v1.0.2 / chapter 3 of 4 / 01 apr 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* The F-16 has not only become a major weapon in the US inventory, it has also been exported to dozens of other countries. This chapter describes the career of the F-16 in US and foreign service.
* Through the 1980s, the US Air Force built up their stocks of F-16s, deploying them at home and overseas. By the early 1990s, the USAF had obtained over 2,200 machines, almost half of total production. USAF F-16s didn't see much in the way of combat for about the first decade of their existence, though they were involved in combat in Pakistani and particularly Israeli hands during that time, as discussed later in this chapter.
The Gulf War in 1991 was the first major action for USAF F-16s. The F-16 was assigned to the attack role during the Gulf War and scored no "kills" against Iraqi aircraft, but the F-16s performed large numbers of strikes on ground targets and also flew "Fast FAC (Forward Air Control)" missions to spot targets for other strike elements. Three F-16s were lost in combat and one was lost in an operational accident during the conflict.
After the war the F-16 flew combat air patrols over the northern and southern "no fly zones" in Iraq that had been set up under cease-fire conditions. The Iraqis were told to not fly aircraft in these areas, and if they did the aircraft were fired on. This led to the first USAF F-16 "kill" on 27 December 1992, when an F-16 pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Gary North, used an AIM-120 AMRAAM to shoot down an Iraqi MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor. This was the first combat use of AMRAAM. A month later, an F-16 shot down an Iraqi MiG-23.
USAF F-16s were very busy during various Western peacekeeping operations over the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, generally flying out of Aviano Air Base in Italy. The F-16s on occasions performed strikes and, using the HARM Targeting System, defense suppression. They also got involved in air combat. On 28 February 1994, USAF F-16s then shot down four Bosnian combat aircraft during the OPERATION DENY FLIGHT effort over Bosnia. Three were shot down by USAF Captain Robert "Wilbur" Wright, with one destroyed by an AMRAAM and two by Sidewinders. Incidentally, pictures of Wright show him to be a photogenic sort who looks exactly like the Hollywood idea of a fighter pilot.
Wright's wingman, Captain Scott O'Grady, had some excitement of his own when he was shot down by a Serbian SA-6 SAM over Bosnia on 2 June 1995. The adventure in which he evaded capture for six days and was recovered by search and rescue teams was played up in the media. Wright's triple-victory was downplayed for security reasons.
F-16s are also well-represented in the US Air National Guard, and USANG units have on occasion deployed overseas to participate in combat and peacekeeping actions. Stateside, USANG F-16s often served in the continental air-defense role, which seemed to be in decline after the fall of the USSR in the early 1990s. However, the attacks by Islamic terrorists on the United States on 11 September 2001, in which hijacked airliners were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, led to a resurgence in continental air-defense activities, and USANG F-16s have been heavily tasked on air patrols to protect American cities.
F-16s also apparently flew combat missions during the US intervention in Afghanistan in 2001:2002 that followed the 11 September attacks, and in the American invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003. 24 ANG F-16s, operating discreetly from Jordan, performed 700 sorties during the US invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003, hunting for Scud missiles that could be fired on Israel from western Iraq, and also providing strike support for ground forces.
The very last of 2,231 USAF F-16s was delivered on 18 March 2005, over a quarter of a century after the initial delivery. Apparently all F-16s now in first-line USAF use are Block 40/42 and Block 50/52 machines. Earlier variants may persist in ANG service.
* As mentioned in an earlier chapter, even before the flight of the first production F-16 foreign users were interested in obtaining the type. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway formed a group in 1974 to consider adopting the winner of the LWF competition as a replacement for their Lockheed F-104 Starfighters. This led the four-nation group to announce their intent to obtain a total of 348 F-16s on 7 June 1975. The deal was called with good reason the "sale of the century". Some minor changes were made to the baseline F-16 design to accommodate European needs, though the Europeans didn't get all the changes they asked for.
The machines were to be provided by General Dynamics in kit form for assembly in Europe. The prime contractors were Fokker in the Netherlands, which was to build a total of 184 machines for the Netherlands and Norway, and SABCA in Belgium, which was to build a total of 164 for Belgium and Denmark. Subsystems and assemblies were built by firms all over Western Europe. For example, the P&W F100 engine was assembled by Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, while MBLE in Belgium built the AN/APG-66 radar. Some European assemblies were used in US production, as dictated by the terms of the international manufacturing deal.
