Block 70 F-16: The Next Generation Viper Fighter

let's take a look at how the F-16 is becoming even more capable and lethal with a block 70 update the F-16 is the most produced Western fighter to date with over 4 500 examples built it has become the Mainstay of many Air Forces across the world a fighter jet of many firsts the F-16 was the first aircraft to use a fly-by-wire system which allows it to be more maneuverable than earlier generation Fighters instead of using direct cable and pulley connections to its flight controls the f-16's flyby wire system interprets the input applied by the pilot and quickly determines how best to move the control surfaces to obtain the desired maneuver since the F-16 can't fly without these computer commanded inputs the flight control system has quadruple redundancy this use of digital controls instead of analog ones led to one of the aircraft's early nicknames the electric jet more on that later the s16 was initially intended to be a daytime dogfighter and as a result features a lightweight reinforced airframe designed to sustain 9gs along with the reinforced airframe the Pilot's seat is reclined 30 degrees instead of the usual 12 or so degrees found in other 4th generation aircraft this reclined angle along with a control stick being placed on the right side instead of in the center helps the pilot sustain higher G loads for longer periods over its long service life the F-16 has evolved from a day fighter to a true multi-role Workhorse the numbers don't lie with more than 4 500 examples built and some 3 000 operational examples in 25 countries today it's fair to say that the F-16 is the world's most successful combat proven multi-world jet fighter ever produced so how do you take one of the best fighters ever built and make it even better the answer is block 70. this latest version of this 16 the block 70-72 is equipping new capabilities and is based on the s16v configuration one of its biggest enhancements is the use of an advanced active electronically scanned array or Acer radar along with an all-new avionics architecture the apg-83 radar gives f-16's fifth generation radar capabilities since it uses hardware and soft for commonality found in both the F-22 Raptor and F-35 lightning radars another upgrade is the implementation of the automatic ground collision avoidance system or Auto gcast this system is designed to reduce incidence of what is known as controlled flight into terrain or sea fit Auto gcast was jointly developed by lockheed's Skunk Works NASA and the Air Force this system has already saved the lives of seven pilots and six F-16 since entering service and it's critical since given the f-16s air-to-ground capabilities it usually finds itself maneuvering very close to terrain the block 70f16 also Builds on 36 years of weapon integration testing for the platform in fact Lockheed Martin has certified more than 3 000 carriage and release configurations for over a 180 different types of stores block 70 will continue this long tradition of multi-munitions capabilities with newer weapons and development being incorporated into the f-16s long list of available options today's video is brought to you by private internet access or Pia private internet access is the world's most transparent VPN with over 30 million downloads all you need to do is download it turn it on and then your internet traffic is protected once you do Pia will hide your IP address encrypt your internet connection to Shield your Digital Life from your internet service provider and government sensors paa never records restores user data they've even proven this policy multiple times in court along with securing your internet experience paa has 50 servers in 50 states and servers all over the world why is this so important well the movie Top Gun is not available in us Netflix but with Pia you can switch over to the Australia or Japan servers and watch Top Gun this is a solution for thousands of other movies that aren't available in your region so if you want to make your internet experience Freer and more secure go to piavpn.com pilotphotog link in the description below by signing up with this offer you'll get 83 off that's only two dollars and three cents per month with four months free for VPN protection and peace of mind along with conformal fuel tanks to extend range in loiter times the block 70 F-16 also incorporates a newer aircraft structure that will allow it to last 50 percent longer than previous production of 16 aircraft this should allow the F-16 to operate into the 2060s if that does become the case it would mean that the F-16 will end up serving for some 90 years possibly even a hundred so where did this incredibly versatile Nimble jet come from the origins of the F-16 go all the way back to the Vietnam war that conflict revealed both the need for better training and for maneuverable air superiority Fighters as a result Colonel John Boyd and mathematician Thomas Christie developed a theory known as energy maneuverability which Quantified an aircraft's performance this Theory allowed designers to predict aircraft capabilities and design trade-offs in the late 1960s Boyd assembled a group of like-minded military and civilian thought leaders and this new group became known as The Fighter Mafia this fighter Mafia group was able to initiate a technology evaluation program which later became known as the lightweight fighter program or lwf basically up to this point Air Force Fighters have been getting bigger heavier and more expensive case in point the F-15 which was being developed at this time and while the F-15 was and is a great airplane the Air Force simply could not afford to equip all of its squadrons with larger more expensive f-15s additionally NATO allies such as Belgium Denmark and Norway were looking to replace their aging f-104s this group of countries became known as the European participating Air Force or epaf back to the lightweight fighter program the lwf proposed an inexpensive lightweight aircraft that could maneuver with minimum possible energy loss along with an increased thrust weight ratio recognizing the need for a less expensive fighter to fill the ranks the Air Force explored