Whats the pointy thing at the front of jet fighters for?

Answer 1

Answer Fighter jets have a very pointed nose so it will penetrate the air. Fighters built during the 1950's and 1960's sometimes had a very long rod that protruded in front of the aircraft. More modern aircraft have shorter ones. It is possible that some of these had ports in it that was used by the aircraft's instruments to measure the air pressure and calculate the airspeed. However, usually they did not, to the best of my knowledge. The point was espeically important as the aircraft passed through the sound barrier. As the jet flew faster, a shock-wave in the shape of a cone was developed on this point. The faster the jet flew the cone got smaller. The long point allowed the shock wave to be far enough ahead of the aircraft so that it would not interfer with the larger fuselage of the jet, thus allowing faster super-sonic speeds. When I was a young boy, I remember a friend thought these long points on the front jet was used to stab the enemy soldiers. Ha. If you're referring to the rod-like protruberance from the tip of the nose, that is called a Pitot tube, which measures the aircrafts air speed.