F-16 fighter jet user manual

F-16 fighter jet user manual

Why is everyone talking about F-16? It's an acronym that's been popping up in numerous media headlines and social media posts. World leaders, experts, journalists and anyone concerned about the bloodiest war of aggression of the last century know that F-16s must be delivered to Ukraine to protect its citizens from Russian attacks. Why the F-16s?

The recently created "fighter jet coalition" of the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Portugal, and the United States has become an unprecedented alliance of democratic states coordinating efforts to provide Ukraine with 4th generation fighter jets and to "convert" Ukrainian pilots from Soviet-era aircraft to F-16, the most widely used fighter jet in the world.

Why is Fighting Falcon so popular? 

The F-16 is a multi-role, compact, maneuverable fighter aircraft, substituting in practice for 4 different aircraft - two types of fighters, a bomber, an attack aircraft, and a bomber-based reconnaissance aircraft. The F-16 can cover a distance of up to four thousand kilometers (with refueling). It can hit targets at a distance of five hundred kilometers. The optimal F-16's combat radius is 1,000-1,300 kilometers. The speed is 2,400 kilometers per hour, which is almost three times the speed of a passenger plane. The F-16 is perhaps the most balanced combat fighter in the world.

A "child" of the Cold War

The Messerschmitt Me262 started the era of jet fighters with its debut in July 1942. The development of the Third Reich created a niche that has been filled by leading arms manufacturers for almost a century. The Cold War made the first three generations of machines obsolete, giving rise to the 4th generation of fighters. An international consortium of the United States, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway produced the first 348 F-16s for their air force. Early F-15 and F-16 models became the world's best-sellers "on the brink of nuclear war". These same models are still in service in most countries.

Over 4,600 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976 (2,215 units were used by the United States, while the rest were sold to 25 countries). The air forces of many NATO members and, e.g., Pakistan in Asia are the primary operators of F-16s.

What are the F-16's capabilities? 

In air combat, the F-16 can locate targets in all weather conditions and detect low flying aircraft in radar ground clutter. In an air-to-surface role, the F-16 can fly more than 500 miles (860 kilometers), deliver its weapons with superior accuracy, defend itself against enemy aircraft, and return to its starting point. It can accurately deliver ordnance during non-visual bombing conditions.

The F-16 is cost-effective and practical. The reduced size makes the aircraft less expensive to manufacture and maintain. At the same time, the light weight of the fuselage is achieved without reducing its strength. With a full load of internal fuel, the F-16 can withstand up to nine G's, which is nine times the force of gravity.

The cockpit and its bubble canopy give the pilot unobstructed forward and upward vision, and greatly improved vision over the side and to the rear. The seat-back angle was expanded from the usual 13 degrees to 30 degrees. The pilot has excellent flight control of the F-16 through its "fly-by-wire" system. Electrical wires relay commands, replacing the usual cables and linkage controls. For easy and accurate control of the aircraft during high G-force combat maneuvers, a side stick controller is used instead of the conventional center-mounted stick.

The aircraft has highly accurate enhanced global positioning and navigation systems that provide the pilot with the necessary data. The F-16 is also equipped with UHF and VHF radios, an instrument landing system, warning system and modular countermeasure pods to be used against airborne or surface electronic threats.

U.S. Air Force F-16 multirole fighters were deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm, where more sorties were flown than with any other aircraft. These fighters were used to attack airfields, military production and industrial facilities, and missile sites. The F-16s performed suppression of enemy air defense, offensive counter air, defensive counter air, close air support and forward air controller missions. Mission results were outstanding, according to the United States.

F-16 mission in Ukraine 

Russia deliberately uses massive terror with missiles and drones not only against the military objects, but primarily against civilians. The need for patrolling the Ukrainian sky is urgent. Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said that the Armed Forces need up to 200 Western aircraft to match Russia's air-power - which is thought to be five or six times greater than Kyiv's.

So the F-16s are essential to:

• prevent Russia from gaining strategic air superiority
• intercept cruise missiles and UAVs, relieving air defense systems;
• enable the use of modern weapons systems that are already being provided. Soviet aircraft are too old for this.
• protect the front line from the dominance of Russian attack aircraft. Currently, this task is performed by a small and gradually shrinking fleet of Ukrainian air forces.

It should be added that Ukrainian pilots have proven adept at using and operating the fighter jet fleet. In February 2022, Ukraine had only 116 different types of aircraft. Despite massive attacks from Russia with a Goliath-like power, Ukraine's David managed to preserve about half of its fleet, and Ukraine also declares that the F-16 will only be used to strike legitimate military targets.