In 1977, USAF Brigadier General James Abrahamson, in charge of the worldwide F-16 program, described the logistics of setting up international production as a "management nightmare". Along with the simple, monster problem of just getting all the nuts and bolts collected and assembled into flying machines -- made all the worse because European production was being brought up in parallel with American production -- there were cultural differences to consider. European firms tend to have more inflexible work rules than American firms, which had the result of making European-built F-16s about a million USD more expensive than their American equivalents. The European firms also took 50% longer to get them out the door.
Whatever the problems, things were made to work. The European production lines opened in the spring of 1978, with the delivery of a sample F-16A to SABCA in June. The first European-built F-16, a SABCA-built F-16B, performed its initial flight on 11 December 1978. Service deliveries began on both sides of the Atlantic in January 1979.
* The Belgians obtained a total of 160 F-16A/Bs, including 136 F-16As and 24 F-16Bs, in Blocks 1, 5, 10, and 15. The last Belgian F-16s were delivered in 1991. All the Block 1 and 5 machines were upgraded to Block 10.
Belgian machines were fitted with an ESD Carapace ECM unit, featuring antennas on the sides of the engine inlet, and a brake chute. The brake chute was not included in early production but was retrofitted. The Belgian Air Force also evaluated the Matra Magic 2 AAM as an alternative to the Sidewinder, but the French missile was apparently not adopted as a standard weapon. In 1993, Belgium committed to upgrade their machines through the Mid-Life Upgrade program, with 72 aircraft updated to the MLU spec. The other surviving F-16s were either mothballed or sold off. Belgian F-16s have participated in combat operations in the Balkans and Afghanistan.
* The Danes obtained a total of 70 new-built F-16A/Bs, including 54 F-16As and 16 F-16Bs. As with Belgian F-16s, Danish machines included Block 1, 5, 10, and 15 aircraft, with the Block 1 and 5 aircraft gradually brought up to Block 10 spec. Three ex-US ANG F-16As were obtained in 1994 as attrition replacements and brought up to a common spec with other Danish F-16s. Three more hand-me-down F-16As and one F-16B were obtained in the late 1990s. 61 Danish F-16s were upgraded through the MLU program.
Danish F-16s have been fitted with the locally-built Terma "Pylon Integrated Dispenser Station (PIDS)", a chaff-flare dispenser built into a stores pylon. Some are also wired to carry a Red Baron reconnaissance pod on the centerline, or the better Terma "Modular Reconnaissance Pod (MRP)". Danish F-16s have participated in combat operations in the Balkans and Afghanistan.
* The Netherlands obtained a total of 213 F-16A/Bs, including 177 F-16As and 36 F-16Bs, with the last delivered in 1992. As with the other members of the four-nation group, the F-16s were delivered in Blocks 1, 5, 10, and 15, with the Block 1 and 5 aircraft later upgraded to Block 10. The Block 15 machines were given the OCU upgrade in the early 1980s. 36 aircraft were retired in the 1990s to help fund the MLU upgrade for most of the survivors. Three F-16Bs were sold to Jordan and 18 F-16A/Bs were sold to Chile.
Dutch F-16s were mostly tasked with the close-support mission, but have also participated in peacekeeping air patrol operations in the Balkans, and participated in NATO operations in Afghanistan. A few Dutch F-16As were wired up to carry the Oude Delft Orpheus reconnaissance pod on a centerline pylon, and were known by the designation "F-16A(R)". The pod was originally carried on the F-104 Starfighter and included film cameras and an infrared linescanner; it has since been replaced by the modern "Medium Altitude Reconnaissance System (MARS)" pod.
* The Norwegians received a total of 74 F-16A/Bs, including 60 F-16As and 12 F-16Bs, once more consisting of Blocks 1 / 5 / 10 / 15, and with all Block 1 and 5 machines upgraded to Block 10 spec. Two F-16Bs were ordered as attrition replacements from the Fort Worth plant in the late 1980s. 56 were upgraded in the MLU program.
Norwegian F-16s are tasked with air defense and have coastal defense as a secondary mission. The primary coastal defense weapon is the Kongsberg Penguin light antiship missile. Norse F-16s fly from small dispersed airstrips, and so they have had a brake chute from the outset. In fact, the Norwegians were the first to obtain F-16s with this feature. Norwegian F-16s have participated in operations in the Balkans and Afghanistan.
* Greece purchased 170 F-16C/Ds under the "Peace Xenia" series of foreign-sales programs:
Greek F-16s are fitted with drag chutes, and Greek Block 50/52 machines feature a Litton-built "Advanced Self-Protection Integrated Suite (ASPIS)", featuring a Litton AN/ALR-93(V)1 RWR, a Raytheon AN/ALQ-187 jammer, and Tracor automatically-controlled AN/ALE-47 chaff-flare dispensers.
