Block 70 F-16: The Next Generation Viper Fighter 

Please create a Vid about Adversary/Red Force F-117's with Metallic Stealth Coating!👍

Most produced western fighter? That honor goes to the F-4 with 5,195 produced, not the F-16...

Thanks!😁✌ Idk if you seen, another idea for a Vid-- F-35's B and C and how Gun Pods affect the stealth capabilities, if the Gun Pods make a big difference, and if The Gun Pods are themselves stealthy!?

@@pat8988 I think he meant from the west and world wide used not just numbers production. Not as many foreign F-4's as F-16's

@@pat8988 excellent point Pat and I should have clarified of the current fighters still in production - thanks for commenting!

Sierra Hotel! Thank you so much for your comment and your feedback, from someone who was there are flew these aircraft that is tremendous praise. As I perform the research for each topic, I learn something from each video, and then a more from comments such as yours, I love the lawn chair and two beer cans analogy - that indeed sounds like perfection. My hats off to you sir for your service, dedication, commitment and support. I am lucky to have a viewer and commenter such as your self - Happy Holidays and incoming updated B-21 video on Monday!

@@PilotPhotog Looking forward to it!

I rarely here of any A-4 aviators, it looks like a fun ride, how would you rate it if you don't mind , thanks and thank you for your service .

Fighting Falcon

The F-16 became a very succesfull fighter. But it was not without problems . Very high attrition in the first ten years. Ground crew gave it another nickname. "Lawndart", wich is not glorious.

I love this beauty! The Viper is one of the best fighters, it's saved lives in thousands of CAS missions, it's one of the bestselling platforms of all time and it will outlast many "6th Gen Checkmates" or whatever they wanna call it. This beauty still has at least 45 years of service with the US and allies!

That comment has an absolutely astonishing amount of alliteration

Actually the pilots and ground crew called them vipers because when they first entered service they thought they looked like Colonial Vipers from the scii-Fi T.V. series "Battlestar Galactica" which was popular at the time.

I know every time someone says the f-35 is junk I give them a list of countries that are buying me a 35 after flying in red flag exercises and that kind of shuts them up because it is a lot

C17 had teething issues as well

@@danielsnook7362 Do not assume, that's what the Military did with the F-4 and deemed a gun not necessary, well the Gun was re-implemented after many losses over vietnam.

@@shadowopsairman1583 I mean essentially they all do they have 35 was under scrutiny for several reasons the first reason is because it was extremely expensive and groundbreaking and still is almost everything in that plane is classified yet the pilots who fly it whether it's from Europe Australia Israel turkey or Canada love it I mean Russia and China are quite literally trying to imitate it and our have said to stolen technology to try and imitate it it also got a lot of shit because our near peer adversaries weren't nearly as strong or dangerous at the time so the taxpayers were complaining there was newspaper articles that inaccurately called it a lemon and it went viral and then that's what people thought of the plane if the f-35 was being produced now that China and Russia are real peer threats you wouldn't see newspaper articles complaining about how expensive it was the b21 raider is insanely expensive but everyone just wants it rushed into production to deter our adversaries

@ShadowOps Airman1 Absolutely. Things that are out on the leading edge of technology can have problems beyond what the testing programs can uncover. Thankfully, they are usually small enough to fix with a little bit of time.

As long as there is demand, I am sure Greenville SC will keep making better F-16s. :)

Improvement in air frame materials and more powerful lighter engines are probably the way forward for the f16 frame

In addition to a more improve avionics and datalink system, also installing a more powerful engine like that on the f35, enlarging the airframe to accomodate more missiles.

I wonder how effective that "extremely pissed" is, when the General Dynamics exec just gives the airforce guy a look that says "Do you really not want a job when you retire, son?"

@@dougerrohmer The USAF were the ones paying the bill. All they had to do was cancel the contract. Then GD would have a lot of expensive things to pay for on its own, *including hefty fines,* WITHOUT government funding.

@@kibathemechanic4967 You are missing the point. There are a lot of USAF officers retiring after 20 years, or generals or whatever, and who then pick up lucrative jobs in the defense contractor industries. A lot of signatures that sign off programs as "complete" reappear the next year on a next proposal from the defense contractor. Do you get my drift?

