Army and Weapons | Deadly F-16 Fighting Falcon | General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority fighter days, he has become a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. More than 4,400 aircraft built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer be bought by the U.S. Air Force, are improved versions are still 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 is a dogfighter with numerous innovations including a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick to control easier, while maneuvering a chair, leaning 30 degrees to the effect of the g-forces on the pilot reduction, and the first use of a relaxed static stability / fly-by-wire flight control system, which makes it a very maneuverable aircraft. The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and has 11 hard points for mounting mission equipment and other weapons. Although the official name of the F-16's is "Fighting Falcon", it is known to its pilots as the "Viper", due to the snake looks like a viper, and after the Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper starfighter.
Besides the active duty U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard units, the device also used by the USAF aerial demonstration team, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and as an opponent / attacker aircraft of the Navy United States. The F-16 was also purchased to serve the air forces of 25 other countries.
Besides the active duty U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard units, the device also used by the USAF aerial demonstration team, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and as an opponent / attacker aircraft of the Navy United States. The F-16 was also purchased to serve the air forces of 25 other countries.
The F-16 is a single-engine, highly maneuverable, supersonic, multi-role tactical aircraft. The F-16 is designed to combat a cost-effective "workhorse" that can perform different types of missions and maintain around-the-clock ready. It is much smaller and lighter than its predecessors, but uses advanced aerodynamics and avionics, including the first use of a relaxed static stability / fly-by-wire (RSS / FBW) control system, to achieve better performance to maneuver. Highly maneuverable, the F-16 pull 9-g maneuvers and can reach a maximum speed of over Mach 2.
The Fighting Falcon is innovations such as a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick, and lean seat to g-force effects on reducing pilot. The F-16 has a single M61 Vulcan cannon in the left wing root and has 11 hard points for mounting of various missiles, bombs and pods. It was also the first fighter aircraft designed for 9-g turns to love. It has a thrust and weight ratio greater than one, so the power to climb and accelerate vertically.
The Fighting Falcon is innovations such as a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick, and lean seat to g-force effects on reducing pilot. The F-16 has a single M61 Vulcan cannon in the left wing root and has 11 hard points for mounting of various missiles, bombs and pods. It was also the first fighter aircraft designed for 9-g turns to love. It has a thrust and weight ratio greater than one, so the power to climb and accelerate vertically.
Early models can be equipped with up to six AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking short-range air-air missiles (AAM), including rail launcher on each wingtip. Some F-16s, the AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range AAM may develop later versions rest of the AIM-120 AMRAAM. It can also carry other AAM, a wide range of air-ground missiles, rockets or bombs, electronic countermeasures (ECM), navigation, targeting pods and weapons, and fuel tanks on 11 hard points - six under the wings, two wing tips and three under the hull.
The F-16 has a cropped-delta planform that wing-fuselage blending and forebody vortex control strips, a fixed geometry, underslung air intake to the internal turbofan jet engine, a conventional tri-plane empennage arrangement with all moving horizontal "stabilator" tail surfaces, a pair of ventral fins beneath the fuselage behind the trailing wing edge, a single piece, bird-proof "bubble" canopy, and tricycle landing gear configuration with the aft retreat, steerable nose gear deploying a short distance behind the inlet lip. There is a tree-style refueling receptacle located a short distance behind the back of the hood. Split-flap speed brakes are located at the rear end of the wing-body fairing, and an arrestor hook is mounted under the fuselage. Another tank is located below the bottom of the wheel, often used to house equipment or a remparachute ECM. Several later F-16 models, including the F-16I, a long dorsal fairing "bulge" are along the "backbone" of the fuselage from the rear of the cockpit to the tail fairing, it can be used for additional equipment or fuel.
The F-16 has a cropped-delta planform that wing-fuselage blending and forebody vortex control strips, a fixed geometry, underslung air intake to the internal turbofan jet engine, a conventional tri-plane empennage arrangement with all moving horizontal "stabilator" tail surfaces, a pair of ventral fins beneath the fuselage behind the trailing wing edge, a single piece, bird-proof "bubble" canopy, and tricycle landing gear configuration with the aft retreat, steerable nose gear deploying a short distance behind the inlet lip. There is a tree-style refueling receptacle located a short distance behind the back of the hood. Split-flap speed brakes are located at the rear end of the wing-body fairing, and an arrestor hook is mounted under the fuselage. Another tank is located below the bottom of the wheel, often used to house equipment or a remparachute ECM. Several later F-16 models, including the F-16I, a long dorsal fairing "bulge" are along the "backbone" of the fuselage from the rear of the cockpit to the tail fairing, it can be used for additional equipment or fuel.
