The first guided launch of the new joint direct attack munition (JDAM) was successfully carried out from an F-16. Flight tests with the Lockheed Martin joint air-to-surface stand-off missile (JASSM) have been conducted from the F-16. In April 2004, the F-16 first fired the new-generation AIM-9X Sidewinder, which is in full-rate production for the USAF.Īir-to-surface missiles carried on the F-16 include Maverick, HARM and Shrike missiles, manufactured by Raytheon, and anti-ship missiles include Boeing Harpoon and Kongsberg Penguin. The port wing is fitted with a 20mm General Electric M61A1 multi-barrel cannon and the gunsight is interfaced to the cockpit HUD.Īir-to-air missiles carried on the F-16 include the Lockheed Martin / Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder, Raytheon AMRAAM, Raytheon Sparrow, MBDA (formerly Matra BAe Dynamics) Skyflash and ASRAAM, and the MBDA R550 Magic 2. The ordnance is launched from Raytheon LAU-88 launchers, MAU-12 and Orgen bomb ejector racks. The aircraft has nine hardpoints for weapons payloads: one at each wing tip, three under each wing, and one centreline under the fuselage. The new system was flight tested aboard the F-16V aircraft as a part of USAF’s Military Flight Release (MFR) for the F-16V Block-70/72 in August 2020. Equipped with new technologies such as visor-projected symbology, an optical/inertial tracker, and up-look reticles, the JHMCS II completed safety qualification testing. The USAF partnered with Collins Elbit Vision Systems (CEVS), a joint venture between Collins Aerospace and Elbit Systems of America, on the JHMCS II helmet display. Deliveries of production systems began in 2004 and the system was first deployed operationally during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The USAF F-16 aircraft features the Boeing joint helmet-mounted cueing system (JHMCS), currently in full-rate production. The system can transmit images from the LANTIRN targeting pod and display video imagery to the cockpit. The seat-back angle of the aircraft has been increased from 13° to 30° to provide increased comfort for the pilot.Ī follow-on programme, project Gold Strike, integrated an upgraded IDM for the transmission of images to and from a range of sources, including ground units and unmanned aircraft. Under the USAF project Sure Strike, the F-16 is equipped with an improved data modem (IDM), which automatically provides target data to the HUD using data transmitted by a ground observer. F-16 Fighting Falcon cockpitĪdvanced equipment fitted on the current build of the F-16 includes Honeywell colour flat-panel liquid crystal multifunction displays, digital terrain system, modular mission computer, colour video camera to record the pilot’s view of the head-up display (HUD), a colour triple-deck video recorder and an enhanced programmable display generator. The F-16 Block 70/72, the latest production configuration, has been ordered by five countries so far. The fighter aircraft completed more than 13 million sorties and approximately 19.5 million flight hours, as of August 2021.
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