@@dougerrohmer That's kind of irrelevant in this case. *My point* is that if you *screw up* a USAF contract, the USAF is not going to do business with you for any more lucrative contracts, or at best shy away from considering you for the next contract.

@@kibathemechanic4967 You speak as if the USAF is an amorphous sentient organisation. It's not - decisions are made by individual members either in concert or individually. These members don't earn big bucks, and they cannot serve for ever so they leave long before their working years are over. They now go work for defense contractors, they cross the fence so to speak. It therefor follows they will only be accepted at the other side of the fence if they did not make life unbearable for those on the other side of the fence while they were in service on this side of the fence. Now, start putting two and two together and you might find that a billion dollar contract was awarded by a group of people who are paid government salaries, and then go across the fence to play golf and earn top dollar because of gratitude for prior deals.

James thank you for your service and long career you've had in the USAF! Fly, fight, win!

Thank you for your service.

Thank you for your long service. I was stationed at Lackland AFB as a Security Forces member from '99-08. When Kelly AFB closed our unit picked up some Security Forces personnel from the old Unit there. I was still a young airman in those days and remember many a night shifts being posted on the parking ramps of the 149th and 433rd squadrons. While it could get boring and having to fight off the 'sleep monster' I loved being out there at the same time because I had always loved military aircraft with the Viper being my favorite of all.

Last 79 yrs usa use their weapons on easy targets attack China then stick your pathetic chest out

@@PilotPhotog Sorry my 79yrs no wins just chaos All verbal farts even Russia had to destroy the natzi’s

Good comment of yours, by mentioning the F-5/F-20 plane. The F-16 had made a good design decision to use the same engine as the F-15, and this plays a role both in terms of sales and maintenance. But the F-20 was much lower cost to operate and had similar performance and was easier to maintain as well. It's a great pity that the F-20 never sold to anyone when in some respects it was superior to the F-16. I feel bad for Northrop sometimes.

@@SanjaySingh-oh7hv Its was not more capable than the F16 especially in terms of air to ground

I think that the Spitfire, P-51, F-104 and the F-16 were the most gorgeous aircraft ever produced, with not a single angle that doesn't look stunning. Why that amazing bubble canopy hasn't taken over all other designs is odd (F-22 got it).

The proportion of F-16 body is just perfect !

The F-16 is one of my favorite post WWII "modern" military aircraft. It kinda got overshadowed by the F-15. Like the P-47 did. In my mind I compare a squadron of 10 P-51s & 10 P-47s to a squadron of 10 F-15s & 10 F-16s. So now we have 10 F-22s & 10 F-35s. Just my thoughts. I think its way better than flying any tugboat of russian mig frog

The B-52 will…

Or the proof that copying the Mirage III concepts and ideas, was a great thing. Back then, usaf only had huge aircrafts fighter, nothing as light as the f16. The Mirage III was better in every points, first multiroles fighter, cost really less than huge fighter jets, was more nimble, manoeuvrable, lethal, cheaper to maintain, more effective and efficient. The 6 days war, is where all these points have been highlighted, and understood by many.

@@aviationaerospacechannel5987 it had nothing to do with “copying the Mirage III concepts and ideas”. You are obviously not familiar with the “fighter mafia”. Look them up if you want to know where the F-16 came from.

@@willymac5036 Who's behind this "fighter mafia" ? A professional or expert ? If it's just another mr anybody from internet, it doesn't change the facts. This information I wrote above, is coming from an official reportage (available on youtube) made with professionals, experts, and engineers, which are famous. So between famous experts, and unknown people from internet, I still prefer to believe facts from qualified and skilled people.

