soft spot for the Longsword Strike Fighter. The thing is massive, but it fits right in with the UNSC aesthetic.

My favourite space fighter is the TIE fighter because I love their iconic sound

in my headcannon, the reason for 3 centurions on the cylon raider was that the standard centurions was basic in their thinking so they networked 3 of them for more processing power

R-Type! Didn't expect to see those on here. I loved that game, despite sucking pretty bad at it, and for the same reason as you: all those freaking ships. I loved that gallery mode.

On the Cylon raider chances are there is the command centurion, a pilot centurion, and a gunner systems centurion

I guess they are frigates, rather than fighters, but damn Eve Online's frigates are pretty badass. I remember grabbing a Rifter or Tristan for the first time and just panning around them against the starscape. The visuals of Eve are one of those things that stick with you even years and generations of computers later - like the first sight of the Mothership in Homeworld.

I just love how I can have brightness all the way up and not get blinded by these videos Dark theme best

A-Wings for me! In the galaxy of chonky Y-Wings, bristling X-Wings, and all the TIE models, the A-Wing always felt like (criss-crossing IPs here) "a knife in the dark." Fast, precise, and less sturdy, it was the hotrod of the Rebel fleet. And the X-Wing video game series solidified that for me. I loved flying the zoomy A-Wing in that environment. When you were in it, your tactics had to change. And the excitement of speeding out of a tough engagement, relying on separation and maneuverability when your fighter was banged up - sometimes even dumping away shield power to race away "naked" - was a thrill. A-Wing FTW!

My favorite is one I read in a book series. The F-114. It is an F-14 Tomcat retrofitted to be a heavy starfighter. The larger size of the aircraft allowed it to have heavier shields, armament, and range while not sacrificing firepower or maneuverability.

SA-43 Hammerhead should have gotten a mention from "Space: Above and Beyond" the visible use of maneuvering thrusters, stood out to me at the time. there was also an episode where orbital dynamics and fuel use played a key plot point; a character had to sacrifice himself by entering a dogfight to defend others, though doing so would put him into a decaying orbit around a black hole that he wouldn't have the fuel to escape....

woah r-type was mentioned here, the series world building and ship designs always fascinated me , the r-90 ragnarok 2, r-13b charon and r-100 curtain call always were my most fav scifi spacecraft designs!

I have to admit the F-302 is a favourite of mine how it blends the death glider with design aesthetics of aircraft like the F-22 and B-2 it also makes sense the it looks like an aircraft as it was originally a surface based fighter so needed to work in atmosphere

To be fair on the point about squeezing a hyperdrive into the X-302, hyperdrives in Stargate have been shown to be comparatively tiny, with the one that was experimentally installed into a Puddle Jumper later on being about the size of a microwave oven.