The Block 52 Plus machines will feature a Raytheon-built "ASPIS II", apparently much like the original ASPIS but with improved versions of the subsystems. The Greek Air Force has obtained AMRAAM and HARM, and has also acquired sets of LANTIRN pods for their F-16s. There are rumors of confrontations with Turkish F-16s that occasionally came to blows.
* Hungary signed a deal for 24 refurbished ex-USAF F-16A/Bs in early 2001. However, disastrous floods that hit Central Europe in 2001 led governments in the region to scale back defense procurement programs. The Hungarians ended up buying the SAAB Gripen fighter instead.
* Also in early 2001, Italy signed a deal to lease 34 refurbished F-16A/Bs, including 30 F-16As and 4 F-16Bs, with the aircraft supplied in 2003 and 2004 and to be returned in 2010. The lease deal, known as "Peace Ceasar", was intended to provide Italy with a stopgap solution between the retirement of their F-104 Starfighters and arrival of their long-delayed Eurofighters. Four spares hulks were supplied along with the lease aircraft.
Italy leased some Panavia Tornado F.3 interceptors as well, but that lease ended in 2006. Other members of the Eurofighter group have apparently been very nervous about the Italians leasing F-16s since it raises the visibility of the F-16 at the Eurofighter's expense, but the Italians simply felt they needed the interim capability and couldn't wait.
* Poland signed a deal for 48 Block 62 F-16s in 2002. Initial flight of the first Polish F-16 was in early 2006 and 36 F-16Cs and 12 two-seat F-16Ds will be delivered, beginning later in 2006 and with introduction to formal service in late 2008. The type will replace old MiG-21s.
The aircraft will be Block 52 Plus spec, powered by F100-PW-229 engines, and will be fitted with the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-68(V)9 mechanically-scanned radar; the ITT AN/ALQ-173 Advanced Integrated Defensive Suite; the Link-16 datalink; and some Polish-specified avionics gear. The F-16s will have conformal fuel tanks and will be armed with AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X AAMs, the AGM-154 JSOW, and US-built LGBs. The Poles expect to buy about 24 Lockheed-Martin Pantera targeting pods, as well as six reconnaissance pods.
* Portugal obtained a total of 20 Block 15 OCU F-16A/Bs, including 17 F-16As and 3 F-16Bs, with initial deliveries in 1994 under the "Peace Atlantis" program. Portugal also received 25 ex-USAF machines later in the 1990s, including five spares hulks. 20 of this second batch, including 16 F-16As and four F-16Bs, underwent the MLU upgrade, with the first updated machine redelivered in the summer of 2003. Portugese F-16s participated in air operations over the Balkans.
* A number of Middle Eastern and North African countries are F-16 operators. Bahrain obtained 22 GE F110-powered Block 40 F-16C/Ds in the 1990s, including 18 F-16C single-seaters and 4 F-16D two-seaters, under the "Peace Crown I / II" programs. Bahraini F-16s flew defensive patrols during the first Gulf War.
* As a "reward" for signing the Camp Davis peace accords in 1979, both Egypt and Israel received the F-16, one of the most modern fighters the US had to offer. Egypt obtained a total of 220 F-16s in six batches through the "Peace Vector" series of programs:
Surviving early-block F-16s were upgraded to Block 42 standard in the late 1990s.
* As mentioned, as a "reward" for signing the Camp David peace accords in 1979, both Egypt and Israel received the F-16. Many of the initial Israeli F-16s were obtained from production originally slated for a deal with Iran that fell through with the Islamic Revolution. Four batches of F-16s totalling 260 machines were obtained under the "Peace Marble" series of programs:
The Israelis have 102 "F-16Is" on order, with initial delivery in early 2004. These are Block 60-class machines with conformal fuel tanks, modernized cockpit display systems, APG-68(V)9 multimode radar with SAR capability, and PW F100 IPE engines. Final deliveries are expected in 2009. With the delivery of F-16Is, some of the older F-16A/B machines are becoming redundant, and the Israelis are trying to sell them off to other nations.
In Israeli service, the F-16A/B became the "Netz (Falcon)", while the F-16C became the "Barak (Lightning)" and the F-16D became the "Brakeet (Thunderbolt)". Most Israeli F-16s have drag chutes and are painted in a distinctive sand-and-brown camouflage scheme, with Number 105 Squadron aircraft featuring a vivid sand-colored scorpion painted down the tailfin.
