The F-16, born for air combat, has transformed into the best multi-purpose fighter. (Epoch Times Cartography)
[The Epoch Times, February 11, 2024]
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Tensions across the Taiwan Strait show no sign of letting up. The United States has used AGM-154 guided bombs to provide Taiwan’s upgraded F-16 fighter jets with a noteworthy increase in firepower, making the Taiwan Air Force’s battle impossible to underestimate.
According to a notice issued by the Pentagon on February 2, the United States awarded Raytheon Missile Systems a $68.4 million contract to manufacture and deliver 50 AGM-154 guided bombs for the Taiwan Air Force. The order is expected to be placed in March 2028. Finish.
The AGM-154 Block 3 C Joint Standoff Off (JSOW) air-to-surface missile is a medium-range precision-guided weapon system. Used to attack ground targets from outside missile defense range. Allows pilots to launch attacks at ranges of 20 to 70 nautical miles. The weapon can be launched from F/A-18, F-16, F-15 and F-35 fighter jets as well as B-1B, B-2A and B-52H long-range bombers.
The AGM-154C is 13 feet long and weighs approximately 1,000 pounds. Global positioning (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS) are used for navigation, and the terminal uses infrared guidance. It can carry a two-stage warhead called “BROACH”, consisting of a WDU-44 enhanced warhead and a WDU-45 follow-on bomb. The first-stage warhead can penetrate armor, concrete and underground hard targets, causing the second-stage warhead to explode inside the target.
As the Chinese Communist Party continues to escalate tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, it is particularly important to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Taiwan Air Force. Taiwan is using its most advanced F-16 fighter jets to influence the confrontation situation around the Taiwan Strait through the “Peace Phoenix Nirvana” plan.
The $4.5 billion Phoenix Nirvana program is to upgrade 139 older F-16 fighter jets to the Block 70/72 Viper version. This makes the Taiwan Air Force one of the few air forces in the world with the most modern and powerful fighter jets.
The upgraded Viper’s service life has been increased from 8,000 hours to 12,000 hours, and modern sensors and data links enable it to fight alongside fifth-generation fighter jets such as the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II. Advanced sensors used in the Viper include Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, sniper targeting pods, Link 16 network connectivity software and precision GPS navigation. The Viper also gets updated advanced weapons systems and reinforced landing gear.
Nathan Frock, program manager for Taiwan’s F-16 modification program at the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, said additional modifications to the aircraft also include a series of structural upgrades to the wings, fuselage and landing gear, adding The takeoff and landing weight of the aircraft. The information disclosed by Flock means that the modified F-16 not only extends its service life, but also may increase its bomb load and range.
The next step for the Taiwan Air Force is to receive 66 brand-new F-16 Block 70/72 Viper fighter jets to further expand its combat fleet. The program cost $8 billion, but like many other defense programs, progress has not kept pace with the planned timeline.
How much change the Taiwan Air Force’s F-16 fighter jet update plan will eventually bring to Taiwan’s combat capabilities may not be judged simply from the increase in fighter capabilities and numbers, but also from the increase in system capabilities it will bring to the Taiwan military. , and the growth of joint operations capabilities with the United States and regional allies. The key to the Phoenix Nirvana Plan is that it expands Taiwan’s F-16 weapon system and its future development space, and through a new data link interface, it can be integrated with the US military’s battlefield information management system at any time, thereby becoming a strategic partner for the United States and regional allies. part of the fight against China in the Indo-Pacific region.
So, how powerful is the latest version of the F-16? We have to start from the beginning. Initially, a dispute over the F-111 between General Dynamics engineer Harry Hillaker and cantankerous pilot John R. Boyd resulted in what the Air Force would later call the The “underground organization” of the “Fighter Mafia”. Their fundamental belief is that a fighter does not need to use speed and weight to overwhelm his opponent. The experience of F-4s fighting against agile Soviet-made MiG fighters in Vietnam convinced them that the era of close-range air combat with aircraft guns was far from being replaced by beyond-visual-range attacks with medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles. They believe that the key to winning an air combat is to maintain potential energy advantage and maneuverability. This is their “energy maneuver theory.”
The “Fighter Mafia” believes that small aircraft will have high thrust-to-weight ratio and lift-to-drag ratio. The original F-16 design had about one-third the drag of the F-4 in level flight and about one-fifteenth the drag of the F-4 at high angles of attack. They also compared past aircraft cost curves and found that the cost of each additional pound of aircraft weight increased at the same rate as the total cost. The same is true for the F-16. Although the cost of the F-16 is higher in horizontal comparison, its weight is small, so the total cost is still lower.
Eventually, the Air Force extended invitations to General Dynamics and Northrop to weigh in on future developments. General Dynamics concluded that it was possible to produce a fighter with twice the maneuverability and combat radius of the F-4, while weighing just over half the weight of the F-4.
