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Lockheed Martin F-16 Promo The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics (GD) for the United States Air Force. Designed as a lightweight fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft. The Falcon's versatility is a paramount reason it has proven a success on the export market, having been selected to serve in the air forces of 25 nations.The F-16 is the largest Western fighter program with over 4,400 aircraft built since production started in 1976.Though no longer being bought by the US Air Force, advanced 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 dogfighter with numerous innovations including a frameless, bubble canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick to ease control while under high g-forces, and reclined seat to reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot. It was also the first fighter aircraft deliberately built to sustain 9-g turns. It has a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than one, providing enough power to climb and accelerate vertically -- if necessary.Although the F-16's official name is "Fighting Falcon", it is known to its pilots as the "Viper", after the Battlestar Galactica starfighter.The F-16 is a single-engined, supersonic, multi-role tactical aircraft. The F-16 was designed to be a cost-effective combat "workhorse" that can perform various kinds of missions and maintain around-the-clock readiness. It is much smaller and lighter than its predecessors, but 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 nimble, the F-16 can pull 9-g maneuvers and can reach a maximum speed of Mach 2+. The F-16 is equipped with an M61 Vulcan 20 mm cannon in the left wing root, and early models could be armed with up to six AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking short-range air-to-air missiles (AAM), including a single missile mounted on a dedicated rail launcher on each wingtip. Some variants can also employ the AIM-7 Sparrow long-range radar-guided AAM, and more recent versions can be equipped with the AIM-120 AMRAAM. It can also carry other AAM; a wide variety of air-to-ground missiles, rockets or bombs; electronic countermeasures (ECM), navigation, targeting or weapons pods; and fuel tanks on eleven hardpoints under the wings and fuselage -- eight under the wings and three under the fuselage. Tags: Boeing F-18 F-15 Airbus A380 Crash accident fighter jet air force usaf iraq war military Aviation Space Environment |
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Boeing F-15 Emergency Landing USAF F-15 emergency landing.The Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas) F-15 Eagle is an all-weather tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It was developed for the U.S. Air Force, and first flew in July 1972. The F-15E Strike Eagle derivative is an all-weather strike fighter that entered service in 1989.In the Korean War, the swept-wing F-86 Sabre was the only US fighter that could challenge and defeat the Soviets' MiG-15. Later, in 1965, the fighter community was shocked when post-Korean War era MiG-17s shot down sophisticated Mach 2 F-105 Thunderchiefs on a bombing mission over Vietnam. Air Force intelligence was later shocked to find that the Soviet Union was building a large fighter aircraft, known as the MiG-25 Foxbat. It was not known in the West at the time that the MiG-25 was designed as a high-speed interceptor, not an air superiority fighter; as such, its primary asset was speed, not maneuverability. The MiG-25's huge tailplanes and fins hinted at a very maneuverable aircraft, which worried the Air Force that its performance might be higher than its American counterparts. In reality, the MiG's large stabilizer and stabilators were necessary to prevent the aircraft from encountering inertia coupling in high-speed, high-altitude flight. The F-4 Phantom II of the USAF and US Navy was the only fighter with enough power, range and maneuverability to be given the primary task of dealing with the threat of old Soviet fighters while flying with visual engagement rules. As a matter of policy, the Phantoms could not engage targets without positive visual identification, so they could not engage targets at long ranges as designed. Medium-range AIM-7 Sparrow missiles, and to a lesser degree even the AIM-9 Sidewinder, were often unreliable and ineffective at close ranges where it was found that guns were often the only effective weapon. The Phantom did not originally have a gun, as it was intended that only missiles would be used to engage slowly moving and maneuvering Warsaw Pact bombers and fighter aircraft at longer ranges. When experience in Vietnam showed this not to be the case, attempts to use external gun pods had mixed results: not only was drag increased, but hardpoint mounting of the gun pod generated tremendous vibrations and proved too unstable for precise aiming; later a gun, the 20mm M61 Vulcan, was integrated internally into the Phantom.There was a clear need for a new fighter that overcame the close-range