F-16 Fighting Falcon

\n{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin:3px; border:3px solid #87CEEB;width:300px; font-size:95%; font-family:Arial,Helvetica" align="right"\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3" align="center" style="border-bottom:3px solid"|F-16 Fighting Falcon\n|-\n|colspan="3" align="center"|
F-16C Fighting Falcon\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Description\n|-\n|Role||colspan="2"|Multi-role fighter\n|-\n|Crew||colspan="2"|1 or 2\n|-\n|First Flight||colspan="2"|\n|-\n|Entered Service||colspan="2"|\n|-\n|Manufacturer||colspan="2"|General Dynamics\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Dimensions\n|-\n|Length||14.52 m||47 ft 8 in\n|-\n|Wingspan||9.45 m||31 ft\n|-\n|Height||4.8 m||16 ft\n|-\n|Wing Area||27.87 m²||300 ft²\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Weights\n|-\n|Empty||7,157 kg||15,778 lb\n|-\n|Loaded||10,348 kg||22,814 lb\n|-\n|Maximum Takeoff||16,057 kg||35,400 lb\n|-\n|Capacity||colspan="2"|\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Powerplant\n|-\n|Engine||colspan="2"|One Pratt & Whitney F100-200 afterburning turbofan\n|-\n|Power||106 kN||23,840 lb\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Performance\n|-\n|Maximum Speed||2,173 km/h||1,350 mph\n|-\n|Combat Range||547 km||340 miles\n|-\n|Ferry Range||3,890 km||2,415 miles\n|-\n|Service Ceiling||> 15,240 m||> 50,000 ft\n|-\n|Rate of Climb||15,240 m/min||50,000 ft/min\n|-\n!bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Armament\n|-\n|Guns||colspan="2"|1 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon\n|-\n|Bombs||colspan="2"|CBU-87, CBU-89 Gator Mine, CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon, Paveway, JDAM, Mk80\n|-\n|Missiles||colspan="2"|AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-88 HARM, AGM-119 Penguin, AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM\n|-\n|Other||colspan="2"|LANTIRN, Electronic counter-measures, fuel tanks\n|-\n|} \n The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a modern US-built, multi-role jet fighter aircraft. It is in use by dozens of countries all over the world.

Table of contents

1 History 2 Versions 3 Inventory 4 Manufacturers 5 Specifications 6 See also 7 External links

History

\nFrom the very beginning, the F-16 was intended to be neither a technical break-through, nor an enormously powerful weapons platform, but rather a cost-effective "workhorse", that could perform various kinds of missions and maintain around-the-clock readiness. This distinguishes the F-16 from its predecessors, many of which were not designed for all-weather operation (F-104) or were extremely expensive / made for aircraft carrier operations (F-14). Because of its sleek, aggressive lines and quick handling, the F-16 earned the monicker "Viper" from its pilots. From the point of view of design, the F-16 is closer to a fighter than to a ground attack aircraft. It is small and agile, and its canopy is designed for the pilot's optimal visibility, a feature vital during air-to-air combat. For this purpose, the F-16 carries an M61 Vulcan cannon, and can be equipped with air-to-air missiles. However, the F-16 can also perform ground-support tasks if necessary. For that task, it can be equipped with missiles or bombs. The F-16 originates in a set of specifications the United States Department of Defense issued in 1974. Two companies were chosen during the concept stage: General Dynamics with the YF-16 design and Northrop with a design which bore the name YF-17 Cobra. The F-16 was chosen from the two prototypes; however the two-engined YF-17 was not abandoned and later on became the F/A-18 Hornet. Initially, the F-16 was manufactured in two models: A (combat version) and B (two seats, used for training). The first time an F-16A took off was in December 1976; the first aircraft was delivered to the US Air Force in January 1979. In the 1980s, the F-16A/B was superseded by the F-16C/D with improved avionics and engine. Due to their ubiquity, the F-16s have participated in numerous conflicts, most of them in the Middle East. In 1981, 4 Israeli F-16s participated in a raid that destroyed Osiraq, an Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdad. The following year, during the invasion into Lebanon, Israeli F-16s engaged on numerous occasions with Syrian aircraft, ending up victorious at all times but one. F-16s were also used afterwards in their ground-attack role for strikes against targets in Lebanon. In the Gulf War of 1991, F-16 from the air forces of the Coalition participated in the strikes against Iraq.

