- 2 days ago
For educational purposes
In the 1970's, the U.S. Air Force faced a problem it had developed what is arguably the greatest fighter plane in the world, the twin-engine F-15, but the aircraft was too costly to produce in volume, and America's allies couldn't afford to buy many of them for their own arsenals.
Out of this need came the powerful but economical single-engine F-16 Falcon.
In the 1970's, the U.S. Air Force faced a problem it had developed what is arguably the greatest fighter plane in the world, the twin-engine F-15, but the aircraft was too costly to produce in volume, and America's allies couldn't afford to buy many of them for their own arsenals.
Out of this need came the powerful but economical single-engine F-16 Falcon.
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00:00The Wonders of Aviation
00:29Take to the Skies
00:31On Wings
00:33You've dreamt of being a fighter ace
00:38But the era of the dogfight seemed over
00:40Until now
00:42The Falcon puts the spirit back in the battle
00:45And state-of-the-art weapons at your fingertips
00:48The heart of the past
00:50In the hardware of the future
00:52Great Plains
00:53The F-16
00:59This is the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
01:24And by any definition
01:26It's a most remarkable aircraft
01:27When it first went into service in 1979
01:31It was a representation of the latest technology
01:34Available to military aviation anyway
01:36But whilst the technology that powers and guides
01:39This brilliant war plane
01:40Was the high point of years of progressive technological evolution
01:44The role which it was designed to perform
01:47Is if anything a step back against the evolution of the task of the fighter plane
01:51The one who knows how to say
01:52From the mission complaint
01:53The one who knows how to Йud hear
01:54From being the Lady and Zero
01:54vectors
01:55The one who knows how to know
01:56The one who knows how to try
01:57From being the elephant
02:12The one who knows how to try
02:14The one who knows how to do
02:15The thing that my hope
02:15Is in thepr incorporation
02:16In fact, the pilot that flies this F-16 has less in common with most of his modern-day
02:26counterparts than he does with this man, because both fly aircraft that excel in a dogfighting
02:32combat between two fighter aircraft, yet both planes are capable of a ground-attack role.
02:39When America entered the Second World War, it encountered Axis planes like the German
02:43Focke-Wulf 190 and the Japanese Zero. Light and extremely agile, they proved difficult
02:49to deal with. But the high point of the American counter to the Axis dogfighters was undoubtedly
02:54the P-51 Mustang, originally conceived to fill a British requirement. The P-51 evolved into
03:01a long-range, heavily armed, high-performance fighter that could meet the challenge in
03:05both the European and Pacific Learlands.
03:13Later versions, with their bubble canopy providing excellent vision, ruled the air over Japan.
03:33And whilst never quite as agile as the far lighters era, the Mustang's combination of speed, firepower,
03:38firepower, and sufficient agility in the hands of the American stick and rudder man was conclusive.
03:45And couldn't be developed within traditional
03:54both the French and Pacific fry, which, compared with its Mongol fans of光鼓, is more important
03:58with the American siemens of fighters than the argued mandated by the stud.
04:03But did the big difference here in the actors on the journey of a non-剛ceğiz?
04:08But long before the war was over, America, like other nations in the conflict, was experimenting
04:38with jet power.
04:39However, the output of early engines was low, and at least two power plants were required
04:44if any reasonable performance was to be achieved.
04:46It was only after the war that the jet was developed to the stage where one engine would
04:51provide the thrust to power a fighter at high speed.
04:55But if jet engine development had radically progressed, little had evolved to the shape
04:59of the aircraft they were to power.
05:01Like this Republic F-84 Thunderjet, a very useful aircraft, but with the same straight
05:06wings and tailplane that might have been used in World War II.
05:24The North American Aviation Company, which also designed the Mustang, did on the other hand
05:29offer a new silhouette.
05:31They had studied information captured from the Germans at the end of the war, and deduced
05:36that a swept back swing surface would provide an aircraft with extra speed and still give
05:41good stability.
05:42millisecondationen broadcast.
05:42And now the pensando is untouched.
05:48Maybe the bad su feasible sounds.
05:50These 오늘도 teams but also어줍니다 in an aircraft with insanely close kites and
05:53Bye.