Israeli F-16s have featured a number of modifications and special fits. At least some of their Block 5 F-16A/Bs have been fitted with improved countermeasures gear. All F-16Ds feature a dorsal spine like that fitted to the AFTI F-16, which is apparently used to house defense-suppression electronics and an Elta-built jammer. This "fatback" configuration appears to use the back seater as a dedicated "weapons system operator". Some Israeli F-16s have also been apparently fitted with Israeli-built ELta 2021B radar in place of the original US-built AN/APG-66 or AN/APG-68, and are being equipped with the Elbit DASH-4 helmet-mounted sight.
Of course, Israeli F-16s also carry Israeli-built external stores. Rafael Python heat-seeking AAMs are often carried in place of Sidewinders, and the Rafael Litening targeting pod is used for precision strike.
The Israelis have been one of the F-16's most enthusiastic users. In fact, the Israelis were often too enthusiastic for American comfort, and were the first to use it in combat. On 7 June 1981, eight F-16s staged a raid on the Osirak (Osiris / Iraq) nuclear reactor in Iraq, being built at Twartha near Baghdad. Israeli intelligence had determined that the facility was being built to synthesize plutonium for nuclear weapons. The raid was timed to take place when the reactor site was at its highest state of development prior to actually going on line.
The eight F-16s, with six F-15s providing top cover, cut across Jordanian and Saudi airspace at low level. They were fired on by Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries after entering Iraqi airspace, but the Iraqis scored no hits. The same could not be said of the Israelis, who hit the site with unguided bombs and thoroughly wrecked it, caving in the reactor containment dome. The Israelis got back home without losses. The Reagan Administration protested the "military recklessness" of the raid and suspended deliveries of F-16s for a time.
The Israelis have claimed a total of 47 kills with the F-16, mostly against Syrian MiG-23s during air fights over Lebanon in 1983:1984. One Israeli F-16s was said to have killed four MiGs on a single sortie.
* In 1997:1998, Jordan obtained a batch of 16 hand-me-down US F-16s under the PEACE FALCON I program. The shipment included 12 F-16As and 4 F-16Bs, all ADF variants. In 2003, they received 17 Block 15 F-16A/B ADF machines under PEACE FALCON II, including 12 F-16As and 5 F-16Bs, with these aircraft put through the MLU update by Turkish Aviation Industries (TUSAS in its Turkish acronym) beginning in 2004. Three more Block 20 MLU F-16Bs were bought from the Netherlands and delivered in 2006.
* The Turks are major users of the F-16, having obtained a total of 240 F-16C/Ds beginning in the mid-1980s under the "Peace Onyx" series of programs. Eight were delivered from Fort Worth, with two more provided to TUSAS in kit form, and the rest built by TUSAS.
Initial production was of GE-powered Block 30 F-16s, with 43 Block 30 machines obtained in all, including 34 F-16Cs and 9 F-16Ds. This was followed by 117 Block 40 Night Falcons, including 102 F-16Cs and 15 F-16Ds, and then 80 Block 50 F-16s, including 60 F-16Cs and 20 F-16Ds. A number of sets of LANTIRN pods were obtained for the Block 40s. Turkish F-16s have performed peacekeeping duties in the Balkans, and as mentioned there are rumors of confrontations with Greek F-16s.
In 2005, Lockheed Martin obtained a contract to upgrade at least 200 Turkish F-16s. Block 30 machines involved in the upgrade will be given minimal improvements, but the Block 40/50 machines will receive a Link-16 datalink system, an improved BAE Systems SPEWS-II self-defense suite, and an improved AN/APG-68(V)9 radar. Lockheed Martin will provide kits to TUSAS for upgrades "in country", with the first redelivery to the Turkish Air Force in 2011.
* In early 2000, Lockheed Martin closed a deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the sale of 80 F-16s, including 55 single-seaters and 25 two-seaters. These aircraft were the latest F-16E/F Block 60 variant, and to the discomfort of USAF pilots were more advanced than any type of F-16 flown by the US. They featured conformal tanks, F110-GE-132 engines, a glass cockpit with three color flat panel displays, a new countermeasures suite, and AN/APG-80 Agile Beam radar. Initial flight of the first F-16F was on 6 December 2003, with initial delivery in May 2005. Deliveries will continue through 2007.
* The Sultanate of Oman, on the southern edge of the Arabian peninsula, obtained twelve Block 52+ F-16s, including eight F-16Cs and four F-16Ds. They were fitted with F110-GE-129 engines. Deliveries began in October 2005, with last deliveries in 2006.