@@aviationaerospacechannel5987 good lord no… The “Fighter Mafia” was a group of high ranking US Air Force officers, civilian defense analysts, and aeronautical engineers who, in the late 1960’s and early to mid 1970’s saw that over time, the USAF had been victims of inertia creep in favor of larger, more expensive jets. The F-4 Phantom II and the F-111 Aardvark were the end result of this. Jets that were too big for their designated role, and too expensive for the US Air Force to acquire in sufficiently large numbers. This group of EXPERTS argued (several times before the US Congress) that: Energy Maneuverability should be taken into account when developing a fighter. Multi role aircraft were not as effective at any role as single role, specialized aircraft. Contemporary Air Force Generals established poor criteria for combat aircraft that ignored historical data Design focuses on “Higher, Faster, Farther” increased costs and decreased combat effectiveness The US Air Force bureaucracy was corrupt, and dishonestly tested weapons before buying and deploying them. Beyond visual range weapons systems were a fantasy and not yet ready for deployment Keep in mind this was the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, and this group of highly influential people were essentially proven correct on all accounts. They completely changed the direction and process of fighter aircraft development and procurement in the United States, and they were eventually chosen to set the parameters for the Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program that led to the development of the F-16 fighter jet, which was originally developed as a lightweight, low cost day fighter. It has only been over the course of several decades and more inertia creep that the F-16 has been turned into an all weather multi-role aircraft. As a matter of fact, the recommendations made by the Fighter Mafia contributed to the development of many of the most successful aircraft in history, including the F-15, F-16, and F-18. The “Fighter Mafia” became world famous and published many books, went on speaking tours, and helped take part in the development of many fighter programs both inside and outside the United States. The simple fact that you have never even heard of the “Fighter Mafia” tells me that you have never done any actual reading on the development of the F-16, and probably get your information from internet message boards and personal opinion. The Fighter Mafia were arguably the most influential group of people in fighter aircraft development in the second half of the 20th Century. The F-16 was designed solely in response to their criticisms of, and recommendations to, the US defense aircraft industry and U.S. Congress. It had absolutely nothing to do with the Dassault Mirage III.

I agree 💯

Mmm… no it’s not. If anything, the F-15 has that distinction. Don’t let the belly scoop fool you.

@@Frankie5Angels150 Don't let the twin engines fool you.

I felt that the F14 was the successor to the P47. Both started as huge fighters, then into ground pounders. Both did a outstanding job at both jobs.

I live right behind Shaw, I love seeing and hearing the 16s fly over my house.

I need to add a visit to Shaw AFB to my bucket list of places to visit, I'd love to see that static display outside the base. Thanks for commenting!

I live about one hundred miles from St. Louis and it seems like I'm always hearing a lot of zooming and booming from the Eagles and Hornets made there. My heart belongs to the Viper though. Vipers from Ill. NG in Springfield maintained a CAP over the town after 9/11 because we were considered a high value target.

Me too! I’ll be 108 lol.

That’s right and as far as I am writing this comment 12 aircraft have been upgraded so far.

They railed against anything that they believed was deadweight in a dogfight or strafing run. They despised the multirole aircraft concept, which the F-16, F/A-18, and F-15 typify.

Another fun fact: the seat was not reclined to improve G tolerance. It was so the seat would fit under the canopy. Any marginal G benefit was secondary to this design feature.

Thank you for your service and your insight, I hadn’t realized that the Viper nickname wasn’t in widespread use until after 1990. Thanks for commenting.

Thank you for your service, and I am not much younger than you - I too could use a Block 70 upgrade!

@@PilotPhotog - it was an honor to have the opportunity to serve my country. hmmm - wonder if Elon could add "Block 70 upgrades for old guys" - to his agenda. 😜

Thank you and excellent point on the 349th - they set the trend for sure!

Blk 10 platforms.. 😎

OK,AL,SC...🤔... Where is this? Base, unit?

@@JSFGuy AC Jersey Devils

@@psycopaintball22 🎯 great... ANG like The tail flash

@mattmckee ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OdI_BVWTkjQ.html this is me launching out my jet ;)

Me, too. I like that there is no obstruction, as with most other planes of its generation. I guess that with other aircraft, they could put mirrors on the area of the canopy that obstructs one's view, or maybe even it could use it to block out the sun like a car's sun visor, but the ability to look around fully really helps with situational awareness and makes you feel more like one with the sky rather than feeling like you're sitting in a box in the sky.