The F-16 is designed to be relatively inexpensive to build and easier to maintain than previous generations of warriors. The hull is built with about 80% of the aerospace aluminum alloys, 8% steel, 3% composites, and 1.5% titanium. The leading-edge flaps, pelvic fins and tailerons use of bonded aluminum honeycomb and graphite epoxy laminate coatings. The number of lubrication points, fuel line connections, and replaceable modules is significantly lower than predecessors, 80% of the access panels can be opened without a state. The air intake is designed to "far enough forward to a gradual bend in the duct to the engine face flow losses to a minimum, and far enough back so it would not weigh too much or too draggy or destabilizing possible ".
Although the LWF program called for an aircraft structural life of 4000 flight hours, capable of achieving 7.33 g with 80% internal fuel, GD's engineers decided that the F-16 hull design for life 8000 hours and 9 -g maneuvers on full internal fuel. This proved an advantage when the plane changed only mission air-to-air combat multi-role operations. Since its introduction, changes in the operational use and additional systems increased aircraft weight, required a number of programs to strengthen the structure.
Aerodynamic studies in the early 1960s demonstrated the phenomenon known as "vortex lift" was beneficial to be used by the establishment of highly swept wing configurations to higher angles of attack to achieve by using the strong leading edge vortex flow in a slender lifting surface. Since the F-16 was optimized for high agility in air combat, GD's designers chose a slender cropped-delta wing with leading a sweep of 40 ° and a straight trailing edge. For maneuverability, variable-camber wing with a NACA 64A improving aerodynamic-204 was selected, the camber is adjusted by leading-edge and trailing edge flaperons coupled to a digital control system (FCS) in regulating the flight envelope. The F-16 has a moderate wing loading, which is lower when body lift is considered.
The vortex lift effect is reinforced by expansion of the front edge of the wing root (the junction with the trunk), known as a Strake. Strips act as an extra-long, short-span, triangular wing running from the actual wing root to a point further forward on the fuselage. Mixed in along the fuselage and wing root, the Strake generates a high-speed vortex that remains attached to the top of the wing as the angle increases, thus generating more lift and thus a higher angles of attack without storage. The use of strips also allows a smaller, lower-aspect-ratio wing, which increases roll rates and directional stability while reducing weight. Wing deeper roots also increase structural strength and increase internal fuel volume.
A characteristic of the F-16 air-air combat performance, exceptional cockpit view. The one-piece, bird-proof polycarbonate bubble canopy provides 360 ° visibility, with a 40 ° corner, look over the edge of the plane and 15 ° down on the nose (compared to the more usual 12 to 13 ° from preceding aircraft), the pilot is increased for this purpose. Moreover, the F-16's canopy lacks the forward bow image on many fighters that a barrier to progress a pilot vision.
The F-16 ACES II zero / zero ejection seat is reclined at an unusual tilt-back angle of 30 degrees, the majority of the fighters have angled seat 13 to 15 degrees. The seating area has been chosen to pilot the tolerance of high g-forces to improve the sensitivity and reduce the gravity-induced loss of consciousness. The sitting area has been associated with reports of neck pain, possibly caused by incorrect use of the head-rest. Later American soldiers have adopted more modest tilt-back angle of 20 °. By seating and canopy of the thickness, the F-16's ejection seat lacks steel cover for automatic emergency exit, instead the entire roof before being thrown to the chair of the rocket fire.
The pilot flies the first place through a side-stick controller armrest (instead of a traditional center-mounted stick) and an engine throttle; conventional rudder pedals are also used. To increase the degree of pilot control the aircraft during high-g combat maneuvers, various switches and controls functions were moved to centralized "hands on throttle and stick (HOTAS)" controls both the controller and the accelerator. Hand pressure on the side-stick controller is transmitted by electrical signals through the FBE system to various control surfaces to adjust the F-16 maneuver. Originally, the side-stick controller was not moving, but this proved uncomfortable and difficult for pilots to adjust to, sometimes resulting in a tendency to "over-run" during takeoffs, so the stick was a small amount of "play" data . Since the introduction of the F-16, HOTAS controls have become a standard feature on modern combat aircraft.
