Did the Navy ever fly F-16s?
The F-16N Viper is a US Navy version of the Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon. The Viper was built in small numbers specifically for the Navy to serve in the "Aggressor" role in combat training. This particular F-16N served with the Navy at NAS Miramar (Fighter Weapons School).
Most accounts state that a primary reason for rejection of the F-16 was that the Navy preferred its aircraft to have two engines, because of the added over-water safety factor. Some say the Navy thought there was more growth potential in a scaled-up YF-17, and that it had superior range to the F-16.
F-16s have been used by the United States in Afghanistan since 2001. One USAF F-16 fighter was lost during the operations in Afghanistan: on 3 April 2013 a USAF F-16 crashed near Bagram Airfield in eastern Afghanistan's Parwan province killing its pilot.
There are several references to F-16 fighter jets, which are "returning to the Bartlett", (fictional US aircraft carrier USS Bartlett). However, F-16's are not carrier borne jets, so would not have the capability to land on an aircraft carrier.
So, when it comes to planes, both squadrons are in close competition. The Thunderbirds will continue to fly the F-16 Fighting Falcon, while the Blue Angels have transitioned to a new plane. In 2021, the 75th anniversary of the Blue Angels, the team started flying the Super Hornet version of the F/A-18.
The US Navy operates 40 F-16s.
Richard Dunleavy, the man responsible for outlining the Navy's requirements for a new fighter, was quoted as saying that he didn't see any way the F-22 could be incorporated into an affordable plan for Naval aviation. As a result, the NATF-22 concept was dropped in early 1991.
The high prices associated with maintaining the complicated sweep-wing systems is often cited as one of the most pressing reasons for the Tomcat's early retirement when compared to its American fighter peers.
The fleet of F/A-18s is the Navy's “mainstay” of its carrier aviation operations, according to the report. The twin-engine Super Hornets have a top speed of Mach 1.7 and can carry Sidewinder and Harpoon missiles.
He added that while the MiG-29 has "superior nose-pointing capabilities" when flying at less than 200 knots, F-16s "excel" in such capabilities at speeds above 200 knots. "The turn rate on F-16 is significantly better," he said.
Have F-22 ever seen combat?
After $67 billion and more than 20 years, the F-22 finally won a dogfight against an unarmed, nearly immobile opponent. When it officially entered military service in 2005, the U.S. Air Force hailed the F-22 Raptor as an "exponential leap in warfighting capabilities."
25 July 1980: F-15A, 76-0013, of the 525th TFS, 36th TFW, USAF, crashed near Spangdahlem, West Germany. 21 January 1981: F-15B, 77-0164, of the 57th FWW, USAF, destroyed in a mid-air collision with an F-5E. Both crew killed as well as F-5E crew.
While the Vietnam-era colors look striking on the F-16, the 149th Fighter Wing didn't actually serve in the Southeast Asian campaign. That said, its combat record is impressive, having originally been stood up in 1943 to fight in the European Theater during World War II.
Since 1975, the F-16 has had a total of 383 Class A mishaps -- the classification the military uses for its most deadly and most expensive crashes. In nearly 50 years, 88 pilots have died in the fighter jet, according to data from the Air Force Safety Center.
No. The minimum landing distance for an F-16 is 800 metres. A carrier is 300 metres long, if you were to use the entire deck. And the arresting hook isn't the same as a carrier one, so it would rip it out of the F-16.
Created 70 years ago in 1953, the USAF Thunderbirds are the third-oldest formal flying aerobatic team (under the same name) in the world, after the French Air Force Patrouille de France formed in 1931 and the United States Navy Blue Angels formed in 1946.
The Blue Angels do not fight in combat.
At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the Blue Angels squadron briefly disbanded and members joined Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-191), “Satan's Kittens,” aboard the aircraft carrier USS Princeton, which was deployed to Korea. Today, however, the Blue Angels do not fly in combat.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon (AKA 'Viper') can reach impressive top speeds just over Mach 1.7, which is just over 1,300 MPH! The average cruising speed is 577 MPH. That said, the F-18 Hornet can reach a top speed of Mach 1.8, which translates to 1,381 MPH.
The service already identified two F-16s — currently in storage at the “boneyard” run by 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona — that will be transferred to Wichita and disassembled.
Did You Know Tom Cruise Flew His Own Private P-51 Mustang Fighter Plane In The Climax Scene Of Top Gun: Maverick Just To Show Off?
