F-16 "Fighting Falcon" fighter
The F-16 was originally a low-cost, single-seat light fighter developed by the American General Dynamics Company. The first commercial model was launched in 1979 Entered active duty in January. After several improvements, there are 11 types including A, B, C, N, R, XL, ADF, AFTI/F-16, F-16/J79, NF-16D, etc. The maximum takeoff weight of some types is nearly 20 ton. As of 1996, more than 3,500 aircraft have been produced and equipped with the air forces and navies of 17 countries.
F-16C/D is the main type of F-16 fighter jet. Deliveries to the Air Force began in July 1984. Weapon systems include AN/APG-68 multi-function radar, wide-angle head-up display, mission computer and other fire control equipment, as well as 20mm M61 "Vulcan" 6-barreled gun, AIM-7 "Sparrow" and AIM-9 "Sidewinder" air-to-air missiles , AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile, AGM-65 "Young Animal" air-to-surface missile, anti-radiation missile and various bombs and other weapons. The D-type is the training version of the C-type. It first flew in 1983 and was delivered to the Air Force starting in September 1984. Currently, approximately 1,780 Type C and Type D aircraft have been produced.
The F-16 prototype made its first successful flight in February 1974 and gradually became one of the main fighter aircraft of the U.S. Air Force. Although the unit price of the F-16 is US$20 million, which is only half of the F-15, its overall performance is not much worse than the F-15. Except for some indicators such as bomb load, which are lower than the F-15, it was developed later than the F-15. 15, other indicators are even better than the F-15.
Development background:
In the mid-1970s, the Vietnam War broke out, and the United States' second-generation fighter jets, such as the F-4, were put into actual combat. The characteristic of this generation of aircraft is that it emphasizes high-altitude, high-speed performance and multi-purpose, and does not pay enough attention to maneuverability. Judging from the actual combat effects, the development of the second-generation fighter jet was not very successful; it can even be said that it took a detour. This is not to say that its technical level and performance have not improved, nor is it that there is a problem with the development work itself, but that the prediction of the combat method is inconsistent with the actual situation. As a result, the United States began to consider developing third-generation fighter jets in the mid-to-late 1960s.
The third-generation fighter has the following main design features:
(l) It has excellent flight performance, emphasizing mid- and low-altitude transonic maneuverability and long-range combat capabilities;
(2) The airborne electronic equipment is advanced, it has good all-weather combat capabilities, and its downward shooting capability is greatly improved;
(3) The airborne weapons have strong damage power. It has quite strong close-combat firepower, and is generally equipped with medium- and long-range omnidirectional and full-height interceptor missiles;
(4) It has outstanding air combat capabilities, but many also have good ground attack capabilities;
(5) The aircraft has good reliability and maintainability, and has great potential for improvement and development.
At the beginning of its design and manufacturing, the F-16 adopted many new technologies, which were very advanced at the time.
These new technologies mainly include: edge wings. A wing with a large sweep angle and a sharp leading edge is installed along the front fuselage, which provides controllable vortices at the connection between the wing and the fuselage, thus keeping the boundary layer from separating even at high angles of attack, improving Lift and stability. Leading edge maneuverable flaps. This flap is intended to allow the wing airfoil to have variable camber, which can improve the lift-to-drag ratio during sustained high-g-turns. Wing-body fusion. The appearance of the F-16 is said to have been selected from more than 50 proposals. It is characterized by careful rectification of the joints of the wing and fuselage to make them smooth and integrated. The main advantages are to reduce wave resistance, improve lift-to-drag ratio and transonic flutter boundary, and enhance stiffness, so that the aircraft has good maneuverability. And increase the interior volume and reduce the weight of the aircraft.
High overload cockpit. Ordinary seats are tilted back 12 to 13 degrees, while the F-16 uses a high-overload cockpit with seats tilted back 30 degrees and the footrests are raised. This posture can improve the pilot's ability to withstand overload by at least 0.6-1G, and can generally withstand up to 9G, exceeding the original allowable 7.3g. In addition, the pilot's visual function can be maintained.
The fly-by-wire control system is mainly composed of signal conversion device, flight control computer, cables and action devices. This control system is a system that converts the control signals sent by the pilot into electrical signals through a converter, and then directly transmits them to the autonomous steering gear through cables. It has the advantages of simple structure, small size, light weight, easy installation and maintenance. , improves the aircraft control quality, increases the reliability of the control system, and reduces the workload of flight demonstrations.
