F-16 Fighter Jet

One of the primary reasons for America's economic growth is its supply of arms and ammunition to other countries. It has been supplying fighter planes to India, Pakistan, Israel, Taiwan, and several other nations across the world.

The F-16 Fighter Jet is one of the most popular and powerful fighter jets in history. These fighter jets are officially named the Fighting Falcons. More than 4600 units of the aircraft model are built to date and over 3000 are still operational.

The F-16 Fighter Jet became a news highlight when an Indian wing commander, Abhinandan Varthaman, shot down the aircraft from Pakistan in aerial combat in 2019. This jet is used by air forces in 25 nations and was the frontier fighter plane of the United States since 1979.

It was originally developed by General Dynamics with production commencing in 1976. However, it is now manufactured under Lockheed Martin.

F-16 Fighter Jets Overview

F-16 Fighter Jet is a simple, lightweight and cheap aircraft that is popular for its impressive power and features. It is a single-engine plane originally designed as a day fighter and evolved into a successful multirole, all-weather aircraft used by air forces around the world.

Though no longer used by the U.S. Air Force, the company manufactures improved versions for other countries. The top reason for its popularity is that it is designed to be inexpensive to construct and simple to maintain than the earlier generation fighters.

The fighter jet is supersonic and highly manoeuvrable and much lighter and compact as compared to its predecessors but employs advanced technologies including the first-ever use of an RSS/FBW flight control system that delivers optimum manoeuvre performance.

The F-16 Fighter Jet is the first fighter jet built to pull 9-g manoeuvres and can attain speeds over Mach 2. This combined with its airframe life of 8000 hours proves beneficial when using the jet for multi-role operations.

Some of the key features of this fighter jet include a frameless bubble canopy that facilitates great visibility, an ejection seat 30-degree reclined to minimize g-force effects on the pilot, side-mounted control stick for easy control.

The F-16 also includes an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and offers several locations for mounting bombs, missiles, and pods. The thrust-to-weight ratio provides it with the power to accelerate vertically. It has fewer modules, fuel line connections, and lubrication points than preceding models. Almost 80 percent of the panels are accessible without the use of stands.

The F-16 fighter jet has evolved into a successful aircraft used by air forces around the world due to its power and features.

FAQs on F-16 Fighter Jet

Q.1. How many nations use the F-16 fighter jet?

F-16 Fighter Jet aircraft is used by airforces in 25 countries around the world.

Q.2. Why is the F-16 Fighter Jet Falcon popular?

The F-16 Fighter Jet is popular among air forces for its lightweight design, agility, and acceleration speed.

Q.3. Why is the F-16 Fighter Jet called ‘Viper'?

The official name of the F-16 Fighter Jet is Fighting Falcon but it is commonly known as ‘Viper' as it resembles the viper snake.

Q.4. Which is faster F-16 Fighter Jet or F-18 Hornet aircraft?

The F-18 Hornet aircraft can reach a speed of Mach 1.8 whereas the Fighting Falcon F-16 can reach an impressive speed of over Mach 2 which is more than 1500MPH.