Fighter Bomber

Fighter Bomber is a combat flight simulator developed by Vektor Grafix and released for MS-DOS in 1989. Known as Strike Aces in the United States, the game puts you in the cockpit of some of the era’s most recognizable military jets and challenges you to prove your flying skills in the annual Strategic Air Command Bombing and Navigation Competition.

Based at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, the competition consists of a series of demanding missions in which pilots are judged on their performance and awarded points. Players can choose from six different aircraft, select an appropriate weapons loadout, and take on bombing and navigation objectives across a large 3D environment inspired by the landscapes of the northern United States. The ultimate goal is to outperform the other crews and claim the prestigious Curtis E. LeMay Trophy.

With its polygonal 3D graphics, cockpit-based presentation and emphasis on both navigation and combat, Fighter Bomber offered an ambitious simulation experience for its time. Rather than focusing purely on fast arcade action, the game asks players to learn their aircraft, plan their approach and complete objectives with precision. For fans of early PC flight simulators, it remains an interesting example of how developers were bringing increasingly sophisticated military aviation simulations to home computers at the end of the 1980s.