The F-16 has a head-up display (HUD) to visual flight and combat information projects in front of the pilot, without impeding the view, is capable of his head "from the cockpit" to keep improving pilot situational awareness. Further flight and systems information displayed on multifunction displays (MFD). The left MFD is the primary flight display (PFD), which usually radar and moving cards, the right MFD is the system display (SD), presenting information on the engine, landing gear, slat and flap settings, and fuel and weapons status. Initially, the F-16A / B had monochrome cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors, replaced by color liquid crystal displays on the Block 50/52. The MLU introduced compatibility with night-vision goggles (NVG). The Boeing Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) of Block 40 also available, for targeting based on where the pilot's head faces, unlimited by HUD, using high-off-boresight missiles like the AIM 9X.
The F-16A / B was originally equipped with the Westinghouse AN/APG-66 fire control radar. The slots planar array antenna is designed to be compact to fit into the F-16's relatively small nose. In uplook mode, the APG-66 uses a low pulse repetition frequency (PRF) for medium-and high-altitude target detection in a low-clutter environment, in the down look makes use of a medium PRF for heavy clutter environments. It has four operating frequencies within the X-band, and has four air-to-air and seven air-ground operating modes for combat, even at night or in bad weather. The Block 15's APG-66 (V) 2 model added a more powerful signal processor, more power, improved reliability and a wider range in the block or cluttered environments. The Mid-Life Update (MLU) program introduced a new model, APG-66 (V) 2A, which has a higher speed and more memory.
The AN/APG-68, an evolution of the APG-66 was introduced with the F-16C / D Block 25. The APG-68 has better range and resolution, and 25 modes, including ground mapping, Doppler beam sharpening, ground moving target, sea target, and track while scan (TWS) for up to 10 targets. The Block 40/42 's APG-68 (V) model added full compatibility with Lockheed Martin Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infra-Red for Night (LANTIRN) pods, and a high-PRF pulse-Doppler track mode to continuous Wave offering (CW) target illumination for semi-active radar-homing (Sarh) missiles like the AIM-7 Sparrow. Block 50/52 F-16s initially used the more reliable APG-68 (V) 5, a programmable signal processor using Very-High-Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) technology. The Advanced Block 50/52 (or 50 + / 52 +) are equipped with the APG-68 (V) 9 radar with a 30% larger air-to-air detection range and a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode for high resolution mapping and target detection-recognition. In August 2004, Northrop Grumman subcontracted to the APG-68 radars of the Block 40/42/50/52 aircraft to upgrade to the (V) 10 standard, which the F-16 with all-weather autonomous detection and targeting of Global Positioning System (GPS)-aided precision weapons. It also adds SAR mapping and terrain-following (TF) modes, as well as interleaving of all modes.
The F-16E / F is equipped with Northrop Grumman Electronic Scanned Array Active AN/APG-80 (AESA) radar, making it only the third fighter to be so equipped. Northrop Grumman's ongoing development in the last radar, Scalable Agile Beam Radar to (SABR) to form. In July 2007, Raytheon announced that it is a Next Generation Radar (RANGR) based on his earlier AN/APG-79 AESA radar as a competitor Northrop Grumman AN/APG-68 and AN/APG-80 for the F-16 development .
The powerplant first selected for the single engine F-16 was the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-200 afterburning turbofan, a slightly modified version of the F100-PW-100 is used by the F-15. Rated at 23,830 lbf (106.0 kN) thrust, it was the standard F-16 Block 25 by the engine, except for 15 seconds building block with the Operational Capability Upgrade (OCU). The OCU introduced the 23,770 lbf (105.7 kN) F100-PW-220, which was also installed at 32 and Block 42 aircraft: a major advance Digital Electronic Engine Control (DEEC) unit that engine reliability and reduced stall prevention improved. Added to the production line in 1988 '-220', the F-15 "-100" repressed, for commonality. Many of the "-220" engines to Block 25 and later aircraft were upgraded in mid 1997 and the "-220E" standard, which improves reliability and maintainability of the engine, unscheduled engine removals were reduced by 35%.
F100-PW-220/220E was the result of the Alternate Fighter Engine USAF (AFE) program (colloquially known as "the Great Engine War"), which also saw the entry of General Electric as an F-16 engine carrier . The F110-GE-100 turbofan intake was limited by the original thrust of 25,735 lbf (114.5 kN), the Common Modular intake port was the F110 to the maximum thrust of 28,984 lbf (128.9 kN) away. (To distinguish between these aircraft are equipped with two engines and inlets, from the Block 30 series, are blocks ending in "0" (eg, Block 30) powered by GE, and blocks ending in " 2 "(eg, Block 32) fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines.)
