General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

The General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) 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 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 is a fighter with numerous innovations 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 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, 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 27 other nations.

Users

 * Bahrain
 * Belgium
 * Chile
 * Denmark
 * Egypt
 * Greece
 * Indonesia
 * Iran
 * Israel
 * Jordan
 * Morocco
 * Netherlands
 * New Zealand
 * Norway
 * Oman
 * Pakistan
 * Poland
 * Portugal
 * Saudi Arabia
 * Singapore
 * South Korea
 * Taiwan
 * Thailand
 * Turkey
 * United Arab Emirates
 * United States
 * Venezuela

Specifications (F-16E/F)

 * General Characteristics
 * Length: 49 feet 4 inches (15.04 meters)
 * Wingspan: 32 feet 8 inches (9.96 meters)
 * Height: 16 feet 8 inches (5.08 meters)
 * Wing Area: 375 square feet 34.84m2
 * Empty Weight: 22,000 pounds (9,979.03 kilograms)
 * Loaded Weight: 29,000 pounds (13,154.2 kilograms)
 * Maximum Takeoff Weight: 46,000 pounds (20,865.2 kilograms)
 * Power Plant: 1 x General Electric F110-GE-132 afterburning turbofan
 * Dry Thrust: 19,600 lbf
 * Afterburner: 32,500 lbf
 * Performance
 * Maximum Speed
 * At Sea Level: Mach 1.25
 * At Altitude: Mach 2.02
 * 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 NM (2,620 mi, 4,220 km) with drop tanks
 * Service ceiling: 50,000+ ft[1] (15,240+ m)
 * Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
 * Wing loading: 88.3 lb/ft² (431 kg/m²)
 * Thrust/Weight Ratio: 1.12
 * Armament
 * Guns: 1 x 20mm M61 Vulcan 6-barreled gatling cannon, 511 rounds
 * Hardpoints: 2x wing-tip Air-to-air missile launch rails, 6x under-wing & 4x under-fuselage pylon stations holding up to 18,550 lb of payload
 * AtA Missiles: AIM-7R Sparrow,AIM-9X Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-132 ASRAAM, IRIS-T, Meteor
 * Avionics
 * Northrop Grumman AN/APG-80 AESA "Agile Beam Radar"
 * Northrop Grumman AN/ASQ-28 IFTS
 * ALQ-165 ASPJ
 * MIL-STD-1553 databus