limitation of the Phantom while still retaining long-range air superiority. After rejecting the US Navy VFX program (which led to the F-14 Tomcat) as being unsuited to its needs, the US Air Force issued its own requirements for the FX (Fighter Experimental), a specification for a relatively lightweight air superiority fighter. Three companies submitted proposals: Fairchild Republic, North American Rockwell, and McDonnell Douglas. The Air Force announced the selection of McDonnell Douglas on December 23, 1969. The winning design resembled the twin-tailed F-14, but with fixed wings. It would not be significantly lighter or smaller than the F-4 that it was to replace. The initial version, designated F-15A for the single-seat configuration and F-15B for the twin-seat, would be powered by new Pratt & Whitney F100 engines to achieve a combat thrust-to-weight ratio in excess of 1 to 1. A proposed 25 mm Ford-Philco GAU-7 cannon with caseless ammunition was dropped in favor of the standard M61 Vulcan gun due to development problems. The F-15 retained conformal carriage of four Sparrow missiles like the Phantom. The fixed wing was put onto a flat, wide fuselage that also provided an effective wing lifting surface. Some questioned if the zoom performance of the F-15 with Sparrow missiles was enough to deal with the new threat of the high-flying MiG-25 Foxbat; its capability would eventually be demonstrated in combat.The F-15's maneuverability is derived from low wing loading (weight to wing area ratio) with a high thrust-to-weight ratio enabling the aircraft to turn tightly without losing airspeed. The F-15 can climb to 30,000 feet (10,000 m) in around 60 seconds. The thrust output of the dual engines is greater than the aircraft's weight, thus giving it the ability to accelerate in a vertical climb. The weapons and flight control systems are designed so that one person can safely and effectively perform air-to-air combat. Tags: F-15 military fighter bomber jet aircraft accident crash avation usaf airbus sukhoi mig eads a380 787 iraq war terror |
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USAF Lockhed Martin F-16 Accident Major Yarema Sos ejected while the landing gear collapsed on touch-down at Luke AFB. The aircraft came down three quarters of the way down the runway. The F-16 was caught in the turbulence of the aircraft before him and hit the ground well over the structural design limit of the aircrafts landing gear system resulting in a collapse.The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft developed by General Dynamics in the United States. Designed as a lightweight fighter, it evolved into a successful multi-role aircraft. The Falcon's versatility is a paramount reason it was a success on the export market, serving 24 countries. The F-16 is the largest and probably most significant current Western fighter program, with over 4,000 aircraft built since production started in 1976. Though no longer produced for the United States Air Force, it is still produced for export.The Fighting Falcon is regarded as a superb dogfighter, with innovations including a frameless canopy for better visibility, side-mounted control stick to ease control while under high g-forces, and reclined seat to reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot. It was also the first fighter aircraft to be deliberately built to sustain 9g turns. It is also one of the few jets with a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than one, giving the Falcon excellent acceleration.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.Block 50/52 Plus (F-16U) Ordered by Polish Air Force. These aircraft are fitted with the latest avionics (including the ALE-50 Towed Decoy System) and provisions for Conformal Fuel Tanks (CFTs). On 9 November, 2006, it was unveiled that the Polish F-16s will be named Jastrzab (Hawk). Limited operational readiness will be achieved in 2008 and last F16 should be delivered by 2012. The Hellenic Air Force ordered this version with the CFTs. All two-seat "Plus" airframes include the enlarged Avionics Dorsal Spine which adds 30 cubic feet (850 L) to the airframe for more avionics with only small increases in weight and drag. This version is sometimes called F-16U and is the foundation of F-16E/F Block 60.[citation needed] The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) also ordered two-seat versions of the Block 52+. Singapore's most recent order consists of an aircraft model rumored to be the exact same configuration as the venerable F-16I, but re-designated to avoid sensitivity. The latest D+ models ordered by the RSAF can be noted to have the exact same antennas, sensor locations, cockpit configurations as that of the F-16I. These planes are also fitted with DASH-3 Helmet-mouted sighting system, 600-Gallon tanks, CFTs, AMRAAM, HARM and laser-guided weapons, fully-configured for long-range strike. Tags: F-16 military fighter bomber jet aircraft accident crash avation usaf airbus sukhoi mig eads a380 787 iraq war terror |
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