* Indonesia obtained a total of 12 Block 15 OCU F-16A/Bs, including 8 F-16As and 4 F-16Bs, with initial deliveries in 1989. They replaced MiG-21s in Indonesian service and were painted in a distinctive disruptive camouflage scheme. Indonesian F-16s feature drag chutes. Follow-up orders ran foul of political difficulties with the USA.
* Pakistan obtained a total of 40 Block 15 F-16A/Bs, including 28 F-16As and 12 F-16Bs, with initial deliveries in 1983 under the "Peace Gate" program. Pakistan's F-16s saw a surprising amount of air combat during the Soviet war in neighboring Afghanistan during the 1980s. Soviet aircraft would often follow Afghan Mujahedin fighters fleeing over the border into Pakistan, and the Pakistanis would take them on. Pakistani F-16s claimed about a dozen kills. Apparently they also lost an F-16 to another F-16 in a "friendly fire" incident while in pursuit of an intruder. This may have been the first and possibly the only F-16 to be lost in air combat.
In the early 1990s Pakistan was to receive 28 more Block 15 OCU F-16A/Bs, including 13 F-16As and 15 F-16Bs, but the order was frozen in response to American worries about the Pakistani nuclear program. The 28 aircraft were mothballed in the "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. They were pulled out of storage in early 2003, with 13 of them provided to the USAF as test and evaluation machines, one of them transferred to the US Air National Guard, and the remaining 14 transferred to the US Navy for use as aggressor aircraft.
Pakistan became a valued ally in the US "war on terror" that began after the 11 September 2001 attacks, and as a result the US has eased up restrictions on arms sales. As of 2006, the Pakistanis were looking forward to finally seeing the 28 embargoed machines made good, plus an order of up to 18 Block 50/52 Plus machines, as well as MLU updates for their older machines.
* Singapore has obtained four batches of F-16s under the "Peace Carvin" series of programs:
* South Korea has acquired a large fleet of F-16s in two steps. The first step was fairly small, with the country obtaining a total of 40 Block 32 F-16C/Ds in 1986 and 1988, including 30 F-16Cs and 10 F-16Ds, under the "Peace Bridge / Victory Falcon" program.
In 1989, South Korea then considered a much larger fighter buy and decided to buy 120 F/A-18 Hornets, but the deal fell through and the government decided to buy 120 Block 52 F-16s instead. The initial 12 of this batch were supplied from Fort Worth, with the next 36 provided in knock-down kit form for assembly in South Korea by Samsung Aerospace, and the rest built by Samsung Aerospace. Initial deliveries of the South Korean Block 52 F-16s were in 1994, with the mix consisting of 80 F-16Cs and 40 F-16Ds. These machines were fitted with the Northrop Grumman / ITT "AN/ALQ-165 Airborne Self-Protection Jammer (ASPJ)".
A follow-on order of 14 F-16Cs and 6 F-16Ds was placed in 2000, giving a total fleet of 180 F-16s.
* Although the US cut off Taiwan from advanced arms shipments in the 1970s, the Americans gradually began to become less sensitive to mainland Chinese protests over arms sales. In 1992, the US government approved a sale of 150 F-16A/Bs to the island nation, with initial deliveries in 1997 under the "Peace Fenghuang" program. As mentioned in an earlier chapter, these were in the form of the unique "Block 20", apparently more or less similar to the Block 15 MLU standard. The order included 130 F-16As and 20 F-16Bs. Taiwanese F-16s carry the AIM-7 Sparrow.
* Thailand has obtained a total of 46 F-16s, not counting two spares hulks, in several batches:
* Venezuela obtained 24 Block 15 F-16A/Bs, including 18 F-16As and 6 F-16Bs, with initial deliveries in 1983 under the "Peace Delta" program. They had drag chutes, were at least originally painted in a two-tone brown-green jungle camouflage pattern, and were later put through the Block 15 OCU upgrade. Venezuelan F-16s fought in a coup attempt in 1992 in defense of the government.
In 2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tried to negotiate an upgrade program for the country's F-16s with Elbit of Israel. However, Chavez is a loud critic of the United States and the American government blocked the deal. Chavez threatened to give the F-16s to Cuba and China -- though neither country had any interest in them.
The only other Latin American nation to order the F-16 is Chile, which placed an order for ten Block 50 Plus machines in 2002 under the "Peace Puma" program. Deliveries were in 2005. The Chileans then, as mentioned, obtained 18 surplus Dutch F-16 MLU fighters, including 11 F-16As and 7 F-16Bs, with initial deliveries in 2006.
