General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon

The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as anair superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,500 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer being purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are still being built for export customers. In 1993, General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation, which in turn became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta.

The Fighting Falcon has key features including a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick to ease control while maneuvering, a seat reclined 30 degrees to reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot, and the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire flight control system which helps to make it a nimble aircraft. The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 locations for mounting weapons and other mission equipment. The F-16's official name is "Fighting Falcon", but "Viper" is commonly used by its pilots and crews, due to a perceived resemblance to a viper snake as well as the Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper starfighter.

In addition to active duty U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, and Air National Guard units, the aircraft is also used by the USAF aerial demonstration team, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and as an adversary/aggressor aircraft by the United States Navy. The F-16 has also been procured to serve in the air forces of 25 other nations. As of 2015, it is the second most common currently operational military aircraft in the world.

Role: Multirole fighter, air superiority fighter
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: General Dynamics,Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
First flight: 20 January 1974
Introduction: 17 August 1978
Status: In service
Primary users: United States Air Force 25 other users (see operators page)
Produced: 1973–present
Number built: 4,540+
Variants: General Dynamics F-16 VISTA
Unit cost: F-16A/B: US$14.6 million (1998 dollars), F-16C/D: US$18.8 million (1998 dollars)
Developed into: Vought Model 1600, General Dynamics F-16XL, Mitsubishi F-2

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 49 ft 5 in (15.06 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft 8 in (9.96 m)
• Height: 16 ft (4.88 m)
• Wing area: 300 ft² (27.87 m²)
• Airfoil: NACA 64A204 root and tip
• Empty weight: 18,900 lb (8,570 kg)
• Loaded weight: 26,500 lb (12,000 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 42,300 lb (19,200 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × General Electric F110-GE-100 (for F-16C Block 50) afterburning turbofan
  • Dry thrust: 17,155 lbf (76.3 kN)
  • Thrust with afterburner: 28,600 lbf (127 kN)
• Internal fuel: 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg)

Performance

• Maximum speed:
  
  • At sea level: Mach 1.2 (915 mph, 1,470 km/h)
  • At altitude: Mach 2^[2] (1,320 mph, 2,120 km/h) clean configuration
• Combat radius: 340 mi (295 nmi, 550 km) on a hi-lo-hi mission with four 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
• Ferry range: 2,280 nmi (2,620 mi, 4,220 km) with drop tanks
• Service ceiling: 50,000+ ft^[2] (15,240+ m)
• Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
• Wing loading: 88.3 lb/ft² (431 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: 1.095 (1.24 with loaded weight & 50% internal fuel)
  
• Maximum g-load: +9.0 g

Armament

• Guns: 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barrel Gatling cannon, 511 rounds
• Hardpoints: 2 × wing-tip Air-to-air missile launch rails, 6 × under-wing, and 3 × under-fuselage pylon (2 of 3 for sensors) stations with a capacity of Up to 17,000 lb (7,700 kg) of stores
• Rockets:
  
  • 4 × LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19/7 × Hydra 70 mm rockets, respectively)
  • 4 × LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19 × CRV7 70 mm rockets)
  • 4 × LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4 × Zuni 127 mm rockets)
• Missiles:
  
  • Air-to-air missiles:
    • 2 × AIM-7 Sparrow
    • 6 × AIM-9 Sidewinder
    • 6 × AIM-120 AMRAAM
    • 6 × IRIS-T
    • 6 × Python-4
  • Air-to-ground missiles:
    • 6 × AGM-65 Maverick
    • 4 × AGM-88 HARM
    • AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)
  • Anti-ship missiles:
    • 2 × AGM-84 Harpoon
    • 4 × AGM-119 Penguin
• Bombs:
  
  • 8 × CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition
  • 8 × CBU-89 Gator mine
  • 8 × CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon
  • 4 × Mark 84 general-purpose bombs
  • 8 × Mark 83 GP bombs
  • 12 × Mark 82 GP bombs
  • 8 × GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB)
  • 4 × GBU-10 Paveway II
  • 6 × GBU-12 Paveway II
  • 4 × GBU-24 Paveway III
  • 4 × GBU-27 Paveway III
  • 4 × Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) series
  • 4 × AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW)
  • Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD)
  • B61 nuclear bomb
  • B83 nuclear bomb
• Others:
  • SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod or
  • AN/ALQ-131 & AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or
  • LANTIRN, Lockheed Martin Sniper XR & LITENING targeting pods or
  • Up to 3 × 300/330/370/600 US gallon Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for ferry flight/extended range/loitering time or
  • UTC Aerospace DB-110 long range EO/IR sensor pod on centerline

Avionics

• AN/APG-68 radar
• MIL-STD-1553 bus 

Other Images of this aircraft:
      


Documentary on this aircraft:
 Great Planes General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

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