Relax static stability. The use of relaxed static stability technology means that the strict restrictions on static stability are relaxed. The aerodynamic center can be very close to the center of gravity, or coincident with it, or even in front of the center of gravity. The static stability of the aircraft becomes extremely small or unstable. Therefore, the static stability of the aircraft is negative when flying at low speeds. During flight, the main "stability augmentation system" automatically controls the rudder surface to ensure stable flight; when flying at high speed, The aircraft's static stability is positive. The advantage of this is that it can reduce the size of the tail, reduce the structural weight and resistance, and improve the aircraft's maneuverability and maneuverability.
Use composite materials. The tail of the F-16 aircraft is made of composite materials, which is 30% lighter than the tail made of aluminum alloy.
The cockpit of the F-16 aircraft uses a bubble canopy. The pilot's field of view is very wide. The field of view in the upper hemisphere reaches 36O degrees, 260 degrees sideways, 195 degrees front and rear, and 40 degrees sideways and downwards. , 15 degrees from the front and bottom. The pilot's seat can be tilted back 30 degrees. This is conducive to improving the pilot's ability to withstand overload. It is said that its ability to withstand overload in a short period of time can reach 8-9g. In order to facilitate the pilot to control the aircraft while leaning back, the F-16 adopts an unprecedented "side stick" solution, that is, the control stick is mounted on the armrest of the seat. This also improves the pilot's ability to control the aircraft in a high-mobility environment. This gives the F-16 the characteristics of light structural weight, large external load, and relatively good air and ground combat capabilities.
Due to the advanced aerodynamic layout of the F-16 aircraft and the high thrust-to-weight ratio of the engine, its flight performance, especially maneuverability, is quite good. The maximum flight speed of the F-16 is not much different from that of most second-generation fighter jets, about M2; but its maximum flight speed is high, reaching 1,480 kilometers per hour. Due to the large thrust-to-weight ratio and low wing load of the F-16 aircraft, its maneuverability is quite good. The horizontal speed increase performance of the F-16 before M1.5 is quite good. At an altitude of 6,000 meters, it only takes 19 seconds to increase the speed from M0.9 to M1.2, and 48 seconds to increase the speed to M1.5. The F-16 has a large available lift coefficient and low wing load, so the instantaneous hovering angular velocity is large. When flying at ultra-low altitude and low speed, its instantaneous hovering angular speed can reach 25.5 degrees/second. The stable hovering performance is also good. When the flight speed is M0.7, its hovering radius is only 650 meters. When the flight altitude exceeds 11,000 meters, especially when flying at supersonic speeds, its hovering performance decreases significantly.
The ceiling of the F-16 is not very high, about 18,000 meters, but its climbing performance is very good. At sea level, its maximum climb rate is about 305 meters/second; at an altitude of 6,000 meters, the climb rate is 183 meters/second; at an altitude of 9,000 meters, its climb rate is still 120 meters/second. When the speed exceeds M1.5 and the altitude is greater than I1000 meters, the climbing performance declines rapidly. The F-16 aircraft has better aerodynamic performance, higher internal fuel load coefficient, and lower engine fuel consumption, so the aircraft has a longer range. Its range without auxiliary fuel tanks is 1,825 kilometers, and its maximum transition range when three external auxiliary fuel tanks are connected is about 3,800 kilometers. When performing interception missions, the combat radius can exceed 900 kilometers; when performing air patrols, the combat radius is about 700 kilometers; when performing ground attack missions, its combat radius is about 440-1,400 kilometers depending on the external connection and flight profile.
Airborne equipment
The main equipment of the early F-16A is: APG-66 pulse Doppler radar, with a downward-looking range of 37-56 kilometers and an upward-looking range of 46-74 kilometers. ; AN/ARN-108 instrument landing system; SKN-2400 inertial navigation system; radar photoelectric display equipment; central atmospheric data computer; flight control computer, etc.
The F-16A is equipped with AN/APG-66 pulse Doppler fire control radar. There are four working states during air combat, namely, looking up to search and track, looking down to search and track, fighting to automatically intercept the target, and working automatically. For a target with a radar reflection area of ??5 meters, the detection distance of the APG-66 radar is 60-90 kilometers when looking up and 46-65 kilometers when looking down. For large targets such as the Tu-95 aircraft, its maximum detection distance can reach about 140 kilometers.
In the air-to-ground working state, the APG-66 radar has 7 working modes: air-to-ground ranging, real beam map mapping, extended real beam map mapping, Doppler wave speed sharpening, signal mark, freeze the image, and search the sea. The improved F-16C uses the AN/APG-68 fire control radar, which is developed from the APG-66. Mainly three components have been improved, namely the programmable signal processor, the transmitter and the low pulse repetition frequency component. It is said that the detection range of APG-68 is 40% longer than that of APG-66. This kind of radar has the capabilities of reprogramming as requirements and weapons change, high-resolution map surveying, and over-the-horizon target recognition. It can be used with "Sidewinder", "Sparrow", AIM-120 and other air-to-air missiles. It can track 10 targets at the same time in the air-to-air side scanning and side tracking state.