Is F-35 better than F-16?
Standard logic indicates the F-35 is better thanks to its new features (advanced stealth, avionics, etc.). However, the F-16 fighter remains faster and more agile, which might give the appearance to some that it is 'superior'.
Although the USAF had originally planned to buy a total of 750 ATFs, the program was cut to 187 production aircraft in 2009 due to high costs, a lack of air-to-air missions at the time of production, and the development of the more affordable and versatile F-35. The last F-22 was delivered in 2012.
F-15 Eagle? For a time, the Navy actually considered a carrier version of the F-15. The F-15N, or "Sea Eagle" as it was unofficially dubbed, was proposed by McDonnell Douglas in 1971, according to author Dennis Jenkins in his "McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle: Supreme Heavy-Weight Fighter."
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Grumman F-14 Tomcat.
| F-14 Tomcat | |
|---|---|
| Retired | 22 September 2006 (United States Navy) |
| Status | In service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force |
The Navy was still short almost 100 fighter pilots as of mid-July. The number is much greater for the Air Force, which was short 1,650 pilots as of the end of fiscal 2021, including 1,100 fighter pilots. The numbers for the end of fiscal 2022 are not yet available.
The US Navy's famed F-14 Tomcat fighter jet first flew on December 21, 1970. When the F-14 was retired in 2006, US officials made the unusual decision to scrap the entire fleet. They didn't want to leave any spare parts for one of the Tomcat's biggest foreign buyers: Iran.
On 21 January 1991, an F-14B with its pilot, Lieutenant Devon Jones, and Radar Intercept Officer, Lieutenant Lawrence Slade, of VF-103 was shot down by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile while on an escort mission over Al Asad Air Base.
These were updated as F-5N/Fs with modernized avionics and other improved systems. Currently, the only US Navy and US Marine Corps units flying the F-5 are VFC-13 at NAS Fallon, Nevada, VFC-111 at NAS Key West, Florida, and VMFT-401 at MCAS Yuma, Arizona.
The team flew the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet for 34 years from 1986 through 2020. The team currently flies the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet.
The aircraft can drop bombs can be dropped from 50,000 feet while flying at Mach 1.5 and hit moving targets up to 24 miles away. Despite having operational experience in Syria in the 2010s targeting Islamic State assets, the advanced fighter has never recorded a confirmed air-to-air kill, but now it has two.
What is the F-16 dogfight record?
The F-16 has an official name—Fighting Falcon—that nobody uses. To those who fly, arm, or maintain it, it is “the Viper.” It has been the most popular fighter of its time, with some 4,100 F-16s delivered to more than 20 countries. It has flown more than 200,000 combat sorties. Its air combat record: 71-to-zero.
Ukraine wants them, both to provide air support for troops as they seek to reclaim cities and towns in the east and the south where Russian troops have dug in, and to protect their cities and towns from Moscow's attack planes.
Like the F-16, the Sukhoi Su-35 is a multi-role fighter. A twin-engine, single-seat aircraft, it is described as "Russia's signature heavy fighter bomber" by the RAND Corporation think tank.
On 7 June 2022, a Ukrainian Su-27, bort number 38 blue, was shot down while flying at low altitude near Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The aircraft was reportedly destroyed either by an enemy air-to-air missile or due to friendly fire. On 21 August 2022, a Ukrainian Su-27 was reported lost in combat. The pilot died.
The F-35 is designed to be a more versatile aircraft than the F-22, with a broader range of capabilities, including air-to-ground strikes, intelligence gathering, and electronic warfare. The F-35's stealth capabilities and advanced sensors make it a competent aircraft for various missions.
Among the first USAF losses were more Firebees. By mid-1965, several manned aircraft were lost due to ground fire, lack of fuel, mishaps, and other causes, and many aircrews were already prisoners of war. The increasing pace of flights provided a target-rich environment for North Vietnam.
On January 30th, however, a MiG-25 hit an F-15 using an R-40 missile - with the Iraqi Air Force claiming the jet was shot down citing evidence of a wreckage in Saudi Arabia.
The USAF did lose two F-15E Strike Eagles: one on the night of Jan. 17, 1991, and another two days later — but these were claimed to have been destroyed by Iraqi ground-to-air defence units.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, the last ever dogfight occurred in 1969 over Central America between Honduras and El Salvador. With that said, the aerial tactics used during WWII are still considered by many to have won the war.
