OVERVIEW: The F-16A Block 15 Fighting Falcon is a low-cost, single-engine, very maneuverable, supersonic, 4th generation multirole fighter. 


DETAILS:  The F-16 was designed to be a cost-effective combat "workhorse" that can perform various missions and maintain around-the-clock readiness. It uses advanced aerodynamics and avionics, including the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire (RSS/FBW) flight control system to achieve enhanced maneuver performance. Highly maneuverable, the F-16 can pull 9-g maneuvers and can reach a maximum speed of over Mach 2. Innovations include a frameless bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick, and reclined seat to reduce g-force effects on the pilot. It has a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than one, providing power to climb and accelerate vertically.

The Block 15 updates features an AN/APG-66 radar upgrade to provide an early version of a track-while-scan mode for greater air defense capability. Two  hardpoints and structural strengthening and an extended horizontal stabilator  was fitted to allow the aircraft to carry more ordinance and overcome the associated CG shifts. 

NOTES: IOC 1983.  


SOURCES: "F-16 Fighting Falcon." U.S. Air Force. Last modified September 23, 2015. https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104505/f-16-fighting-falcon/#:~:text=The%20F%2D16%20Fighting%20Falcon,United%20States%20and%20allied%20nations; "F-16A/B." F-16.net - The Ultimate F-16, F-22, F-35 Reference. Accessed December 24, 2020. https://www.f-16.net/f-16_versions_article3.html; http://www.f-16.net/f-16_users_article25.html   