@@Rationalific funny thing is that the f35, as many would call the replacement for the f16,has somehow readded the bow which is a shame

@@FrostyF16 they have the helmet software to get around that issue on the F-35

The bubble canopy comes from WW2 aircraft. It permits almost 360° line of sight. P-51, P-38, and later models of P-47 had it.

@@knightzing I think it’s P-51D and later, the P-51A, B, and C models didn’t have a bubble canopy.

It is Still Officially named the Fighting Falcon

Agreed. Fighting Falcon for me too. I played a LOT of F-16 Combat Pilot on my Amiga 500 back in the days. Love the F-16!

@@TheMack I remember that one as well but also I remember that the first game I played was F/A-18 Interceptor first which might explain why I prefer the Hornet over the Falcon...

@@hmmjedi Oh yeah! F/A-18 Interceptor was also my first game. Landing on that tiny carrier, flying under the Golden Gate bridge and gunning down some bandits. Those were the days! =)

I wouldn't recommend saying that to a Viper pilot, no one calls it that.

I read it also. Awesome!

Thanks for the tip, have to check it out. Hopefully on Audible...EDIT: Found it, and bought it! 😃

Another great recommendation and agreed! I own a copy - excellent read!

Youth is wasted on the young. For a real thrill you need the experience that comes with age.

This is a great place to say" you should have been there, which I was" so I can shed some good light on this lawn dart.... unfortunately it got that name because absolutely no one had ever flown an aircraft that was so extraordinarily maneuverable with minimal input and I mean exactly one quarter inch of input on the side stick controller would start that aircraft into a snap roll and that was part of the problem was trying to get used to extraordinary capabilities. Unfortunately have lost some pilot friends because the electrically activated/ hydraulically actuated surfaces had not yet received control inputs to Upright the aircraft before the canopy and ejection seat came out so you could eject sideways or even into the ground which unfortunately did happen

Wasn’t it the Israelis who extended the F-16’s range by designing conformal fuel tanks to fit along the sides of the fuselage?

Ngl, the a10 kinda sucks, and wouldn't survive in a modern high threat environment. It doesn't have good targeting systems, resulting in the highest blue on blue incident occurrence rating among American planes by far, it's gun can't penetrate modern tanks very well, and it's not very survivable against modern manpads. The plane was made to be good against aa guns, not missiles, and our allies even ban us from calling a10s for airstrikes for their forces because it's so sketchy at identifying friendly forces.

@@Stryker2279 fax

F35 is fugly

Thanks! Will do!

Thanks Mate, oh!! quick question - seeing the US Navy retro fitted the F18 into the EF18 Growler the Electronic Warfare version, do you know if the USAF explored doing the same with a 2 seater F 16?? - I am aware the Israeli Air Force developed a 2 seater F16 Strike aircraft. The reason is, in my thinking, since the USAF retired the EF111 there seems to be a gap in capability... @@PilotPhotog

@@huiaramaas far as I know the USAF does not have any dedicated fighter sized jamming aircraft - not since the EF-111 Raven as you mentioned. My best guess is that they are working on a CCA drone version of that. Cheers!

Да де, добре, че 30-годишните ги взеха румънците :)

Incorrect, in MX we would call it viper, and fighting falcon or falcon for short. Source: 20 years F-16 crew chief.

i joined the service in '86 and my first duty station was equipped with the f-16 "fighting falcon". fast forward twenty or thirty years. the first and only, (granted and I don't get out much) time i hear it called a viper is youtube. that has led me to believe that its a generational thing. so with all that being said. you can call it what you like. but those in the know, know. it's the f-16 fighting falcon. and she is beautiful.

Nope. The F15E was built in place of the F16XL.

Lockheed will not make competition for f35

typically new shit dosent perform well

While I was serving in the very first F-16 Fighting wing at Hill Air Force Base The Israeli showed up with six aircraft and camouflage paint and practiced over Wendover bombing range in Northwestern Utah before they flew against that Iraqi nuclear plant and blew it up with 2,000 pounders so if you take a vehicle intended for dog fighting and realize it had the excellent bombing platform that no one expected with continuously computed impact point the Israelis use that to their advantage and took this small dog fighter with 2000 lb under each wing and destroyed that plant while the f-15s flew top cover