When using the aircraft cannon, you can first use the lead angle to calculate the optical display and fast hotline display mode. When performing ground missions, there are 8 working states available, namely continuous calculation of hit point, continuous calculation of throw point, throw, photoelectric guided weapon release, strafing, beacon, visual landmark point and manual method, etc. In addition, compared with the F-16A, the F-16C also has night low-altitude navigation and targeting infrared pod systems, and the display device and computer have also been improved.
Weapon system
The F-16 aircraft is equipped with an M61A1 6-barreled aircraft gun with 515 rounds of ammunition. It can cooperate with radar and computer to calculate the lead angle, and the effective range is 1,000 About meters. The F-16A has 9 external contact points: 1 on each left and right wingtip, 3 under each left and right wing, and 1 on the belly of the fuselage. The wingtip and outer wing pylons can only carry Sidewinder missiles. The wingtip pylons can withstand a maximum overload of 9g, and the outer wing pylons have an overload limit of 5.5g. The center rack of the wing can be mounted with combat missiles or various air-to-ground weapons. The inner rack of the wing can be mounted with guided bombs, nuclear bombs and conventional bombs, air-to-ground missiles, sub-munition boxes and rockets or a 1400-liter For the auxiliary fuel tank, the maximum overload capacity of these two pairs of pylons is 5.5g. The belly rack of the fuselage can hold bombs or a 1135-liter auxiliary fuel tank. The maximum external load of the F-16A is 4760 kg (engine oil) and 6890 kg (internal load). The main weapon of the F-16A is the air combat weapon "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile, whose model is AIM- 9L, there is also an export type numbered AIM-9P-3. The maximum range of AIM-9L is about 7 kilometers, the maximum overload is 26-35g, the off-axis launch angle is plus or minus 30 degrees, and it has certain omnidirectional attack capabilities. In fact, The battle results are better. The AIM-9P-3 is improved from the AIM-9 or AIM-9J. Its performance is not as good as the AIM-9L. Compared with the F-16A, the number of external contacts of the improved F-16C has not changed. However, the "Sparrow" medium-range air-to-air missile can be mounted. The more advanced AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile has now become the standard weapon of the F-16C/D, and the F-16A/B cannot be mounted. After the F-16C is equipped with the "Blue Shield" nacelle, the aircraft can perform laser irradiation when launching laser-guided bombs. The newly produced F-16C can also use air-to-ship missiles, anti-radar missiles, and "young animals" AGM-65. Air-to-surface missiles and other ground attack weapons
Main types of F-16
The F-16 has more than 10 modifications, such as single-seat fighter and two-seat combat aircraft. / There may be dozens of different configurations for training aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, advanced technology test aircraft, etc., but there are only four main types: Type A, basic type; Type B, two-seat combat/training type; Type C, an improved version of Type A; Type D, an improved version of Type B.
F-16A/B types are equipped with the troops.
The ratio of Type A to Type B is 2:1. That is to say, for every two Type A fighters equipped, one Type B must be equipped at the same time, mainly as a training type. Initially, the U.S. military was equipped with this type of A/B fighter. Later, after continuous improvement, an improved version of the F-16A/B, the F-16C/D, was released in 1984. At the beginning, the U.S. Congress did not approve the export of fighter jets like the F-16A/B to foreign countries. Later, the F-16C/D was born, and the U.S. Congress approved the sale of F-16A/B fighter jets abroad.
Currently, the U.S. Air Force and Navy have more than 2,800 F-16 fighter jets, most of which are F-16C/D models. The 15th batch of production F-16B aircraft The 15th batch of production F-16B is a new generation of fighter aircraft. Because it increases the tail height, it is safer when maneuvering at high angles of attack, and it also changes the maneuverability during low-speed flight and approach and landing. However, the enlarged tail also brings the problem of increased drag during maneuvering flight. The F-16B fighter carries an AIM-9L "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile on each of the left and right wing tips, and two 1,400-liter or 2,271-liter auxiliary fuel tanks at the wing roots; the under-wing pylons can also carry weapons, located on the center line of the belly The mounting bracket can mount a 1,400-liter auxiliary fuel tank, or an AIQ-131 electronic countermeasures pod or a reconnaissance pod. The 30th batch of production F-16 fighter jets used in the 1990s are more advanced. This batch of F-16s will be equipped with Hughes' AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and LANTIRN night low-altitude navigation and infrared targeting pods. The left side of the fuselage is equipped with a U.S. Air Force 20mm M61 six-barreled "Vulcan" aircraft cannon with 510 rounds of ammunition. The air intakes and deep boundary layer suction seams on the lower part of the fuselage are impressive. However, this equipment is prone to ingesting foreign objects, which can cause problems if taking off and landing on dirty runways. The front fuselage side strips were changed to be perpendicular to the cockpit, which not only increased the lift of the aircraft, but also improved the aircraft's lateral stability, which is equivalent to increasing the area of ??the stabilizer.
