In terms of age (judging by the date of inaugural flight) the F-16 Fighting Falcon is four years older than the Dassault Mirage-2000 which first flew on March 10, 1978.
Even so, apparently the F-16 manufacturer at that time General Dynamics was attracted by the delta wing design. which became the 'trademark' of the Mirage-2000. The meaning of the F-16 with the delta wing is the F-16XL which first flew on July 3, 1982.
General Dynamics calls the F-16XL's delta wing design the cranked-arrow delta wing. The prototype of this variant was originally designed as a technology demonstrator, but later entered the United States Air Force (USAF) competition in the Enhanced Tactical Fighter (ETF) project, unfortunately it eventually lost to the F-15E Strike Eagle.
A few years after the prototype was stored, the F-16XL was handed over to NASA for aeronautical research and stored at Edwards Air Base.
Traced from its history, in 1977, General Dynamics began development of the F-16XL variant as the F-16 SCAMP (Supersonic Cruise And Maneuver Prototype) at General Dynamics Fort Worth. The F-16 SCAMP was developed by Harry Hillaker (the original designer of the F-16). The initial aim of the program was to demonstrate the application of supersonic transport technology to military aircraft.
The use of a large wing provides a lot of lift, and the typical aerodynamic limitations of a delta wing are overcome by the F-16's static stability.
The F-16's electronic flight control system has been tweaked to allow control at high angles of attack. The wings also serve as large fuel tanks which can increase the range of the aircraft. The study of the F-16 XL itself lasted two years.
On the F-16XL, the wing and rear horizontal control surfaces are replaced with a delta wing model – the cranked-arrow delta wing – which is 120 percent larger than the original wing. The extensive use of carbon fiber composites allows for a savings of 270 kg in weight, although overall, the F-16XL is still 1,300 kg heavier than the F-16A (original).
What went unnoticed was that the fuselage was extended by 1.4 meters with the addition of two sections at the joints of the main fuselage sub-assemblies. With the new wing design, the tail must be tilted 3 degrees, and the pelvic fins removed, to prevent them from hitting the runway during takeoff and landing. However, as the F-16XL exhibited greater stability than the original F-16, this change had no impact on the aircraft's handling.
Design changes to the F-16XL resulted in a 25 percent increase in maximum lift-to-drag ratio in supersonic flight and 11 percent in subsonic flight. Apart from that, the aircraft's maneuverability is reported to be better at high speeds and low altitudes. The enlargement increases fuel capacity by up to 82 percent over conventional F-16s.
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| Comparison of the F-16XL and F-16A |
Speaking of weapons, the F-16XL can carry twice the armament of the original F-16, and can fly up to 40 percent farther. The size of the enlarged wings of course has an impact on the number and types of weapons that can be carried. In total, the F-16XL has 27 hardpoints.
The weapon packages that are the mainstay are 16 wing stations with a capacity of 340 kg each, 4 semi-recessed AIM-120 AMRAAM stations under fuselage, 2 wingtip stations, 1 centerline station, 2 wing “heavy/wet” stations and 2 LANTIRN stations. Not forgetting the characteristics of the original F-16, the F-16XL is also equipped with the organic canon M61 Vulcan gatling gun caliber 20 mm.
The F-16XL is powered by a 1× General Electric F110-GE-100 turbofan, which allows the aircraft to accelerate to a maximum speed of Mach 2.05 and a cruising speed of 970 km per hour. The F-16XL has an empty weight of 9,980 kg and a maximum take-off weight of 21,800 kg.
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