F-16 Fighting Falcon

Manufacturer: General Dynamics
Type: Single-seat interceptor and strike fighter
Engines: One Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 turbofan or one General Electric F110-GE-100 turbofan
Max power: F100-PW-220 – 23,800 lb (10,796 kg) static thrust; F110-GE-100 – 28,900 Ib (13,109 kg) static thrust
Internal fuel capacity: F-16C: 6,972 Ib (3,162 kg) or approx 1,073 US gal (4,060 liters); F-16D: 5,785 Ib (2,624 kg) or approx 890 US gal (3,369 liters)
External fuel capacity: 6,760 Ib (3,066 kg) or approx 1,040 US gal (3,936 liters)
Weights: Empty: 18,238 Ib (8,273 kg); combat weight (50 % fuel and 2 Sidewinder AAMs): F100-PW-220: 26,250 Ib (11,907kg); F110-GE-100: 27,350 Ib (12,406 kg); max takeoff 42,300 Ib (19,187 kg)
Dimensions: Wingspan to rails: 31 ft (9.45 m); with missiles: 32 ft 10 in (10m); length: 49 ft 3 in (15.03 m); height: 16 ft 8 in (4.95 m); wing area: 300 ft2 (27.87 m2)
Performance: Max speed more than 1,146 kts (1,320 mph; 2,124 km/h) or Mach 2; ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,300 m); radius F-16A, with 6 500-lb (227-kg) bombs, hi-lo-hi, internal fuel: 295 nm (340 mi; 547 km); F-16C, weapons load unspecified: more than 500 nm (575 mi; 925 km); ferry range more than 2,100 nm (2,420 mi; 3,891 km)
Armament: One M61 20 mm multi-barrel cannon with 515 rounds and 2 450 lb (204 kg) capacity wingtip launch rails for AAM and 6 wings, 1 belly, and 2 inlet weapons stations for AAM, bombs, air-to-ground missiles, fuel, rockets, chaff/flare dispensers, or electronics pods; of these: 2 700 lb (318 kg) capacity outer wing pylons for AAM only 2 3,500 lb (1,588 kg) middle wing pylons AAM and other stores 2 4,500 lb (2,041 kg) inboard wing pylons for other stores only 1 2,200 lb (998 kg) capacity fuselage hardpoint for bombs, dispensers, or fuel 2 900 lb (408 kg) inlet stub pylons for electronics pods
Radar: AN/APG-68 pulse-Doppler
Development: Initial operational capability in 1979; first flight on February 2, 1974; in 1974, the YF-16 defeated the Northrop YF-17 in a US Air Force lightweight fighter competition
Variants: F-16A, F-16A (ADF), F-16B (trainer), F-16 Midlife Update (MLU), F-16C, F-16D (two-seat), F-16N (USN threat-simulate aircraft), F-16/79, RF-16 (reconnaissance), F-16X Agile Falcon, F-16AT/Falcon 21, A-16, F-16 (F/A-16) Close Air Support, FSX/SX-3 (Close Support fighter), F-16/AFTI, F-16XL/F-16E, NF-16D VISTA (Variable-Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft)

• F-16 can attain 9 g in sustained turns; the maximum instantaneous turn rate at 400 kts (461 mph; 741 km/h) is 19°/sec through Fly-by-Wire (FEW) control through a Lear-Siegler quadruple-redundant flight control computer.
• Blended wing/body design of the fuselage contributes lift, especially at high angles of attack.
• The wide, ventral intake is not variable but is fitted with a boundary-layer splitter plate. The single engine is an afterburning turbofan.
• The cockpit has a large bubble canopy, giving the pilot a 360° view in the upper hemisphere as well as excellent forward and downward visibility.
• Israeli Air Force used F-16s in the June 7, 1981, attack against the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor and the October 1, 1985, bombing raid against Palestine Liberation Organization forces in Tunisia.
• Pakistani F-16 aircraft engaged in frequent combat with Afghan Air Force aircraft during the Afghanistan War, reportedly shooting down five MiG-21 Fishbeds and an unknown number of Su-25 Frogfoot aircraft.
• After Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991, 251 F-16As and Cs flew more than 13,500 sorties against targets in Iraq and Kuwait, 4,000 of them at night.
• F-16 reliability was high, even in the older Air National Guard F-16As; overall F-16 mission-capable rate was said to be 88%.