Posted on 06/29/2016 8:56:34 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
A New York Times newspaper article describes a beleaguered American fighter program enduring delays, escalating costs, and technical problems. Another article about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter no doubt, right? Nope. It's an article from 1977 about the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
The F-16 was the original multinational fighter. Developed by the United States with Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway as partners, the fighter was designed to be an agile, lightweight, daytime fighter to replace aging fighters such as the F-5 Freedom Fighter and the F-104 Starfighter. At $6,091,000 per unit—$27.1 million when adjusted for inflation—it was also supposed to be inexpensive.
Many of the F-16's past problems are mirror images of the issues we see in the F-35. According to the article, the Air Force expected the F-16's research and development costs rose by some $7 billion to reach $13.8 billion by 1986. Adjusted for inflation, that's $54.7 billion in today's dollars. F-35 R&D costs, on the other hand, are estimated at $107 billion dollars to date.
Like the F-35, the F-16's problems arose from technological issues and design challenges. The fly-by-wire mechanism of the F-16, in which an aerodynamically unstable but highly maneuverable aircraft was tamed by computers to keep it flying, was an expensive problem that was eventually solved. Like the F-35, the F-16 had problems with its engine and also had to be modified to placate U.S. allies who wanted a fighter capable of air-to-ground missions, a real multi-role fighter.
Still, as similar as the problems between these two planes are, the F-35's problems are much more intense. The F-35 was originally slated to cost $50 million apiece—nearly twice the original cost of the F-16 at today's prices—but the three versions of the plane currently run anywhere from $112 to $120 million each. The F-16 encountered months of delays, but the F-35 A/B/C models will, on average, be delayed half a decade.
Yes, America and her allies have been down this road before, but this time it is a lot rockier.
Bump
I feel that the F16 is the best jet air superiority fighter we have.
As I recall, the F-16 beat out several competitors to be the next NATO fighter.
Stealth(materials)? Engines? Aero? Avionics? Changes in the Laws of Physics(CAD optimizations)? or, ????
Nope. While the F16 rocks, the F22 is. Which is why Obama killed it.
F-16
President Trump will bring it back. That's why they're holding on to the tooling.
Is the F-16 out of production? The F-35 is a stealth version of the 16?
Not that I know anything about military technology, but given that the R&D costs for the F35 are about twice what they were for the F16, adjusted for inflation, it seems a given that the costs for these manned fighter programs are not going to be sustainable. Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest in drone technology?
200 doesn’t sound like enough. A couple of thousand sounds way better.
Comparing the F-35 to the F-16 is silly. The F-35 is far more like the F-111.
As it has been explained to me, the F-35 is a force multiplier. Capable of simultaneous fighting with drones. Like a queen bee, essentially.
Sounds like tech that could be retroactively applied to F4s and F111s, or P-38s.
A-10s with drone wingmen would be fun....
“Many of the F-16’s past problems are mirror images of the issues we see in the F-35.”
Not really. The 16 wasn’t 20 years in development and still sucking. And on day one, nothing on earth could beat it except a well flown F-15. In fact, it is still one of the most deadly fighters on earth. Nothing foreign can best it yet.
Supposedly, the F-35 is going to replace all other fixed wing tactical aircraft. It cannot replace the A-10.
They tried that. But the 35 is a moonpig in performance. A 16 can fly rings around it, outshoot it, and outrun it, and run it outta gas.
The 35 is essentially a light stealth enhanced light bomber(but not stealth) I would think of it as an improved and more mainstreamed F-117 with some fighter capacity added.
It is literally he most expensive weapon in human history, bar none. Manhattan project, carriers, ICBMs, Nuclear subs, the B2,,, no. The 35 is the most expensive.
We aren’t getting something commensurate with the expense.
Well,they need the tooling for maintaining the current ones as well.
But the f22 needs to be our big boy.
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