05:53ף Dude
05:58f
06:02Parker
06:02heit
06:03Little
06:03How
06:04An
06:05Wasn't
06:06Come
06:07Only
06:09debates
06:09Impossible
06:11Problems were incurred at low speed, but when these were tackled successfully, the F-86 proved
06:24to be an excellent aircraft with high-speed manoeuvrability and firepower. It provided
06:29a worthy successor to the P-51, and this development most timely.
06:35For America did not have a monopoly on the swept wing. Russia had, like the US, produced
06:40straight wing jets early after the war, but like the US, they had also gained data from
06:45captured German designs, which they quickly used in the early swept wing fighters.
06:54The most infamous of these was the MiG-15, which shocked the West out of its complacency
07:13when it first appeared over Korea in 1950. The 10 to 1 kill ratio that American aviators claimed
07:19over MiG's during Korean dogfights was also very much due to the skill of its pilots.
07:28This combination of man and machine had saved the day, but time for the dogfighter was about
07:47to run out.
08:06During the early 50s and the Cold War, America considered the role of its fighter aircraft
08:11to be that of destroying long-range Russian bombers which threatened nuclear attack.
08:16The best weapon against such aircraft would not be the machine guns of aircraft like the Sabre,
08:22but rockets, which at first were fired in salvos in the hope that at least one might hit and bring
08:27down any predatory bomber.
08:30Rockets were developed for air-to-air and air-to-ground use, and as their sophistication improved,
08:36the role of the fighter plane was reduced to that of a missile platform from which rockets
08:41could be launched. The fighter aircraft was to be made faster and to go higher,
08:45but agility was no longer a concern.
08:57By the middle 60s, the US was committing air power to the Southeast Asian conflict,
09:01and whilst its fighter-bombers were effective in the ground-attack role, they were not dogfighters.
09:31When North Vietnamese MiGs appeared, the faster and more sophisticated American fighter-bombers
09:39just were not agile enough to bring down MiGs, which were only a slight improvement over those
09:44used 15 years earlier in Korea. Another complicating factor was that the rules of engagement over
09:50Vietnam required US pilots to see and closely identify their targets before weapon release.
09:57This meant that the tactics of long-range missile attacks against Russian bombers
10:01previously developed were useless.
10:08The Air Force's answer, or as much of one as there was to be, came from the United States Navy.
10:14Whilst they too had been developing high-speed missile platforms, along the line had evolved a truly
10:20versatile aircraft, in the shape of the McDonnell F-4 Phantom, sometimes referred to as the St. Louis
10:27Slogger, due to its city of origin and enormous lifting power.
10:39The Air Force's answer, or as much as we can see, is to also take over the International
11:00This aircraft was
11:30never a true dogfighter, but its very high speed, together with a degree of manoeuvrability,
11:36was in some ways an answer to the MiG problem.
12:00Wings will return in a moment.
12:25And now we return to Wings.
12:40By the late 60s, both the US Navy and the Air Force had begun separate programs to fill
12:45the vacuum created by the lack of a highly agile dogfighter.
12:52The Navy adopted a sophisticated but expensive approach in developing an aircraft that could
12:57successfully perform two different types of missions.
13:00The Grumman F-14 Tomcat still retained a crew of two, but had variable swept wings which
13:07could be adjusted to suit the type of mission it was required to perform.
13:13With the wings swept back in a delta configuration, it was able to reach very high speeds and climb
13:18rapidly.
13:19With the wings set forward, it could achieve greater agility and despite its considerable size,
13:25outmaneuvered much smaller aircraft.
13:34Despite its other performance capabilities, it could still fulfill its most fundamental role,
13:39that of Fleet Defence Fighter, an aircraft that could launch long-range, highly accurate guided
13:45missiles towards an aerial threat against the fleet it was charged with protecting.
13:49The Air Force, having a less diverse mission requirement, looked towards the fixed wing design
14:18offered by McDonnell Douglas in the F-15 Eagle.
14:22This single-seat high-performance fighter is without doubt the best dedicated dogfighter in
14:28service anywhere, but its cost prohibits its use in the sort of numbers that Eastern Bloc countries
14:33were known to be employing.
14:35Clearly, a need existed for an economical high-performance fighter that could be built in
14:40sufficient numbers to compete with the Soviet threat.
14:43And on the 6th of January 1972, the US Defence Department sought submissions from the aviation
14:50industry to fill such a role.
14:56After submissions from nine companies, the list was reduced to the designs offered by
15:01Northrop and General Dynamics.