the advanced day fighter concept which fit the lwf goals perfectly and to settle any concerns that the ADF program would take away from the F-15 then Secretary of Defense Schlesinger made it clear that any ADF order would be in addition to the F-15 the requirements were for a 20 000 pound aircraft that could operate at speeds between Mach 0.6 and 1.6 and at altitudes of 30 to 40 000 feet five manufacturers submitted designs with competition being narrowed down to two finalists the General Dynamics yf-16 and the Northrop yf-17 these two prototypes would compete in flag competitions starting in 1974 which tested various aspects of performance against one another after intense competition the yf-16 was chosen by the Air Force in 1975. this decision was based on the fact that the ys-16 had Superior climb rates acceleration endurance and turn rates additionally the yf-16 uses the Pratt and Whitney F-100 engine the same engine found on the F-15 this commonality would help further reduce costs for both the F-15 and F-16 as mentioned earlier the F-16 was designed for 9g Maneuvers on full internal Fuel and is the aircraft evolved from just a day air-to-air fighter to a true multi-role fighter this proved extremely useful through a series of Acquisitions and mergers the F-16 is today produced by Lockheed Martin most f-16s were built in Fort Worth Texas with production recently being moved to Greenville South Carolina in order to make room for the new f-35s being built as far as operators for the United States the F-16 serves in the Air Force National Guard Air Reserve command and the Air Force demonstration team aka the Thunderbirds and even the US Navy uses f-16s as adversary or aggressor aircraft internationally the F-16 serves with the air forces of over 25 Nations given this it's safe to say that the F-16 is legitimately a global fighter that operates in all environments previously we mentioned that the F-16 was referred to as the electric jet in its early days usually the Air Force and its Pilots will use the same nickname as the official designation of an aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle but the F-16 has actually gone by two and some say even three nicknames so how did this happen back in 1976 the Air Force held a name the plane contest for the F-16 after many entries and four years later the F-16 was officially named The Fighting Falcon by the Air Force the unveiling of the name took place at Hill Air Force Base in Utah and local artists painted this logo on the F-16 to commemorate that event the pilots however had already given the s16 their own nickname The Hill Air Force Base was the first F-16 base and one of the proposed names was Viper as to how the pilots came up with Viper Lieutenant Colonel Pat gums McAdoo recalls it best at the end of the runway the F-16 did resemble a cobra or something as it approached you however I think Northrop already had taken that name for the yf-17 we all voted and Viper came in really high seems there was a series on TV that had Colonial vipers flying off Battlestar Galactica in any case the generals didn't want a plane named after some snake even after the Fighting Falcon name became official pilots and Crews who worked on the plane referred to the F-16 as Viper in fact the award for excellent airmanship in the F-16 is named in memory of Joe Bill Dryden and is called the semper Viper hopefully I pronounced that right finally the F-16 does have one other nickname though not in widespread use today as when the airplane was first introduced as we mentioned earlier the F-16 was the first aircraft to rely entirely in sending electrical signals to relay flight commands and because of this was also known as the electric jet so which is it Fighting Falcon Viper or electric chat it depends on who you talk to but most people refer to the F-16 as the Viper especially those who fly or work on them Legacy when the F-16 was first introduced it served as a first response Frontline fighter during the Cold War following the collapse of the Soviet Union the Air Force National Guard and Air Force Reserve flew the F-16 during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and also in the Balkans during the late 1990s 16s have also patrolled the no-fly zones in Iraq along with serving during the wars in Afghanistan operation enduring Freedom which began in 2001 and Iraq operation Iraqi Freedom which began in 2003 f-16s also took part in the intervention in Libya and keep in mind these are just us operations with the F-16 internationally I could probably do an entire video about how other countries have employed the venerable Viper let me know if you'd like to see a video on that it's amazing to think that with its already storing history the F-16 may only just be getting started since today there are still 16s in production and with structural and capability upgrades and progress such as block 70 the F-16 should operate into the 2060s and Beyond with its multi-mission capability relatively inexpensive operating costs some people argue that the F-16 is the best all-around 4th generation airplane in the skies today what do you think let us know in the comments below thanks for watching if you enjoy this content go ahead and click subscribe and then Mash that Bell so you don't miss any videos when they come out thank you to my patrons and channel members who directly support this channel if you'd like to become a supporter get behind the scenes access and even recommend topics for future videos I'll leave links in the description below now you know

Channel: PilotPhotog

Views: 390,575

Keywords: aviation, flying, photography, aviator, pilot, fly, airplane, plane, planes, pilotphotog, avgeek, f-16 fighting falcon, block 70 viper, defence update, amraam, avionics, near peer, multirole, national security, aim 120, lockheed martin, NATO, poland, bae systems, northrop grumman, aim-120 amraam, electronic warfare, aviation news today, legacy hornet, f-16 block 70, us military news, northrup, fourth generation, blender 3d, 3d modeling blender, us military, vietnam war, cold war

Id: htTamhPFuTc

Length: 11min 35sec (695 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 14 2022