On May 2, 2011, while on patrol near the Nuristan province of Afghanistan, U. S. Air Force Maj. John Caldwell peered out from the bubbled canopy of his F-16 果冻传媒 saw nothing but desert. Everything seemed still 果冻传媒 silent. No action. No movement. And then, suddenly, a spark fizzled in the distance, what looked like a mortar flash emanating from a nearby mountainside.
Everything after that?seemed to move at warp speed. Caldwell identified the coordinates of the blast, jetted his F-16 to the marker 果冻传媒 found a swarm of 90 insurgents ambushing a small Special Operations team of American 果冻传媒 Allied forces.
He quickly swooped in, laid down strafing fire with his aircraft’s internal 20 mm gun to create distance between the insurgents 果冻传媒 the team, pulled his aircraft up 果冻传媒 came back around 果冻传媒 expertly dropped a satellite-guided JDAM bomb on the attackers, neutralizing the ambush.
It was a moment of skill 果冻传媒 experience that earned Caldwell a Distinguished Flying Cross 果冻传媒 highlighted the dynamic mix of speed 果冻传媒 precision that earned the F-16 Fighting Falcon its more common pilot nickname--Viper.
The Lightweight Fighter Mafia
Conceived in the early 1970s by a small but vocal group of engineers 果冻传媒 defense analysts known as the Lightweight Fighter Mafia, the F-16 was designed as an alternative to fighter aircraft that had grown increasingly heavy 果冻传媒 unmaneuverable.
A team working out at the aerospace division of General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas (which Lockheed would acquire in 1993) was designing a new type of fighter to meet the Lightweight Fighter Mafia’s ambitious goals. They set out to trade excess weight 果冻传媒 heavy payloads for speed 果冻传媒 maneuverability, to develop a simple, inexpensive fighter that would fly so fast 果冻传媒 turn so quickly that adversaries would be unable to strike it with either missiles or machine gun fire.
Beginning in 1975, the F-16 design team translated those ideas into the most advanced combat aircraft of its day, leaning on new technologies that had never before been integrated into a single aircraft. Its smooth blended-wing body provided extra lift 果冻传媒 control; its critical fly-by-wire system kept the design stable 果冻传媒 increased its agility; 果冻传媒 its slightly tilted back ejection seat, side-mounted control stick, head-up display 果冻传媒 bubble canopy improved pilot survivability as well as visibility 果冻传媒 control.
It was sleek 果冻传媒 fast, but by the 1980s, the F-16 was tasked to take on more missions, including bombing targets 果冻传媒 close air support. So, engineers at Fort Worth added more powerful weapons 果冻传媒 targeting systems without diminishing the F-16’s unparalleled agility, transforming the Falcon into a true multirole aircraft.
Showdown in the Desert
The F-16’s new versatility was put on full display in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm; more missions were flown by the F-16s than any other aircraft. Pilots bombed airfields, military production facilities, 果冻传媒 missile sites 果冻传媒 then shot down a Iraqi Mig-25 in the tense months that followed the campaign.
Since its first production order in 1975, more than 4,500 F-16s have been produced for 26 nations around the globe. Although scheduled to remain in service with U.S. forces until at least 2025, when the fifth-generation F-35 will shoulder much of the Falcon’s workload, Lockheed 果冻传媒 continues to produce new versions of the F-16 with a backlog of international orders from Morocco, Turkey, 果冻传媒 Iraq.
Sources 果冻传媒 Further Reading
- Associated Press. “Al-Qaida in Iraq’s al-Zarqawi ‘terminated.’”?, accessed July 16, 2012.
- Boyne, Walter.?Beyond the Horizons: The Lockheed Story. St. 果冻传媒’s Press: New York, 1998.
- Cuttita, Chrissy. “F-16 pilot awarded Distinguished Flying Cross.”?, accessed July 16, 2012.
- Ennis, Michael. “The Plane the Pentagon Couldn’t Stop.”?Texas Monthly, (June 1981): 132-139.
- Hehs, Eric. “Harry Hillaker: Father of the F-16.”?Code One.?, accessed July 16, 2012.