15:03The design presented by Northrop, working in collaboration with McDonnell Douglas, was for a
15:08twin-engined lightweight fighter employing two separate tail fins, giving it an appearance
15:13not unlike the F-15, but somewhat smaller in size.
15:17The design was given the Air Force prefix YF-17, and an order for two prototypes was placed.
15:23The General Dynamics concept employed a single engine design of the same type used in the
15:32twin-engined F-15 Eagle, thus offering the Air Force commonality of spare parts.
15:38But as many late Western designs had chosen to offer two power plants as a safeguard against
15:43engine failure, GD were waging an awful lot on the excellent reputation of the Pratt & Whitney F-100 engine.
15:50Nevertheless, an order for two prototypes, now designated YF-16, was placed.
15:56Completed in January 1974, the first YF-16 was transported to Edwards Air Force Base,
16:02where on the 2nd of February, it commenced its first official flight, and a series of extensive
16:08tests in preparation for comparison with its competitor, the YF-17.
16:13The Northrop plane was completed in June 1974, and after testing was flown alongside General Dynamics
16:34aircraft in a fly-off, which formed part of the decision-making process to resolve which concept
16:39would win what was now known as the Air Combat Fighter Competition.
16:55In the event, it was the overall performance of the F-16 prototypes that impressed the Defense Department the most.
17:01On the 9th of April 1975, a pre-production order of 15 aircraft was placed,
17:07with the prospect of 650 aircraft to be purchased over five years.
17:11But it can never be said that the Northrop design was anything other than excellent.
17:16And after it was declined, McDonnell Douglas, the co-designers, continued its development
17:21until it evolved into the F-18 Hornet, now in service with the U.S. Navy.
17:28Another development, which both manufacturers were aware of, was that aging F-104 starfighters,
17:34which equipped several European NATO Air Forces, would soon need to be replaced,
17:39and a substantial sale from this area as well would be the fighter deal of the century.
17:53An ideal opportunity to display the F-16's ability to European clients came with the Paris Air Show in May 1975.
18:01At the hands of GD's chief test pilot, Neil Anderson, the red, white and blue lightweight fighter thrilled the crowd,
18:08and impressed the experts, many of whom had been studying the design for some time,
18:13looking for a replacement European fighter.
18:15A plane which would offer economy, but would not sacrifice performance,
18:20as whichever aircraft was chosen would have to stand in the face of the immense Warsaw Pact aerial might.
18:31that is the largest rocket aircraft by the other aircraft.
18:33That is a very small-scale rocket ship, the aircraft that were oversized,
18:38and that is a large-scale rocket ship.
18:40So, I decided to do a multi-scale rocket ship here,
18:43and the U.S. Navy-ifier, and the U.S. Navy,
18:46that is one of my biggest�� Amazon-style missions.
18:50I'm a very lucky one of myası pilots.
18:52On a time, I'm a very lucky one of myité.
18:55I'm aenergy pilot commander in this area,
18:57Despite the air show performance, it's probable that four NATO air forces had already made
19:07up their minds about the F-16 suitability for Europe.
19:11And less than a month afterwards, a combined order for 306 aircraft was placed on a joint
19:16production basis, providing work for scores of manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic.
19:27With substantial orders on hand, GD's Fort Worth plant went into top gear.
19:46And in December 1976, the first F-16A model, a single seat version, was rolled out.
19:53For General Dynamics, it was the justification of all its technology, research and investment.
20:01The multinational fighter concept was now well underway.
20:05But the secret of the success of the F-16 is the sum of many different advanced high-tech
20:09features, several of them used for the first time in any combat aircraft, and some tried
20:15and well tested like the F-100 engine.
20:18General Dynamics' confidence in a single engine, but of excellent design, had paid off.
20:25New and untried previously was a provision made to reduce the stress forces on pilots as
20:52the F-16's manoeuvres.
20:54The pilot's seat was laid back at an angle of 30 degrees, in a similar position to this
20:59demonstrator.
21:00The effect is not only to reduce stress and fatigue, but has often been said that it leaves
21:06pilots with the feeling that they are actually part of their aircraft.
21:10The cockpit layout was designed so that every piece of information is readily available.
21:28And the heads-up display projects vital information onto the HUD weapon sight glass directly in front
21:33of the pilot.
21:34So in action, his eyes need never look down into the cockpit.
21:38And all of the hand controls are placed for almost finger-tip control.
21:49The F-16 also employs advanced radar for search weapons control and guidance.
