F-16 Fighting Falcon “The Viper”

SN 78-0025

The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine supersonic multirole 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 4,600 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer being purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are 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’s key features include a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick to ease control while maneuvering, an ejection seat reclined 30 degrees from vertical 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 an agile 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 Colonial Viper starfighter on Battlestar Galactica which aired at the time the F-16 entered service. In addition to active duty in the 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 world’s most numerous fixed-wing aircraft in military service.

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Specifications

Dimensions & Capacity

Crew: 1
Length: 49 ft 5 in (15.06 m)
Wingspan (Un-Swept): 64 ft 1.5 in (19.545 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 8 in (9.96 m)
Height: 16 ft (4.9 m)
Empty Weight: 18,900 lb (8,573 kg)
Max Take Off Weight: 42,300 lb (19,187 kg)

Performance

Speed: Maximum – Mach 2.05 at altitude, clean, Cruise – 0.75 Mach
Service Ceiling: 50, 000 ft (15,000 m)
Range: 2,277 nmi (2,620 mi, 4,217 km) with drop tanks

Armament

Guns: 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barrel rotary 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/APKWS 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)

Air-to-Air Missiles:

2 × AIM-7 Sparrow
6 × AIM-9 Sidewinder
6 × AIM-120 AMRAAM
6 × IRIS-T
6 × Python-4
6 × Python-5

Air-to-Surface Missiles:

6 × AGM-65 Maverick
4 × AGM-88 HARM
AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)
4 × AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW)

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
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.

This aircraft is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force.