Increased Performance Engine (IPE) program has led to the 29,588 lbf (131.6 kN) F110-GE-129 on the Block 50 and 29,160 lbf (129.4 kN) F100-PW-229 on the Block 52. F-16s began flying with these engines IPE in the early 1990s. All in all, the 1446 F-16C/Ds mission of the USAF, were fitted with F100-556 series engines and 890 with F110s. The United Arab Emirates' Block 60 is powered by the General Electric F110-GE-132 turbofan, which is rated at a maximum thrust of 32,500 lbf (144.6 kN), the highest developed for the F-16.
Although the LWF program called for an aircraft structural life of 4000 flight hours, capable of achieving 7.33 g with 80% internal fuel, GD's engineers decided that the F-16 hull design for life 8000 hours and 9 -g maneuvers on full internal fuel. This proved an advantage when the plane changed only mission air-to-air combat multi-role operations. Since its introduction, changes in the operational use and additional systems increased aircraft weight, required a number of programs to strengthen the structure.
Aerodynamic studies in the early 1960s demonstrated the phenomenon known as "vortex lift" was beneficial to be used by the establishment of highly swept wing configurations to higher angles of attack to achieve by using the strong leading edge vortex flow in a slender lifting surface. Since the F-16 was optimized for high agility in air combat, GD's designers chose a slender cropped-delta wing with leading a sweep of 40 ° and a straight trailing edge. For maneuverability, variable-camber wing with a NACA 64A improving aerodynamic-204 was selected, the camber is adjusted by leading-edge and trailing edge flaperons coupled to a digital control system (FCS) in regulating the flight envelope. The F-16 has a moderate wing loading, which is lower when body lift is considered.
The vortex lift effect is reinforced by expansion of the front edge of the wing root (the junction with the trunk), known as a Strake. Strips act as an extra-long, short-span, triangular wing running from the actual wing root to a point further forward on the fuselage. Mixed in along the fuselage and wing root, the Strake generates a high-speed vortex that remains attached to the top of the wing as the angle increases, thus generating more lift and thus a higher angles of attack without storage. The use of strips also allows a smaller, lower-aspect-ratio wing, which increases roll rates and directional stability while reducing weight. Wing deeper roots also increase structural strength and increase internal fuel volume.
A characteristic of the F-16 air-air combat performance, exceptional cockpit view. The one-piece, bird-proof polycarbonate bubble canopy provides 360 ° visibility, with a 40 ° corner, look over the edge of the plane and 15 ° down on the nose (compared to the more usual 12 to 13 ° from preceding aircraft), the pilot is increased for this purpose. Moreover, the F-16's canopy lacks the forward bow image on many fighters that a barrier to progress a pilot vision.
The F-16 ACES II zero / zero ejection seat is reclined at an unusual tilt-back angle of 30 degrees, the majority of the fighters have angled seat 13 to 15 degrees. The seating area has been chosen to pilot the tolerance of high g-forces to improve the sensitivity and reduce the gravity-induced loss of consciousness. The sitting area has been associated with reports of neck pain, possibly caused by incorrect use of the head-rest. Later American soldiers have adopted more modest tilt-back angle of 20 °. By seating and canopy of the thickness, the F-16's ejection seat lacks steel cover for automatic emergency exit, instead the entire roof before being thrown to the chair of the rocket fire.
The pilot flies the first place through a side-stick controller armrest (instead of a traditional center-mounted stick) and an engine throttle; conventional rudder pedals are also used. To increase the degree of pilot control the aircraft during high-g combat maneuvers, various switches and controls functions were moved to centralized "hands on throttle and stick (HOTAS)" controls both the controller and the accelerator. Hand pressure on the side-stick controller is transmitted by electrical signals through the FBE system to various control surfaces to adjust the F-16 maneuver. Originally, the side-stick controller was not moving, but this proved uncomfortable and difficult for pilots to adjust to, sometimes resulting in a tendency to "over-run" during takeoffs, so the stick was a small amount of "play" data . Since the introduction of the F-16, HOTAS controls have become a standard feature on modern combat aircraft.
The F-16 has a head-up display (HUD) to visual flight and combat information projects in front of the pilot, without impeding the view, is capable of his head "from the cockpit" to keep improving pilot situational awareness. Further flight and systems information displayed on multifunction displays (MFD). The left MFD is the primary flight display (PFD), which usually radar and moving cards, the right MFD is the system display (SD), presenting information on the engine, landing gear, slat and flap settings, and fuel and weapons status. Initially, the F-16A / B had monochrome cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors, replaced by color liquid crystal displays on the Block 50/52. The MLU introduced compatibility with night-vision goggles (NVG). The Boeing Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) of Block 40 also available, for targeting based on where the pilot's head faces, unlimited by HUD, using high-off-boresight missiles like the AIM 9X.