22:06One of its most subtle yet beneficial features is the one-piece canopy.
22:10General Dynamics recognized, as with the Mustang and Sabre, the maximum visibility could provide
22:15just that small edge that today's dogfighters might still need over their opponents.
22:31The forebody strength and the blending of the wing to the main fuselage, another major advance,
22:36provides added lift and greater lateral control.
22:47The phenomenal maneuverability and agility that allows the F-16 pilot to outperform all
22:52other aircraft is a result of the blending of two new sciences, fly-by-wire electrical operation
22:59of the aircraft's control surface actuators and a relaxed stability center of gravity arrangement.
23:06When both of these innovations work in concert with the F-16's electronics and automatic flight
23:10control, the result leaves the aircraft in a class of its own.
23:36One thing the multinational fighter concept did mean was that the aviation industries of the four participating European nations
23:41would enjoy much of the benefit of the F-16's success through subcontracting, licensing,
23:46licensing, and licensing.
23:47Ultimate assembly.
23:48Even to the extent that 10% of the components of all U.S. air force
23:54planes would have been produced in European factories.
23:55Factories that would also enjoy the benefit of further sales to other nations.
23:59What the reason the multinational fighter concept did mean was that the aviation industries
24:03of the four participating European nations would enjoy much of the benefit of the F-16's
24:08success through subcontracting, licensing, and ultimate assembly.
24:13Even to the extent that 10% of the components of all U.S. air force planes would have been produced
24:18in European factories.
24:19Factories that would also enjoy the benefit of further sales to other nations.
24:33But the first and major assembly line was to be General Dynamics plant at Fort Worth in Texas.
24:38So large was the program, the planning of assembly could only be effectively achieved with scale
24:43models, which serve here to give some indication of the complexity of the task.
24:48By August 1978, the first full production F-16 was rolling off the Fort Worth line and undergoing
25:04pre-acceptance trials.
25:06this is why being elected.
25:11How could Brazil be in the city of China and this can be velocidade outside the separation of
25:27the Middle 바方?
25:31guitar solo
26:01By January 1979, the United States Air Force took delivery of its first F-16, by now called the Fighting Falcon.
26:12Within weeks, other NATO Air Forces were receiving their own planes.
26:31guitar solo
27:01guitar solo
27:31guitar solo
28:01guitar solo
28:31guitar solo
29:01guitar solo
29:31guitar solo
30:01guitar solo
30:31There were, however, two exceptions, which, although never went into production, did valuable research work and demonstrated yet again how versatile the F-16 actually is.
30:55Following on from other tests, the advanced fighter technology integration, or F-16 can be seen protruding from the lower portion of the jet intake of this aircraft, like two large fins almost touching the runway.
31:11guitar solo
31:12These fins are movable in the same way as the tail plate, and when operated via a computer, and in conjunction with other flight control surfaces, the aircraft can virtually be moved directly sideways, providing another type of agility for this already agile fighter.
31:27But the concept was purely experimental and is not likely to go into production, although the information gained will almost certainly be useful in later generations of fighter aircraft.
31:42Another modification was the F-16XL, or SCAMP. This design features a cranked arrow delta wing, instead of the conventional wing and tail plane layout.
31:52The concept would allow greater carrying capacity and range, but most novel of all, although the idea is only experimental, if it was adopted, it could be possible to upgrade standard F-16s as the basic fuselage remains unaltered.
32:12A young eliminate 저기 below
32:13WILLOW NEème
32:33Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Home of the 388th Tactical Fighter Weak, the first to use fighting Falcons, had exercise time, pode, negrosetLA, butątpliLA on target.
32:41it's a very busy place. As combat air crew gained familiarity with the new
32:46aircraft they fast became aware that this superb fighter reflected the same
32:51level of excellence in his ground attack role.
33:11So
37:05Wings will return in a moment.
37:29And now the conclusion of Wings.
37:35But the competition is not just one of bombing accuracy, it involves all aspects of combat
37:52readiness and effectiveness.
37:54Navigation, aircraft turnaround, pilot skills and tactics.
37:59In all aspects, the F-16 team was to acquit itself with breathtaking effectiveness.
38:06Wings will return to the F-16 team.
38:13Wings will return to the F-16 team.
38:21F-16 team is a member of the F-16 team.
38:34F-16 team is a member of the F-16 team.
