The United States Air Force and Lockheed Martin are celebrating the 50 years since the first flight of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The main fighter aircraft model in service in the world took to the skies for the first time on January 20, 1974, in an accidental flight during rapid taxi tests. Half a century later, the Viper, as it is called by its pilots and mechanics, remains relevant through constant evolution.
The F-16 was born through the USAF's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program, which began in the 1960s and sought a light tactical aircraft to complement the F-15 Eagle. General Dynamics responded with the YF-16 while Northrop introduced the YF-17 Cobra; the first won the dispute, while the Cobra later became the US Navy's F/A-18 Hornet.
The Viper entered service in 1978 and although it was created for daytime tactical operations, it ended up evolving exponentially throughout its operational life, becoming a true multirole fighter. The F-16 received a number of fundamental improvements to keep it capable and relevant today. Let's check out some of these upgrades.
Combat beyond visual range
The F-16 was born without BVR (Beyond Visual Range) Combat capability, as it was simply not a LWF requirement. With the popularity of the aircraft, customers requested the integration of the AIM-7 Sparrow semi-active radar-guided missile. Although General Dynamics had tested the missile on fighter prototypes, it was not actually integrated until the Block 15 ADF (Air Defense Fighter) and Block 20 variant.
Later he received the more modern AIM-120 AMRAAM, guided by active radar. The F-16 was the first fighter to shoot down another aircraft using the AIM-120, shooting down an Iraqi MiG-25 in 1992. Today, the F-16 can employ a huge range of weaponry, including conventional bombs, short-range missiles, nuclear weapons, precision bombs and its 61mm M20 Vulcan cannon.
A tool to save lives
Loss of consciousness due to gravity (G LOC) is one of the great enemies of fighter pilots. In the case of the F-16, which can sustain 9G maneuvers, the problem is even more relevant.
To combat the loss of life in accidents, a team of engineers from the USAF, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Swedish Air Force and Advanced Fighter Technology Integration developed the Auto GCAS (Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System).
Tested on board an F-16D, the system detects an imminent collision with the ground, warning the pilot to react. If the pilot does not give any response, Auto GCAS takes control of the aircraft temporarily to avoid the accident, returning controls when it obtains a reaction from the crew member. According to Lockheed Martin, the current manufacturer of the F-16, the equipment has already saved the lives of nine aviators.
More power
The F-16 entered service using the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-200 engine, a version adapted from the engine used in the F-15 Eagle. The model, however, had some problems and the USAF had also faced contractual disputes with PW, which was its only engine supplier at the time. Seeking to repower its fighters, the USAF launched the Alternate Fighter Engine (AFE) program in the 1980s.
Also known as the Great Engine War, the AFE saw General Electric compete with Pratt & Whitney for the attractive ($$$) supply of turbofan engines for the F-15 and F-16. In February 1984, General Electric was announced the winner to supply the F110-GE-100 (based on the B-1 bomber engine), capable of generating 28,984 pounds of thrust. Today, the F-16 can receive different versions of the PW F100 and GE F110, according to the customer's wishes.
Helmet with integrated display
From Block 40 onwards, F-16 fighters began to have integration with an important piece of equipment: the t Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS). The JHMCS is nothing more than a helmet with an integrated display, the famous HMD.
Using a small projector, the pilot sees the same information displayed on the HUD (Heads Up Display) on the helmet's visor. So, when he looks outside the aircraft, he still has data such as speed, altitude, heading, targets and threats. Even more important, the JHMCS allows the pilot to aim missiles while looking at the target, without having to change the aircraft's flight path. In this way, the use of weapons and situational awareness is largely favored.
The JHMCS is manufactured by Boeing but is based on the Israeli Elbit DASH helmet, also integrated into the F-16 and used mainly by Israeli Air Force. In 2012, the USA started to adopt the European model Thales Scorpion, winner of the Helmet Mounted Integrated Targeting (HMIT) program.
Conformal tanks
You can never have too much fuel and for fighter planes, which tend to “drink more” (especially with afterburner), every drop of kerosene matters. In the early 2000s, Lockheed Martin began developing conformal fuel tanks (CFT) for the F-16. The CFTs are installed on the top of the fuselage and create space to carry weapons where underwing/ventral tanks would otherwise occupy. The tanks can be removed on the ground by maintenance, according to needs.
The CFTs were tested in 2002 and began to be installed on the F-16 Block 50 the following year, increasing the Viper's fuel capacity by around 1700 liters. Range can increase by 20% to 40% depending on the aircraft's external load configuration. The first customer for the CFTs was Greece, which installed the conformal tanks on its F-16 Block 52+.
TO THAT
The United Arab Emirates invested billions of dollars in the development of a 'customized' version of the Viper, the F-16E/F Block 60. Informally called the Desert Falcon, the Block 60 is based on the Block 52+, but received several improvements. Among the main upgrades is the installation of a new radar, the APG-80 AESA (Active Electronic Scanning Radar).
The technology replaces mechanical antenna radars and provides pilots with greater agility, tracking capacity and detection range. Ironically (or not), the first fighter to receive this type of radar was the F-2 Viper-Zero, a Japanese version of the F-16.
In the F-16V Block 70, the most modern version of the most used fighter in the world, the radar is the APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), manufactured by Northrop Grumman. Based on radars used in the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, the APG-83 has an estimated range of 370 km. In an interview with The War Zone, Lockheed Martin test pilot Ryan “Cujo” Blake said the new radar is the most notable difference in the Viper.
