F-16 Fighting Falcon

F-16 Fighting Falcon

A USAF F-16C over Iraq in 2008
Role	Multirole fighter, air superiority fighter
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	General Dynamics Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
First flight	20 January 1974
Introduction	17 August 1978
Status	In service
Primary users	United States Air Force 25 other users (see operators page)
Produced	1973–present
Number built	4,540+^[1]
Unit cost	F-16A/B: US$14.6 million (1998 dollars)^[2] F-16C/D: US$18.8 million (1998 dollars)^[2]
Variants	General Dynamics F-16 VISTA
Developed into	Vought Model 1600 General Dynamics F-16XL Mitsubishi F-2

Specifications (F-16C Block 50)

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 49 ft 5 in (15.06 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 8 in (9.96 m)
Height: 16 ft (4.88 m)
Wing area: 300 ft² (27.87 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 64A204 root and tip
Empty weight: 18,900 lb (8,570 kg)
Loaded weight: 26,500 lb (12,000 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 42,300 lb (19,200 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × General Electric F110-GE-100 (for F-16C Block 50) afterburning turbofan

Performance

Maximum speed: ** At sea level: Mach 1.2 (915 mph, 1,470 km/h)^[66]
- At altitude: Mach 2^[2] (1,320 mph, 2,120 km/h) clean configuration
Combat radius: 340 mi (295 nmi, 550 km) on a hi-lo-hi mission with four 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
Ferry range: 2,280 nmi (2,620 mi, 4,220 km) with drop tanks
Service ceiling: 50,000+ ft^[2] (15,240+ m)
Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
Wing loading: 88.3 lb/ft² (431 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 1.095
Maximum g-load: +9.0 g

Armament

Guns: 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barrel Gatling cannon, 511 rounds
Hardpoints: 2 × wing-tip Air-to-air missile launch rails, 6 × under-wing, and 3 × under-fuselage pylon (2 of 3 for sensors) stations with a capacity of Up to 17,000 lb (7,700 kg) of stores
Rockets: **4 × LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19/7 × Hydra 70 mm rockets, respectively)