The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon bears an unusual distinctions. It
is one of the only top jet fighters in the world to also be cost efficient.
The F-16 fighting falcon fast and extremely agile, the light fighter does
have some shortcomings in range and payload, compared to larger twin engine
fighters like the F-15 Eagle.
However that was easy to forgive due to costing less than half as much
around 18 million dollars in 1999, 27 million dollars in 2017. This
favorable bang for buck ratio has not been lost on air forces across the
world and the F-16 currently remains the most popular aircraft in modern
military service.
Out of 4,500 produced nearly 2,700 currently remain in service in around 26
countries and now needless to say the cutting-edge 4th generation fighter of
the 1980s will remain with us for a good while longer.
Mcdonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, fast and heavy F-4 Phantom fighters had
underperformed against the north vietnamese air force due to their immature
long-range missile technology and lack of aptitude for tight maneuvering in
dogfights.
Most likely, this led a faction known as the fighter mafia to argue that air
force had its design priorities all wrong and that what was really needed
was a relatively cheap and lightweight airframe, that maximized energy for
short-range dogfights.
Support for a light fighter, eventually consolidated in the pentagon due to
simple economics. The air force liked the F-15 but realized it was too
expensive to equip all of its fighter squadrons.
So it came to seek high-low force mix, eventually two prototypes faced off
in a competitive trial in 1974, the northrop yf-17 and the general dynamics
yf-16. the latter was unanimously found to be more responsive while the
former evolved into the hornet fighters now serving in the marines and
united states navy.
The first production F-16 is went on to enter service in 1980 joined by the
two-seat F-16B variant. The single-engine F-16 leveraged new design
technologies to maximize kinematic performance.
A powerful pratt and whitney F-100 engine with the intake slung under the
fuselage could generate an excellent thrust to weight ratio, due to the
overall lightness of the falcon propelling the F-16 to twice the speed of
sound at high altitude and the F-16 could pull off very violent maneuvers
indeed, becoming the first jet fighter able to pull nine giga seconds in a
turn, tighter than any other us fighter until the advent of the F-22 Raptor.
In fact, to maximize its maneuverability the F-16 was intentionally designed
to be aerodynamically unstable a deficit which its flight control system
automatically compensated for. This worked thanks to the F-16s then
revolutionary fly-by-wire control scheme which basically meant that the
pilot's controls were interpreted via an electronic interface instead of via
hydraulic or cable connected manual controls.
Not only were fly-by-wire controls more reliable but they made it possible
for the flight computer to correct the pilot's maneuvers as necessary to
avoid exceeding the falcons tolerances.
Unlike the early model F-14 and f-15s, the F-16 fighting falcon was also
designed as a multi-role fighter and it could lug up to 17,000 pounds of
munitions or electronic warfare gear on its 11 hardpoints and also including
a new generation of precision guided weapons such as Maverick Missiles and
laser guided bombs.
On the F-16 there is 20 millimeter vulcan cannon in the lower fuselage
served as a backup weapon.
The US Ff-16 fleet first saw action in the 1991 Gulf War, where it flew more
than thirteen thousand strike missions loaded down with two thousand pound
bombs and maverick missiles.
The u.s air force also attempted to boost the F-16 as a replacement for the
A-10 Thunderbolt in the close air support role by equipping F-16Cs and d's
of the 138th fighter squadron with pave claw 30 millimeter gatling cannon
pods.
The F-16s sold abroad have also seen action in plenty of conflicts.
Pakistani F-16s shot down 10 soviet and afghan aircraft on its border during
the 1980s. Even in some other battles, by one count the F-16 fighting falcon
has shot down 76 enemy aircraft while only suffering one or two losses in
aerial combat.
The new F-16s boast conformal fuel tanks that greatly extend the falcons
short range at minimal aerodynamic cost as well as an APG-80 active
electronically scanned array radar.
The fighting falcon has proven to be a fine and versatile combat jet and
furthermore by one count it costs twenty two thousand dollars per flight
hour to operate, compared to forty two thousand dollars for a twin engine
F-15.