The F-16A / B was originally equipped with the Westinghouse AN/APG-66 fire control radar. The slots planar array antenna is designed to be compact to fit into the F-16's relatively small nose. In uplook mode, the APG-66 uses a low pulse repetition frequency (PRF) for medium-and high-altitude target detection in a low-clutter environment, in the down look makes use of a medium PRF for heavy clutter environments. It has four operating frequencies within the X-band, and has four air-to-air and seven air-ground operating modes for combat, even at night or in bad weather. The Block 15's APG-66 (V) 2 model added a more powerful signal processor, more power, improved reliability and a wider range in the block or cluttered environments. The Mid-Life Update (MLU) program introduced a new model, APG-66 (V) 2A, which has a higher speed and more memory.
The AN/APG-68, an evolution of the APG-66 was introduced with the F-16C / D Block 25. The APG-68 has better range and resolution, and 25 modes, including ground mapping, Doppler beam sharpening, ground moving target, sea target, and track while scan (TWS) for up to 10 targets. The Block 40/42 's APG-68 (V) model added full compatibility with Lockheed Martin Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infra-Red for Night (LANTIRN) pods, and a high-PRF pulse-Doppler track mode to continuous Wave offering (CW) target illumination for semi-active radar-homing (Sarh) missiles like the AIM-7 Sparrow. Block 50/52 F-16s initially used the more reliable APG-68 (V) 5, a programmable signal processor using Very-High-Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) technology. The Advanced Block 50/52 (or 50 + / 52 +) are equipped with the APG-68 (V) 9 radar with a 30% larger air-to-air detection range and a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode for high resolution mapping and target detection-recognition. In August 2004, Northrop Grumman subcontracted to the APG-68 radars of the Block 40/42/50/52 aircraft to upgrade to the (V) 10 standard, which the F-16 with all-weather autonomous detection and targeting of Global Positioning System (GPS)-aided precision weapons. It also adds SAR mapping and terrain-following (TF) modes, as well as interleaving of all modes.
The F-16E / F is equipped with Northrop Grumman Electronic Scanned Array Active AN/APG-80 (AESA) radar, making it only the third fighter to be so equipped. Northrop Grumman's ongoing development in the last radar, Scalable Agile Beam Radar to (SABR) to form. In July 2007, Raytheon announced that it is a Next Generation Radar (RANGR) based on his earlier AN/APG-79 AESA radar as a competitor Northrop Grumman AN/APG-68 and AN/APG-80 for the F-16 development .
The powerplant first selected for the single engine F-16 was the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-200 afterburning turbofan, a slightly modified version of the F100-PW-100 is used by the F-15. Rated at 23,830 lbf (106.0 kN) thrust, it was the standard F-16 Block 25 by the engine, except for 15 seconds building block with the Operational Capability Upgrade (OCU). The OCU introduced the 23,770 lbf (105.7 kN) F100-PW-220, which was also installed at 32 and Block 42 aircraft: a major advance Digital Electronic Engine Control (DEEC) unit that engine reliability and reduced stall prevention improved. Added to the production line in 1988 '-220', the F-15 "-100" repressed, for commonality. Many of the "-220" engines to Block 25 and later aircraft were upgraded in mid 1997 and the "-220E" standard, which improves reliability and maintainability of the engine, unscheduled engine removals were reduced by 35%.
F100-PW-220/220E was the result of the Alternate Fighter Engine USAF (AFE) program (colloquially known as "the Great Engine War"), which also saw the entry of General Electric as an F-16 engine carrier . The F110-GE-100 turbofan intake was limited by the original thrust of 25,735 lbf (114.5 kN), the Common Modular intake port was the F110 to the maximum thrust of 28,984 lbf (128.9 kN) away. (To distinguish between these aircraft are equipped with two engines and inlets, from the Block 30 series, are blocks ending in "0" (eg, Block 30) powered by GE, and blocks ending in " 2 "(eg, Block 32) fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines.)
Increased Performance Engine (IPE) program has led to the 29,588 lbf (131.6 kN) F110-GE-129 on the Block 50 and 29,160 lbf (129.4 kN) F100-PW-229 on the Block 52. F-16s began flying with these engines IPE in the early 1990s. All in all, the 1446 F-16C/Ds mission of the USAF, were fitted with F100-556 series engines and 890 with F110s. The United Arab Emirates' Block 60 is powered by the General Electric F110-GE-132 turbofan, which is rated at a maximum thrust of 32,500 lbf (144.6 kN), the highest developed for the F-16.