The light fighter project was officially launched in January 1972. The Pentagon selected General Dynamics’ YF-16 and Northrop’s YF-17 from five companies to compete. Just 20 months later, the YF-16 made its debut. The first flight took place in January 1974 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Throughout 1974, the YF-16 and YF-17 went through a series of tests and air combat trials, with the YF-16 ultimately winning. In August 1978, the U.S. Air Force received the first production F-16.
The F-16 adopts a shark-like aerodynamic shape, a short delta wing and a large tail. It is the first to adopt a wing-body fusion design and has excellent high-angle-of-attack lift characteristics. A large angle of attack is emphasized because it can bring better maneuverability.
With the best powerplants available at the time, including Pratt & Whitney’s F100 and General Electric’s F110, the aircraft could reach speeds of Mach 2 at high altitudes and have a range of more than 2,000 miles.
Standard armament includes a 20mm cannon with 500 rounds of ammunition. Later Block 50 versions could carry up to 22,000 pounds of weapons and ammunition, electronic countermeasures, sensor pods or fuel tanks on 11 hardpoints.
Over the past 25 years, the F-16’s basic airframe has spawned a dizzying array of models, modified parts and modules. Lockheed Martin acquired the former General Dynamics production line in 1992 and has now grown to more than 110 different versions of the F-16.
Of course, not all of the “Fighter Mafia’s” proposals were accepted. They believe that fighter jets should not be burdened with heavy avionics systems such as airborne radar, but should focus on extreme lightness and agility, requiring only cannons and short-range infrared missiles. The design team of the F-16 insisted on including airborne radar and radar guidance for medium and long-range air-to-air missiles, which made the F-16 a platform with beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air attack capabilities, and it has remained active to this day. .
However, even if most of the concepts promoted by the Fighter Mafia were obsolete by the time the fight for light fighter aircraft began, the impact of energy maneuver theory on military aviation cannot be ignored.
A General Dynamics F-16 cost just over $6 million per aircraft in 1975, which is equivalent to $36 million today. While this aircraft doesn’t set world records for speed or climb performance like the F-15, its overall performance can still surpass almost any opponent it may encounter, and its cost is surprisingly low compared to top-tier fighter jets. incredible. Just like today’s F-35. When the F-15 first appeared in the early 1970s, its unmatched performance came with an equally unbeatable price. In the early days, an F-15A cost $28 million, equivalent to $227.5 million today, which is almost the cost of three F-35As today.
The F-16 is also the first fighter jet equipped with a fly-by-wire control system. It hands over the flight control task to the computer. The pilot’s control actions are actually input instructions to the computer, and the computer completes the control of the aircraft. This revolutionary technology makes it possible to create a more agile fighter with an unstable aerodynamic layout design that was previously unimaginable. It reduces the energy required for maneuvering flight. The result is to make the F-16 one of the first fighter jets capable of easily performing 9G maneuvers at full load. It felt as stable as a commercial airliner in level flight, and until the advent of the thrust-vectored F-22 Raptor in 2005, it was able to outperform nearly every fighter in the U.S. arsenal.
In the history of air combat, the F-16 has a record of 76:1, making it the most dominant fighter of its generation. The only controversial loss was believed to be due to friendly fire.
Although the F-16 was designed with an emphasis on air combat, its speed, agility, and versatility quickly made it the United States’ first true multi-role fighter platform, and it has shown prowess in attack operations since it entered service. leading position. Built-in structures and weapons interfaces required for air-to-ground operations have been standard since 1981.
In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, the F-16 flew the most missions, the vast majority of which were air strikes. During the attack on the Tuvita nuclear reactor south of Baghdad, Major Emmett Tullia, an American pilot of the 401st Fighter Wing, piloted an F-16 to avoid six consecutive surface-to-air missiles. . Until the end of the mission, the infrared decoys and chaff that interfered with the anti-aircraft missiles had no effect. He successfully avoided 6 A deadly missile attack.
The F-16 combines high performance and low cost, making it the backbone of the air forces of the United States and nearly 30 countries around the world that have F-16 fighter jets. Despite the emergence of fifth-generation fighter jets such as the F-35, the F-16 is still the backbone of the American air force. The backbone of the Air Force. To date, its total production has exceeded 4,600, and the latest Viper continues to roll off the assembly line.
The largest F-16 fleet in the Indo-Pacific region is in Taiwan. By 2026, the Taiwan Air Force will have more than 200 of the latest version of the F-16V Viper. These Vipers may be integrated with the US deployment in the Western Pacific through the battlefield command and control system. Various combat aircraft establish cooperative relationships. Viper joining the Taiwan Air Force is equivalent to a sharp weapon lying dormant beside the CCP, ready to launch a fatal blow at any time.
Written by: Xia Luoshan (reporter of “The Epoch Times”, who has experienced military life for more than ten years, mainly engaged in military teaching and some technical management work)
Produced by: Current Affairs Military Production Team
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2024-02-11 13:00:22