A F-100D aircraft dropping a napalm bomb near Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. Free timed-entry passes are required for the Museum in Washington, DC. Passes are not required at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.
Why is the F-16 so good?
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a compact, multi-role fighter aircraft. It is highly maneuverable and has proven itself in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack. It provides a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the United States and allied nations.
In 1980, the F-16 still didn't have an official name. Pilots had dubbed the jet the “Viper” after the fighter spacecraft in the TV series “Battlestar Galactica.” Many pilots wore “Viper Pilot” name tags. Leadership demanded the pilots remove the tags, but the unofficial nickname stuck.
1991 (Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm) January 17 – An F/A-18C Hornet (Bureau Number 163484) was shot down by an Iraqi Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 in an air-to-air engagement. The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Michael Scott Speicher, of VFA-81 was killed but his body was not found until July 2009.
Israel fields the world's second-largest fleet of F-16s, second only to the United States.
Large commercial aircraft like a Boeing 747 or an Airbus A-380 simply cannot fit on the deck without the wings clipping the island or other deck antennas, etc, not to mention requiring landing rolls of over 3000 ft even in the most extreme short field attempts.
The service's carrier fleet needs more ships—or fewer missions. The Admiral in line to become the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the Navy does not need more than 11 aircraft carriers. The U.S. Navy is limited by law to a minimum of 11 carriers.
For all its faults, no airplane has ever done as much for the Navy as a recruiting tool as did the Tomcat—not even the Blue Angels' various mounts. The Blues never flew F-14s, which were far too expensive to maintain for a noncombat PR team, nor were their swing wings adaptable to close-order formations.
The F-14 first flew on 21 December 1970 and made its first deployment in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
The F-14 Tomcat is a (now retired) supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat fighter aircraft, developed for use by the United States Navy. The F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter used by the U.S. Air Force. The F-15 was developed as an air superiority fighter.
Why was the F-14 retired but not the F-15?
The F-15 and F-16 remain in service and in production, but the F-14 has long since retired. The F-14 Tomcat was highly advanced, but without the Soviet threat, it didn't make much sense to keep it.
Richard Dunleavy, the man responsible for outlining the Navy's requirements for a new fighter, was quoted as saying that he didn't see any way the F-22 could be incorporated into an affordable plan for Naval aviation. As a result, the NATF-22 concept was dropped in early 1991.
Criticism from the fighter mafia that the F-15 was too large to be a dedicated dogfighter and too expensive to procure in large numbers, led to the Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program, which led to the USAF General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and the middle-weight Navy McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.
The F-14 is much faster and more powerful than the F/A-18, with a top speed of 2.34 Mach, while the Super Hornet reaches Mach 1.8. The F/A-18, however, is more agile than the F-14 as it only needs one pilot instead of two.
The team flew the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet for 34 years from 1986 through 2020. The team currently flies the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Donnie L. Cochran is a former United States Navy naval aviator and was the first African-American aviator to be selected to the Flight Demonstration Squadron Blue Angels in 1986. Cochran later assumed command of the Blue Angels in 1994. He is a 2022 inductee to the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame.
The F-14 "Tomcat" was retired for various reasons, some of the most important being maintenance costs and obsolescence. While the aircraft served the U.S. Navy exemplary for over over 30 years, the aircraft's complex sweep wing engineering became too expensive to manage economically.
In 1974, the Marine Corps prepared to stand up VMFA-122 at NAS Miramar, but the program was cancelled when the Marine Corps decided to retain modified versions of the dependable F-4J Phantom II. The F-14 saw its first combat in August 1981, downing two Libyan Su-22 fighters over the Gulf of Sidra.
Nine years ago, Boeing warned that its F/A-18 Super Hornet could soon retire. Nine years later, Boeing just confirmed that F/A-18 production will end in 2025.
The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter is going out of production in 2025, after 26 years. The Super Hornet was designed as a bigger, beefier Hornet. Super Hornets in service today will be replaced by the F-35 and the Navy's upcoming sixth-generation fighter.
Does the Navy still fly F 18 Hornets?
The US Navy still operates the F/A-18C/D despite the extensive deployment and use of the F/A-18 Super Hornets. The latter is a twin-engine, multi-role, carrier-capable fighter variant of the older F/A-18 Hornet with advanced weaponry and superior fuel-carrying capability.