Versions

\n* F-16A/B - original version\n* F-16C/D - improved avionics and engine\n* F-16E/F - based on the F-16C/D, it features conformal fuel tanks, improved radar and avionics; it has only been sold to the United Arab Emirates.\n* F-16ADF - upgraded F-16A/B that was handed out to the National Guard\n* F-16I - a version with improved avionics, manufactured for Israel\n* F-16XL - a delta-wing version used by NASA for aeronautical research\n* F-2A/B(FS-X) - modified version, produced in Japan by Mitsubishi\n* RF-16C/F-16R - reconnaissance version that carries the ATARS package

Inventory

\nThe figures are as of 1992.\n* US Air Force Active status: 804\n* US Air National Guard: 634\n* US Reserve: 150\n* Other air forces: 1300\n* Total number manufactured: about 2,900

Manufacturers

\n* General Dynamics / Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems (USA)\n* TAI (Turkey)\n* Fokker (Netherlands)\n* SABCA (Belgium)\n* Denmark\n* Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk and others (Norway)

Specifications

\n* Powerplant:\n** F-16A/B: Pratt and Whitney F100-PW-200 turbofan engine with afterburner, thrust: 106 kN\n** F-16C/D: Pratt and Whitney F-100-PW-200/220 or General Electric F-110-GE-100 turbofan engine with afterburner, thrust: 119 kN\n** F-16E/F: Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229A or General Electric F110-GE-129EFE (Enhanced Fighter Engine)\n* Size:\n** Length: 14.8 m\n** Height: 4.8 m\n** Wingspan: 9.8 m\n* Speed:\n** Maximum: Mach 2\n* Ceiling: classified, above 15 km\n* Takeoff weight: 16,875 kg\n* Range:\n** Combat (without refueling): 860 km\n** Ferry: more than 3200 km\n* Unit cost:\n** F-16A/B: USD 9.5 million\n** F-16C/D: USD 12.8 million\n** late models, around 1998: 1998USD 25 million \n* Armament:\n** 20mm M61 Vulcan cannon\n** For air-to-air combat: AIM-9 Sidewinders and AIM-120 AMRAAM misiles.\n** For ground attack: AGM-65 Maverick, various kinds of bombs ("dumb", laser-guided and cluster), weighting up to 2000 lb (900 kg).\n** For anti-ship attack: Kongsberg Penguin Mk 3 (Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16's)

See also

• Fighter aircraft\n* Comparison of 2000s fighter aircraft

External links

• F-16.net The ultimate F-16 Fighting Falcon resource\n{| cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="margin:4px auto; clear:both; font-family:Arial,Helvetica; font-size:95%"; align="center"; bgcolor="#efefef"\n|- align="center"\n| bgcolor="ffffff" | ||bgcolor="#CFCFCF"| Modern USAF Series|| Miscellaneous \n|- \n|bgcolor="#ffffff"| || Attack--OA/A-10,AC-130H/U||RC-135V/W\n|-\n|bgcolor="#ffffff" | || Bomber--B-52,-2,-1B,F-117A||OC-135B\n|-\n|bgcolor="#DCDCDC" |F-15 Eagle|| bgcolor="#DCDCDC" | Fighter--F-15/E ,F-16||KC-10,-135\n|-\n|bgcolor="DCDCDC"|F-15E Strike Eagle || Electronic--E-3,-4B,-8C EC-130E/J,H||HC-130P/N\n|-\n|bgcolor="DCDCDC"|F-16 Fighting Falcon || Transport--C-5,-17,-141B, -20,-21||MC-130E/H/P\n|-\n|bgcolor="ffffff"| || C-22B, -32, -130, -37A, -40B/C||MH-53J/M \n|-\n|bgcolor="ffffff"| || Trainers--T-1, -37, -38, -43, -6||HH-60G\n|-\n|bgcolor="ffffff"| || Weather--WC-130, -135||UH-1N\n|-\n|bgcolor="ffffff"| || UAV--RQ-1/MQ-1 UAV, Global Hawk||U-2S/TU-2S\n|-\n|bgcolor="ffffff"| || ||VC-25\n|-\n|}\n{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style=";clear:both;margin:5px auto; border:3px solid;width:60%; font-size:small;" align="center"\n!bgcolor="#e0e0e0" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:3px solid"|Related content\n|-\n|Similar Aircraft\n|align="center"|\nIAI Lavi -\nMitsubishi F-2 -\nAIDC Ching-Kuo -\nChengdu J-10\n|-\n|Designation Series\n|align="center"|\nYF-12 -\nF-14 -\nF-15 -\nF-16 -\nF-17 -\nF/A-18 -\nF-20\n|-\n|Related Lists\n|align="center"|List of military aircraft of the United States - List of fighter aircraft\n|-\n|}\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n Category:US fighter aircraft 1970-1979