F-16 Fighting Falcon

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

The F-16 is a jack-of-all trades. Swift and agile yet capable of carrying heavy bomb loads, F-16s sreve primarily as intercepters of fighter-bombers. And the US Navy has selected the F-16 as an "aggressor" aircraft to be used in its realistic Top Gun air-combat training exercises. In Top Gun the F-16 mimics the latest, fourth-generation threats like the Mirage 2000, MiG-29 and Su-27. Its control surfaces are entirely fly-by-wire, meaning that the work done by hydraulics is done in the F-16 by a computerized network of electroinc motors. This makes the F-16 much more responsive and has led to its nickname: "The Electric Jet." The F-16 is on the cutting edge of technology especially in its sophisticated avionics that inculde, in the later versions, sensors for low-level navigation and night attack. These later models are the F-16C and F-16D which posess, in addition to better electronics and more modern weapons for multi-role use, the capability to accommodate either of two engine types. The "Electric Jet" is a pilot's airplane. It is designed to function almost as an extension of the pilot's mind and hand, from the fly-by-wire avionics to the cockpit canopy that is designed for an absolutely unobstructed foward view. The Falcon provides a window on fighter technology of the 21st century.

Other cool links I've made