38:39By the time the final results were calculated, General Dynamics' brilliant lightweight was
39:05to earn the number one position in the final formation.
39:12However, the success of the F-16 at Lossimuth should not have come as a complete surprise
39:17because not ten days earlier its bombing potential had been demonstrated to the world when with
39:23devastating accuracy Israeli Air Force F-16s destroyed the Iraqi nuclear power plant at
39:28Ozerak near Baghdad.
39:39The mission objective was for Israeli aircraft based in the Sinai to fly 650 miles across
39:45enemy country and destroy the nuclear plant only days before it became operational, depriving
39:52the Iraqis of the ability to produce atomic weapons.
39:57The most direct route would ordinarily have been the obvious choice but Israel is a nation
40:02surrounded by its enemies and Arab radar stations, especially near the Jordanian border, would
40:07detect aircraft approaching from the west.
40:19Taking a long curved route further to the south may have been possible but for the fact that
40:24American AWAC aircraft based in Saudi Arabia might possibly have detected unexpected aerial
40:29activity even over such long distances.
40:33So because of the high mobility and effectiveness of the AWACs this plan too was rejected.
40:39A third but extremely risky option was to actually try to weave a course between the Arab radar stations.
40:46To make this plan work Israeli pilots practiced flying at very low levels over long distances.
40:53They also studied plans at the power plant and its various features but most of all the position
40:58of the reactor building which housed the nuclear core.
41:14Ever since the raid took place a question has remained about the type of weapon that the IAF used.
41:21Because when they did strike it was with such accuracy that some observers believed they
41:26used laser guided bombs similar to this type developed by the United States.
41:32You can see here from this test how the bomb constantly adjusts itself in flight until it finds its target.
41:39Israel is thought to have developed its own guided bombs but it still insists to this day it only used
41:45to conventional 2,000 pound iron bombs and that the incredible precision is due to the F-16 and the constant training of their pilots.
41:58Late in the afternoon of the raid six Israeli F-15 Eagles acting as fighter escort for eight F-16s chosen for the raid took to the air over Sinai.
42:11Lying low they skirted the southern tip of Jordan keeping total radio silence and relying entirely
42:17upon their training and sheer courage as they flew at hilltop altitude.
42:23It has been suggested that at one point the mission was actually challenged by Arab ground control
42:27and that by speaking in Arabic an Israeli pilot convinced the radar operator that this was actually a Jordanian training flight.
42:35Another report suggests that at one stage some of the Israelis climbed and grouped their planes
42:40so tightly that on ground radar they looked like one civil airliner.
42:47It is also thought that at least one F-16 was a two-seat B model which carried a cameraman to record the attack.
42:59After 80 minutes in the air the force approached its target and prepared to strike.
43:06The F-15s peeled off to give fighter cover should it be needed and the F-16s climbed before diving to attack.
43:24The first planes bombs found their mark and the others followed and in less than two minutes Israeli pilots were to see the complete destruction of their target before taking the direct course back to their base.
43:43But if the Baghdad raid was to prove the F-16 a bomber in combat, a year later when Syria threatened Israeli air power with surface-to-air missiles supported by late model MiGs, Israeli F-16s were to demonstrate their fighter ability over the Bekaa Valley.
44:10Together with IAF Eagles and F-4s they devastated Syrian fighters in classic dogfight situations.
44:17One on one Syrian MiGs were simply no match for Israeli F-16s.
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44:53Whether with the IAF in the Middle East or with the U.S. Air Force flying from bases
45:11at home or abroad, or in the hands of other NATO pilots, the Fighting Falcon has proved
45:17itself in vigorous exercise and in actual combat to be probably the greatest single
45:22advance in combat fighters since the arrival of the jet.
45:28This gun camera footage symbolises all that the Fighting Falcon really stands for, an aircraft
45:34reverting back to the best traditions of the Mustang and the Sabre.
45:38But at the same time, the F-16 pilot is reminded of the awesome leaps in technology and that
45:44which he has at his disposal by the heads-up display constantly feeding him upgraded information,
45:51all to assist in the same base again the U.S. sought in World War II and Korea.
45:57It is a priority over the enemy.
45:59One, two, three.
46:01One, one, two, three.
46:03The P.A.
46:04And a guy who can't be the one-to-friend.
46:05One, two, three.
46:07Uhm, one, three.
46:09One, two, three.
46:10One, three.
46:15One, two, three.
46:17One, three.
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