Combat Radius
The maximum out-and-back distance an aircraft can fly on a mission with a combat load and still return with a safe fuel reserve, distinct from its one-way ferry range.
Combat radius is the farthest distance an aircraft can fly from its base, carrying a normal combat load, complete its mission, and return to that same base with an adequate fuel reserve1. It is an out-and-back figure, not a one-way distance, which is exactly where confusion with plain “range” starts. A published range figure is often the aircraft’s ferry range, the maximum one-way distance flown with minimal payload, external tanks, and no combat maneuvering reserve, a number that can run two to three times larger than the same aircraft’s real combat radius. Treating the two as interchangeable is one of the most common ways published specifications mislead readers about how far a platform can actually project force and come home.
WeaponSpecs’ own audit of published range figures across the database found this exact mix-up repeatedly, including cases where an operational or datalink radius had been recorded as if it were the aircraft’s full range. For the full analysis of how often that error shows up in real published specs and how to spot it, see Is Published Range a Lie? We Audited 1,017 Systems.
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