November 13, 2023
By OFP
There has been a lot of talk lately about the F-16, notably in respect to Ukraine’s future use of this superb aircraft. Here is a good video that explains many technical aspects about this plane.
The F-16 is getting on in years. Its maiden flight was in January 1974, after an intensive study, design and production effort, which got its start in the U.S. Air Force’s Lightweight Fighter Program in the 1960s.
In the meantime, the design is nearly fifty years old. However, it is not outdated. The design procedures were done so rigorously for the F-16, that it not only has been a frontline fighter all these decades, but will continue being so in the foreseeable future. Many improvements and variants have been built to keep the fighter in the top tier category.
The newest versions have some of the best avionics, radars and engines available, keeping it at the cutting edge of fighter technology. It can carry a wide-range of missiles and bombs, and, a rarity of modern fighters, even has an integrated cannon. The F-16 can also do something better than the vast majority of fighters; dogfight. It is a highly maneuverable aircraft, which was the original intend of the Lightweight Fighter Program.
Ukraine’s pilots now training on this plane will no doubt learn to love it. I’m confident that the combination of a great American fighter jet and well-trained and highly motivated Ukrainian pilots will be an awesome combination. The roach pilots certainly are not looking forward to meeting up with them when the time comes.
There has been a lot of activity in the air near to where I live. I know there are a few military airfields in the region, hopefully it’s our guys learning to fly these planes.
I thought that they will learn to fly in Romania (and the US).
Maybe they are not telling everything they are doing. Could just be routine exercises, but they have increased in frequency these past few weeks.
Well, that could be. I’m sure they don’t say everything that’s going on.
Are they flying F-16s?
No idea. Most of these exercises take place after dark.
What does suck is that they won’t get new F-16’s, but instead those that are older than the MIG-29’s and SU-27 already in service.
The F-16’s will be better than what they had because they support more and newer missiles, but the fighter jets themselves will not be a lot better than what they had. Especially the SU-27 is superior to early versions of the F-16.
But taking into account what they can carry, it will be a significant upgrade.
^bert
Thanks for an awesome video!😎👍 I can’t hardly wait till they are defending Ukrainian skies and giving the rashists hell.
It will be interesting to hear what the Ukrainian pilots say about the transition from the clunky Soviet stuff to the F-16s. Nice piece Sir Facts!
Thanks, Red.
I’m also curious about that. I’m especially curious on how they will perform, both the planes and the pilots.
They better backthefuck up…