In 1975, the U.S. Air Force’s first third-generation fighter jet, the F-15, entered service. This is a very successfully developed aircraft. Compared with the previous generation of fighter jets, not only the performance level has been improved step by step, but also the combat effectiveness has been significantly enhanced, and it has achieved numerous results in actual combat. So far, the F-15 has achieved a good score of 96:0 in air combat. However, this kind of aircraft is relatively expensive, and even the United States cannot afford to purchase a large number of F-15 aircraft. In order to solve the contradiction between funding and the number of fighter jets required, the U.S. Air Force proposed the principle of "high-low matching", that is, a smaller number of high-performance aircraft are used in conjunction with a larger number of aircraft with lower performance and lower price. The F-16 aircraft became a candidate for this "low-end aircraft".
In fact, the F-16 was not initially developed as a "low-end aircraft" to match the F-15. It was developed by the U.S. Air Force Competitor of the "Light Fighter Prototype Development Plan". In January 1972, the U.S. Air Force officially proposed the "Light Fighter" development plan, with the purpose of verifying the use of new technologies in fighter jets and not intending to actually build a production model. The technical requirements are that the maximum aircraft speed is M2, the ceiling is 18,000 meters, and the time required to accelerate from M0.9 to M1.5 at an altitude of 9,000 meters is no more than 1 minute. At an altitude of 12,000 meters, the speed is M0 ．The overload at 9 o'clock is 3-4g. The aircraft is small, light and cheap. Four months later, General Dynamics' 401 and Northrop's P600 were selected from the five companies that participated in the competition. Two plans were signed and a contract was signed requiring each company to build two prototypes for test flight competition. General Dynamics' 4O1 plan has a military number of YF-16; Northrop's P600 prototype has a military number of YF-17. After the machine was completed, after a year of competitive testing, in April 1972, the United States selected the plans of General Dynamics and Northrop and signed a contract with each of the two companies to develop two. The prototype aircraft is competing for flight test. The military designation of General Dynamics' plan is YF-16, and the military designation of Northrop's plan is YF-17.
In April 1974, the U.S. government decided to select one of the two prototypes, the YF-16 and the 17, to be put into production to be used in conjunction with the F-15 aircraft, that is, as a low-end aircraft in a "high-low combination." In January 1975, the U.S. Air Force announced that the YF-16 had been selected, and officially determined the military number of the aircraft to be F-16. At the end of 1978, the F-16 began to be equipped with the U.S. Air Force. The current total production has reached about 4,000, and the F-16 has now become One of the main aircraft types of the U.S. Air Force, Japan has ordered 1,859 aircraft. And exported to many countries, foreign users include Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Navigation, as well as Israel, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Bahrain and Venezuela. The first four countries also cooperate with the United States in production. The total number of orders from foreign users exceeds one thousand. No wonder the F-16 is known as the "international fighter". The technical characteristics of the F16 production aircraft
Although the F-16 is a "low-end" aircraft, it is not the same as the F-16. -15 In comparison, judging from the performance level of the F-16 itself, it should be said to be quite good. "Low-end" mainly refers to price and some performance. In terms of technical level, the F-16 is not only not low, but also more advanced than the F-15 in some aspects. In addition, in order to reduce costs at that time, the F-16's airborne electronic equipment was relatively simple. After several improvements, its airborne electronic equipment has become increasingly perfect and advanced, and its combat effectiveness and price have also increased. Therefore, whether it can still be called "low-end" is also questionable.
Actual combat shows that the F-16 aircraft has excellent air combat performance. Not long after it came out, the United States sold about 40 F-16A fighters to its Middle East ally Israel. Israeli pilots, known for their bravery and proficiency in combat, soon made full use of the aircraft's performance and made the F-16 famous throughout the world with two long-range raids. During the Gulf War, the U.S. Air Force used the F-16 in actual combat for the first time. The F-16 is famous all over the world. The largest number of deployments in this war: 251; the largest number of dispatches: 13,480; the highest dispatch rate among US military aircraft: an average of 537 dispatches per aircraft; the largest variety of missions: strategic offensive, fighting for air supremacy, and suppressing air defense weapons , air interdiction and close support can be regarded as a major force in operations such as "Desert Storm".