One particularly innovative feature was that the aircraft was designed to be negatively aerodynamically stable, that is, with the aircraft centre of gravity (CG) behind or close to the aerodynamic centre of pressure (CP). The YF-16 was a more innovative design than the YF-17, which in many respects was derived from the Northrop F-5. The F-16 was smaller than its contemporary, having a single engine versus two engines for the YF-17. The F-16 was selected by the US Air Force as a result of the lightweight fighter (LWF) contest in which the General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) YF-16 underwent a fly-off competition against the Northrop YF-17 and was successfully declared the winner in 1976. The F-16 is a multirole fighter of which more than 4000 have been produced. The standard stores interface – MIL-STD-1760 – will also be described, as will the capabilities of common air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles that are used on the platforms listed above. The latter has taken on increasing significance as ‘smart weapons’ have evolved that require information exchange with the platform and sensors. The key has lain with the standardisation of the weapons/aircraft mechanical and electrical interfaces. In many cases, common weapons are capable of being carried and released from more than one platform type, and this offers economies of scale in each weapon manufacture, and interoperability between different nations and air forces – a point recognised in NATO some time ago. The result has been in both cases a very long development phase of ~15 years leading to entry into service (EIS), and both aircraft are still evolving to adapt to deployment in air-to-ground roles.įigure 9.1 Comparative development programmes.Īs will be seen, all of these aircraft are able to carry combinations of weapons options best suited for air-to-air and air-to-ground roles in which they are deployed. Both platforms are very capable aircraft that were conceived as air superiority fighters during the latter stages of the Cold War and have lacked total political commitment since.
Thus far the technologies associated with the overall integration of the avionics system and all the associated sensor technology have been described. 9 Weapons Carriage and Guidance 9.1 Introduction