India had only previously manufactured a second generation fighter (HF-24 Marut) in the late 50's.

April - Singapore drops the Typhoon from its shortlist to supply the country's next generation fighter.

The overall focus of the program is producing a 4.5th generation fighter with higher capabilities than a KF-16 class fighter by 2020.

By 2012, Wynne had conceded that America's short ranged fifth generation fighters would need drop tanks in order to be effective.

F-16s have been used to simulate later generation Soviet fighters such as the MiG-29.

That said, what would be the strategic significance of the J-20, given that by then the US will field hundreds of fifth generation fighters?

Giovanni de Briganti has defined the defining elements of a fifth generation fighter to be:

And a top Boeing official has called their newest 4.5th generation fighters "stealth killers".

In December 2010, it was discovered that China is developing the 5th generation fighter Chengdu J-20.

The F-15SE's lower cost compared to fifth generation fighters is intended to aid the aircraft's appeal to the export market.